Stopped in at Cummins in Hubbard, OH to find out why the truck wouldn't pull a hill loaded with a little-bitty 8k lb trailer and just what the heck that loud noise was coming out from under my hood!!
Well, at 240k miles I guess I pushed enough soot to fill the cat and blew out (3) exhaust mainfold gaskets.
I guess I can't talk about the quick fix but I don't see a replacement kitty in the near future.

 

First one I've read about failing.

 

Lucky Me!!
I have 2 guys with Ferds and both choked their Cats at aroung 150k. Now they're straight piped.
From what I understand the CTD CAT is solid internally where the Ferd has that fiberglass stuff in them. Easier to choke I would think.

 

The cat has what appears to be a Ceramic honeycomb catalyst structure. The ceramic insert looks to completely fill the large diameter portion of the cat. I was really surprised when we removed mine for "cleaning". I do see how after time it could become clogged, the more over fueling and smoke I assume the quicker that would happen. I have not seen any replacement aftermarket cats for the 3rd gen Cummins, I guess Dodge item only for now. Pic looking through mine before cleaning, this is looking into bright sun light. See any light??

 

A couple issues back in Diesel Power they installed a 5" turbo back Magnaflow system on an 05 Cummins. They showed a picture of a high flow 5" Cat that Magnaflow was working on and said that you could buy their kits with or without the cat. I cant find the cat on MF's website so it may not be out yet. Diesel Power's site sucks and has nothing on it.

 

In the latest issue of DP, they have some article on exhausts...Did you see the prices on the hi-flow cats??!!! Magnaflows range from 950 to 1500 bucks!!

 

240k miles on an 04.5?!?!?!?! holy crap man, are you ever home? my 04.5 has 22k on it.

 

Here is the MagnaFlow page. . . http://www.car-sound.com/02product/universal/600d.asp

 

Well I wanna look through the end of that one too, and cats are expensive. At least it looks like a 5" option for those with 5" exhaust and want to stay "legal". Although I am sure it would be somewhat of a warranty killer.

 

Everything's a warranty killer with DC. I do my own oil changes because i dont trust the monkeys at the dealership. They'd probably void my warranty cause of that. But your right. At least you could have a true 5" exhaust and still be legal.

 

Well, I caught an opportunity to "legally" fix the CAT. A friend of mine has a garage that customizes trucks with lift kits and such. He just finished working on an 06 Dodge with 10k miles on it, lifting it and putting a complete 5" exhaust on it. I inherited the 4" CAT and he installed it on mine for $100.00.
Finally got back out to Cummins to replace the exhaust man gaskets and found out the manifold has a 3" hairline crack where it hooks up to the turbo. Great, now I gotta replace the exhaust manifold too - can you say more M-O-N-E-Y!!
Guess it's time for a rant.
I love my truck and think that it is the best package out there, however for over $40 grand and being advertised as work trucks I guess I'm a bit pi**ed. Yeah, I put a lot of miles on him, mostly highway miles, but I bought this truck for work not to look pretty in my driveway. You would think that Dodge would put an engine code in the program when there is excessive back-pressure or something to indicate a clogged CAT before harming any other components. The EGT's must have been thru the roof!! The "manual" doesn't say anything about servicing or replacing the CAT. Matter of fact the manual service schedules only go up to 150k miles. So at 150k I guess you've passed the truck's lifespan??
Lesson learned - Install guauges to complete the necessary tools required to use this truck appropriately as a work truck. That just takes me back to my rant. I've been around a few diesels in my life, drove and owned a couple big trucks so I have a bit of experience. Now why do I have to pay over $40k for something billed as a work vehicle and then have to spend more money and time to outfit it with the right tools (guages and such) to use it??
I did have a 99' Cummins, not used for work, which I mildy bombed, but did install guages on it prior to the bombing. When I bought this truck, for work, I made the decision to keep the engine stock and maintain the truck by the book. I know how to drive and care for a diesel, this truck was not abused at all but it has fallen short of being a real road-warrior.

 

I think if I had that cat, I would do like Grandpa use to do... He would take a drill with about a 3/4 inch or so drill bit on it and run it through that thing. Pull all the innards out and clamp or weld it back in place...JMHO

 

A cat on a diesel is like teats on a boarhog... it's just another kink in the plumbing that'll end up needing the roto-rooter routine.

 

Man, am I glad I never had one of those stupid things!

 

Yeah - but they're so much fun to clean out, and so rewarding...

you can see right through mine!