i have the trd exhaust muffler installed but it was still oto quit.. so i cut my catilic converter and my rezognater off and now my check engine light is on...which i knew would happen... but also my trac off and my vsc( vechile stabily control light is on)... why?????? and is this serious,,, please help me

 

well it is possible that your car is throwing multiple cods because of no catalitic converter this is obviously throwing your air to fuel mixture way out of wack on a car that already has the wrong spark plug gap and runs rich please see my post in maintance section this applies to all scions all models not just the Xa your either going to have to purchase a mil eliminator if somone makes it for our cars to get rid of the O2 problem or your going to need to follow the general consensus that not having a catalitic converter or gutting one out actually hurts your performance severly why i don't know you traded noise for a big problem so if I were you since your not going to be able to legally pass inspection I would go have a high flow catalitic converter installed a universal one should fit or have a muffler shop reweld in your original one then clear the codes then deal with the traction control issue I think that your just throwing your ECU so far out of wack that it is throwing all sorts of codes everyone wants more sound and more power but there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. A high flow cat will give you the power increase you want and will return the car to a proper running state. I've done performance work for years and the only cars I've ever really seen people do the mil eliminators on sensible are people who are running a turbo and if your running a turb your cat isn't as important. so I would have to say yes this is serious yes you should have it repaired and do it the right way and yes your going to pay big bucks in repair fee's damage sensors lose power lose fuel mileage not to mention fail inspections and you will be fined if they find out your not running a cat depending on the state you live in. your cheapest solution would be to have a high flow cat welded in if you want the sound and the little bit of power otherwise take it back to stock clear the codes and learn from the mistake cause this repair will probably cost you some $$$$ probably 100 dollars at a local muffler shop in labor if you bring a high flow cat the right size I've found high flow cats for about 60 bucks other than that you don't need the resonator so have them straight pipe it to your trd exhaust muffler. so your gonna drop about 200 bucks or a little less fixing it for mild horsepower gains. you could have got more power from iridium spark plugs 25 bucks I believe your cars spark plug gap is supposed to be 44 thousandths as well. do some research factory gap is wrong good luck

 

... omg seriously... use some punctuation/grammer... or more of it.... i went halfway blind trying to decipher what you were trying to say..

 

sorry dislexic cannot help but I have good info to share no need to put down people. I know my cars and how to fix his problem that should be all that matters. I'm new to the forum but somone else could have helped this guy along time ago. It's sad to me that you took the time to criticize my disability but not help a fellow car owner. your a moderator aren't you supposed to lead through example.

 

sorry for that... very good info though i will add.

i'll add my two cents (like i should've first)... as far as those lights that pop up on your dash, the xB/xA's ecu is really screwy... best said by one of my friends.. "a bulb installed incorrectly can trip all those lights"

and deepfreezee is right:
it's a bad chain reaction basically with these cars..

seems you already knew you were gonna throw the CEL (and why).. but yeah.. the TRAC and VSC light just followed pursuit...

 

well I think we solved his problem it's up to him now which way he goes since your a moderator I hope you can help get the word out about the Xa and other models spark plug gap I don't know the exact specs on other models but the Xa came from the factory gaped way wrong and it's a serious issue thats going to affect alot of people mine and my mothers Xa both bought on the same day had dense plugs gaped at 26 thousandths when they should have been gaped at 44 thousandths this is a serious problem for all scion owners and needs to be urgently adressed to those who are unaware I swithced to iridums that were pregaped to denso factory specs of 44 and wow what a majot increase in power tourque clean combustion fuel mileage went through the roof and maybe somone can help me figure out why the factory would ship a car that they know the plugs are gapped wrong when denso specifically states what they are supposed to be gaped to. My theary is the dealership wants to be replacing alot of emmissions parts later on down the road and doing fuel flushes ect. whats your take is this isolated to our two 2006 Xa or is this a widespread problem affecting all owners that needs urgent attention even in other models people need to look up their gap specs. you wouldn't believe the carbon on our factory plugs and the raw gas smell at 400 miles on the car it was obvious the plugs would have gone soon I am glad I caught it. I don't know if somone else already has but this needs to get out there asap to as many people as possible.

 

i will personally look into the spark plug gap problem you have addressed and get back to you when i can. i have contacts in the service dept. that maybe able to help and answer that.

 

ok well check the denso book too you can use it at any autozone cause I think any dealer is gonna feel obligated to cover their tracks because their could be reprecussion from customers who came out of pocket for failed parts if they could prove it was caused by a rich running condition. gnight thanks for you email very nice

 

I was talking about those lights with a tech the other day. He said that when the check engine light comes on the other lights come on as well to kind of get your attention to get the problem fixed, so your VSC has been turned off. I recomend having the converter reinstalled, the vvti must be going crazy trying to compensate for the loss of converter.

 

Dude, put the cat back on. There is no reason not to have it.

 

To the O.P. ...

Reinstall your original converter and resonator. At the very least, the converter. If you want a louder exhaust, but a louder exhaust. No reason to do hack job work creating problems that didn't previously exist just to get a crappy sounding "ricer" exhaust note.

To deepfreezee...

I don't care how much good information you have, or how much you want to share, it is absolutely worthless if you can not effectively communicate it. I know it can be a pain in the but to use punctuation and proper grammar in a forum, but in the long run it is worth it. Most people will stop only a couple of lines in if they don't see punctuation, sentence structure or paragraphs.

 

Yup. If you want it to sound really cool, go trade it in for a Mustang GT.

 

What you going to do when it's a REAL emergency you already cried wolf.

 

people some times do more harm then good

 

why would anyone ever remove the cat and rosonator? sound like crap , be federally illegal , and lose massive torque while only gaining a few hp. put it back!

 

oh heck no, keep it off. install a little whistle in there, then you can mimic a super charger when your rpm's are high. . . . maybee you should just put the cat / res back on.

 

Visions of Bubb Rubb are running through my head... "Whooooo... Whooooo...!!!"

 

Hi SquallLHeart,

I keep checking this thread for your follow-up about spark plug gaps. My 2006 xB Owner's Manual, pg 229, reads "0.8 (0.031)." I recall Dr. Jacobson writing that most car plugs are way under gapped so .044 seems reasonable.

I write because my first tank with my new used xB (w/6200 miles) I got 29 MPG. I am used to averaging 32 MPG with my '97 Saturn so it was a bit of a disappointment. Now I'm reading this forum about the MPG variables. I'm familiar with all that I've read about so far except for the gap confusion.

Also, it seems as though you might know if all Toyota Service Depts provide the "Fuel Economy Modification" mentioned in another thread.

Thanks, Kerry
2006 xB

UPDATE on 6/19/09

FWIW: I've been running with stock plugs gapped to .044 for over a year now and I'm averaging 32 MPG. I have the tire pressure set high and removed the spare tire and jack. My 3-year-warranty just expired and not a single problem yet. The only mods are a roof rack with crossbars removed except for hauling lumber, camping equipment, etc., and a after market cruise control, and a home-made AC filter. Average speeds 60 mph. ODO reads about 18 K. I use synthetic oil and replaced the air intake filter once.