Water our worst enemy.

[tom4bren]

Now, since I went into deep water and I am 100% sure the exhaust was underwater is there any chance that water could have ran all the way to the cat converter?
What other things could have blocked my cat?
Mechanic says after letting the VX running and not moving, catalityc converter starts glowing red of how hot it gets. I still have to see it in person.

Not likely that water backed up into your cat unless you turned off the engine whilst it was under water. The exhaust pressure would have kept it from flowing that far up the system. If you turned your engine off, then absolutely it could have.

Yes, the cat can get cherry red ... but it usually doesn't. Even if it's not cherry red, it's still HOT!!!!. That's one of the issues with 'swimming' any cat equipped vehicle. Hitting the cold water with a hot cat can cause some really wonky things to happen. Metal just doesn't like to be cooled that rapidly.

IIRC, the way a cat works is that it contains rare metals (platinum I think) that react with the exhaust gasses. The chemical reaction causes the heat that is used to burn up any unspent fuel and other nasty stuff that isn't supposed to be in our atmosphere. Hence the name catalytic converter ... or catalyst. Believe it or not, the cat is actually sacraficial in that regard. It will eventually use itself up. They are designed however to not get used up for a long, long time (hopefully the life of the vehicle).

[subject47]

I have had my vx swimming with water 6 inches up the windshield. I have a snorkel so it can still breath never had any issues with idle and random acceleration. I however have sealed my fuse box intake coil packs pretty much anything Electrical I could think of.

However any leak in the exhaust while under water can allow water to back up from the tail pipe because the pressure escapes through the leak. It only takes a small amount of water to shatter a nice hot converter the are porcelain after all and yes they do have platinum in them. Water up the tail pipe is a ricer trick to de cat a car. Couple of things about a clogged/shattered cat if its shattered you should be able to shake it and hear it rattle unless it all fell out. A clogged cat can leave the exhaust smelling like rotten eggs.

A red hot cat can also indicates you could be running very rich. Since the extra heat in a cat is caused by the chemical reaction burning the fuel. Have you checked to see if you have water in your spark plug wells

[Pepino]

Not likely that water backed up into your cat unless you turned off the engine whilst it was under water. The exhaust pressure would have kept it from flowing that far up the system. If you turned your engine off, then absolutely it could have.

oops.. I did turn it off while underwater.

However any leak in the exhaust while under water can allow water to back up from the tail pipe because the pressure escapes through the leak. It only takes a small amount of water to shatter a nice hot converter the are porcelain after all and yes they do have platinum in them. Water up the tail pipe is a ricer trick to de cat a car. Couple of things about a clogged/shattered cat if its shattered you should be able to shake it and hear it rattle unless it all fell out. A clogged cat can leave the exhaust smelling like rotten eggs.

Yes maybe I also had a leak, first offroad trip, broke the exhaust system, had it welded back but it might not have been a perfect seal. Yes the mechanic said something about all the porcelain being broken or gone or something like that. Will look for an after market cat, or maybe go decat. Maybe Ill get a couple horsepower.

Thank you guys, will keep you informed.

[tom4bren]

yah. Unless you are in a real bad stuck ... & will be for more than 30 minutes, you're probably better off leaving it running.

I just went back and re-read your original post & I hafta agree. Sounds like a clogged cat.

[Marlin]

That is actually good news, easy to fix, no electrical gremlins to spend months chasing. Good luck! As for decat,be careful, it is illegal

[Pepino]

That is actually good news, easy to fix, no electrical gremlins to spend months chasing. Good luck! As for decat,be careful, it is illegal

I´m not to worried about the legal consecuences, I am more worried about th ecological consecuences but I mean since I am already getting 10mpg I feel like I am driving a Ferrari at full speed all the time and burning and burning gas all the time. My Focus RS is decat too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJugNII9ktg

This same exhaust