It's a tight space between the firewall and the engine

I had the same issue working on a 1991 Toyota Pickup.

Exhausts are tricky to work on if you don't have a professional lift in your garage.

I was about to say I dont have a lift or life would be easy ahah

Lifts always make life easier.

Anywho

my old '91 had a four clinder engine and I ended up blowing a hole in the midpiple. Seperating it from the O2 sensor and the miffler was easy, but seperating it from the headers was a pain in the ass.

Usually those bolts see a lot of wear and tear.

Wait

Does your Malibus exhaust system have a mid-pipe section or is it just in two pieces?

Typically most exhaust come in threes.

Headers, mid, and muffler

oh damn, from the engine the manifold has the cat attached to it then it has a flange that I can seperate it from the muffler

just 1 cat. 4 cyclinder

Ah Chevys

yeah this thing was made during the years they cut every corner to save money to save the company

I would honestly recomend trying to hunt down an impact wrench fore sure. That doesn't mean give up on trying to get it yourself, however.

yeah that's what I was thinking too.

there's just not enough room to work

Be extremely careful if you're going to keep trying to unstick that bolt.

worn bolts can sheer, and then you're in some trouble.

for sure, I was going to drill it out and then just retap it, but I cant get enough force behind a drill to even make a dent.

My end goal is to pull out my cat and knock out the honeycomb and then reinstall it. haha

http://www.cpomilwaukee.com/factory-reconditioned-milwaukee-9070-80-7-amp-1-2-in--impact-wrench/milr9070-80,default,pd.html?ref=pla&zmam=31282435&zmas=47&zmac=731&zmap=milr9070-80&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI1-PU2Yyj1QIVSpF-Ch0J0wJaEAQYASABEgJiKPD_BwE

I found you a reconditioned impact wrench through Milwaukee. You probably wouldn't have a ton of use for a brand new one and I'm sure you don't have a spare $200-$400 laying around. I would keep this tab open just in case all other attempts fail.

You mean the honey comb filter or the clog?

I'm assume that honeycomb is clogged. I've had a misfire for years now, and I assumed the cabon clogged the honeycomb. It's throwing a P0420 code.

I would recomend that you clean it rather than get rid of it. I know some cars are pretty stingy with their exhaust systems.

@Yuma County yeah happens between 20-25 seconds no matter what

@Mark Vandal that would rule out lifters and major engine components at least.

Really? We don't have emission checks here, so I figured I'd just bust it out. But I'll try to clean it first, and if that doesn't work I'll try busting it out. I'm pretty lucky that a new one only costs $455. So things could be worse haah

It has more to do with your cars ECU and not emissions. When I took my mid-pipe and muffler off I drove that old pick up straight piped for a week. The truck's ECU didn't know what the fuck to do and retarded the engine to compinsate there being zero back pressure.

Unless you know for sure the filter wouldn't fuck up your ECU, I would just go with cleaning it.

oh right on, I didn't think of that. But you do this stuff everyday, I appreciate you bro

Keep trying on that bolt my friend, if you have an extra $100 lying around some time I would highly recomend that impact wrench.

I do, I probably going to order it.

I saved up a grand thinking a new cat would cost around that price. so I'm doing ok ahah

They're pretty nifty tools to have. Instead of struggling for hours on a stuck bolt, you can just Shoah it right off.

And then shoah it right back on too

I usually keep one handy if something's giving me issues.

yeah I need one, now my car is 11 years old and it's starting to have age problems. But as much as I hate this car I'll give it respect, this is the first major issue with it in 11 years. I had a vent canister solenoid go out, but nothing major. So an impact would be an useful tool have around.

>you can over torque bolts to commie cars to round them out so the wheels can no longer come off