For awhile now my 97 V6 Camaro has had issues with its auto transmission like bogging down when going into second gear or just lazily switching gears. I always assumed it was a bad trans. But today, I had to cut my catalytic converter off because I noticed some unnecessary rattling coming from inside of it while doing some exhaust work. Sure enough I see that the plates inside are freely moving around, but still intact. So no pieces were blown through the rest of the exhaust system. So me being the curious person I am, decide to take my car for a little test drive to hear what it sounds like. And what do you know, the damn transmission shifts like a normal working transmission. So, my question is, did removing my cat actually fix my trans issues, or is this just some cruel coincidence?

 

bad cat will restrict the exhaust, if it gets to bad the engine performance will suffer. sounds like it was starving for air and bogging down which i would think could effect shifts if bogging at the right time.

 

It only really bogged down in when going to second gear most of the time. And occasionally i would go to start it and it would sputter and cough like it was starved of either fuel or air. I am gonna straight pipe it for now till i can afford a new cat, if its even worth putting a new one back on, and just see how it drives.

 

check your spark plugs and 02 sensors to see if they are fouled (all black) sounds like you got to it before they would but best to check.

 

Spark plugs are only about 3 months old and the old ones werent fouled to where i was concerned. As far as O2 sensors go, i cant get the damn things out of the pipe. They're in there pretty good. But with out the cat on the car any more i guess i can just look into the pipe and see if they're fouled. The transmission has been doing its thing since i bought it 2 years ago. So it still may be the trans, but it sure did seem to run better after I removed the cat.