Ok I have a problem. I have a 2000 Trans Am with Borla Exhaust, Aftermarket Ram Air, and I have recently gutted my cats. I put 02 SIMS in it, and it is running really rich it seems. If I rev it up high it smokes pretty bad. And if I sitting still I can smell the fumes really bad. I thought about putting some Random Technology high flow cats on it. I need some advice on what to do. If I am running rich how do I adjust it? Should I put high flow cats on it? I need some help here. Thanks alot.

 

With gutted cats you WILL smell more gas fumes. Exhaust is coming out completely unscrubbed and the car smells like old school muscle. If you have access to an Autotap, log some runs with it and look at the Bank 1 and 2 pre-cat (S1) O2 sensors. Also look at the Lterm Fuel Trims. These will tell you if you're actually running rich.

If you really are running fat, check out the front to O2 sensors to make sure you didn't damage them somehow. Then again, the car may just be "learning" what it's like to run without cats.

 

Jake is right. After I gutted my cats, every time I would walk behind my car while it was running in the garage my shirt would absorb the gas fumes. Then I’d get hassled by the wife for coming in smelling like gas <img border="0" title="" alt="[Big Grin]" src="gr_grin.gif" /> But the car wasn’t running rich though (a-tap)...

Odd thing is, since I changed cat-backs it doesn’t smell as strong anymore <img border="0" title="" alt="[Confused]" src="images/icons/confused.gif" />