Hope you get this sorted! Let me know how it goes, I’m always curious! Good luck!

-Tyler Nelson

Tyler Nelson Automotive | Guelph, Ontario, Canada

As a mechanic that works on many of these vehicles these are my thoughts, do with them as you wish:

With the assumption that the car has an automatic transaxle (CVT) it might be wise to take into account how commonly they fail without warning, we rarely see the transaxles make it past 200xxx-250xxxkms (125xxx-150xxx miles). Another thing to note is the condition of the rest of the exhaust system, did the crack occur because of corrosion? If the rest of the exhaust system is not far behind that might be another large expense looming in the near future. With that being said, make sure that if you do get the manifold replaced, and I can’t stress this enough, make sure your mechanic installs an OEM manifold! About 50% of cheaper aftermarket catalytic converters I have installed on vehicles over the years have been insufficient right out of the box, and can cause engine lights, pour drivability, poor fuel mileage, etc, etc. We always recommend OEM converters to our customers.

Hope you get everything sorted out! Good Luck!

-Tyler Nelson

Tyler Nelson Automotive | Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Any other codes other than the p0420, I would double check and make sure it was an OEM unit though.

Did you replace the original Cat with an OEM? If it was a cheaper aftermarket unit it is very likely the Cat again, about 50% of the aftermarket Cats I’ve installed on vehicles were insufficient right out of the box. We only recommend installing OEM converters.

Sounds like a charging problem, does your vehicle have a voltage gauge? If not, boost the vehicle and check the battery voltage with the vehicle running without the jumpers connected, should be 13.5-15V. If it’s 12.6 volts or lower the charging system is not working.

Depends on what type of gasket it is, MLS gaskets are a lot less forgiving than older composite gaskets. Take the head back off and inspect the gasket for damage. Either way I wouldn’t run the engine with no dowels, even slight misalignments can cause excessive cam/crankshaft wear or premature timing failure, etc, etc.

When money is no object we recommend the Blizzaks, they’re a great all around tire, stay very soft even at -30 or below. Most newer snow tires perform well on snow, but the blizzaks perform the best on Icey surfaces. I would stay away from the Motomasters personally. Hope this helps 👍