Define198

Hi, i have developed a rattle that seems to be coming from my cat, i had it over an inspection pit and found that the heat shield was held on by only 2 bolts out of 6, and the remaining bolts very corroded, so i replaced the missing bolts and still have the rattle, when you knock on the cat a vibration can be heard that travels all the way down the exhaust, with the car running i can sometimes hear it at idle, and mostly around 2-4k RPM, and seems to go away at high revs.

I took the car to a garage this morning who diagnosed it as a faulty cat with a simple tap on the cat, he said the heat shield seems to be secure, so the cat must be faulty.

I have no CEL etc, would i get a intermittent rattle with a faulty cat or would it be a constant one?

Also can i gain access to the cat myself by jacking the front end of the car up and crawling under it?

BenRNBP

Mine had this but only at certain revs, so yes intermittent means your catalyst core is fine but just come loose inside the canister.

Berk HiFlow cat for the fix

BenRNBP

also, I replaced mine myself but had to jack up the rear and drop the exhaust out to chop the corroded bolts - I'd see if I could take it to a fitter with a ramp, oxy-acetylene and air-tools

S2000_sam

Yes a relatively common problem. How many miles on yours when the rattle came into her?

I've fitted a Berk HFC, all sorted now..........and a bit more go while still MoT friendly.

Define198

Thanks for the replies guys, its only just started rattling, car is currently at 69700 miles, i did notice a slight rattle since i owned the car from when cold, but i think that is a common problem with the s2k as it goes away once warm? this rattle appeared around 2 weeks ago, or earlier - my music might have drowned it out, i still think i will take off the heat shield just to make 100% sure, whats best place and price for ordering the berk cat in uk? im thinking of changing exhaust while im at it as well for the milltek dual, cheapest price seems to be £899, but they also do a high flow sports cat with exhaust for £1569, but that seems a silly price to pay for the milltek cat?

P.s i know the milltek is relatively expensive, but i like the look of it, it looks pretty much oem to the untrained eye, will the berk CAT and the milltek system be ok together? or should i bite the bullet and buy the full milltek exhaust system?

BenRNBP

I got my Berk from www.s2ktuning.co.uk - there was a thread a week or two ago saying they've had them on back order for a while from Berk as there had been some supply chain issues of some kind - so would be worth given them a call to find out the latest.

I like the look of the Milltek too - but I couldn't justify the cost unless the OEM one was dead, in which case it'd be the one I'd go for. I think you'd need to 70mm version of the cat from Berk if you wanted to mate it to a cat back from Milltek - but not totally sure on this so worth some more investigation !

BCA

s2ktuning have them forsale. can't remember the cost, but very reasonable.

Be wary of leaving it rattlign around, if its moving, it'll damage the oxygen sensor in there.

Define198

Just got back from having the car on the ramps, had the heat shield off and still got the horrible rattle, so looks like its the cat thats dead going to get the milltek dual exhaust:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HONDA-S200...item35c8e8a0ed

but im unsure which size berk high flow cat i will need, can some one with more technical know how shed some light on it for me please? i dont want to end up with the wrong size!

not4s4l3

Hi there!

Most likely your CAT is about to break down. I had exactly the same symptoms as you described and I got my CEL when launching off violently at a traffic light. I believe though that CEL was due to my O2 sensor breaking down because of the broken cat! A mechanic should be able to tell if cat is broken when on the ramp. (even yourslef, you can punch it lightly or hit it with a rubber mallet and hear for things moving inside the cat).

Now, this is worth fixing at your earliest convenience as the moving parts within your catalytic converter could 'decapitate' your O2 sensor (ask me how I know!)

As others mentioned, +1 for Berk which is made from stainless steel (as opposed to ceramic OEM) and it is a High flow Cat - not so restrictive as the OEM.
I'm generally an OEM guy and try to stick with Honda products as much as possible but when I was quoted from Hendy 1,7lk (yeah k!!!) for an original I thought..okay..won't pay an arm and a leg for a cat! (pun intended)

I got mine from Evasive motorsports (USA) but had to wait almost 3 weeks (that's together with the time it took to clear UK customs). Paid £230 in total. The size you need is 63.5mm Berk HFC:

Berk 63.5mm HFC from Evasive

However, in my case it was too late and my O2 sensor has given up as well. In a similar fashion, I looked for the Honda one £175. Aftermarket one (installed at my car with no issues 4 months now) is this one:

Rock Auto O2 Sensor

Their website does not inspire you for a purchase but does the job at 1/3 of the price..

All the best in fixing this annoying but certainly not severe issue.
Your car will be stronger after the fix!

PS +2 for the Berk: What I forgot to mention is that the Berk HFC is 'blinded'. Meaning that when the O2 sensor is inserted it will read the fuel consumption, flow etc. without the need to reside within the cat! This is a flaw of the OEM and it is rather common to have the O2 broken when the cat breaks down (hence my reference to 'decapitated') as its 'neck' is within the catalytic converter.

CHIPPO

I had this and when I took the pipe of found a crack in the weld at the front of the middle box pipe entry , and also the near side back box had a crack on the pipe entry weld there. Although rattle appeared to be from cat , I now suspect nowt wrong with cat

I now have Berk HFC fitted and have been messing about with my old CAT welding in a pipe for a Hemsoltz resonator to try and deal with drone from my new HKS hi power exhuast , which I am really l pissed of about. . might be for sale soon for some of you noise loving youngsters !

Have repaired the old OEM pipe and am now process when I have time of doing the Uk mod , we will see what happens.