My cat gets cherry red

[USDM-FG2]

So tonight my buddy came to my work and took my car from me. He did ask to borrow it. He left me the key's to his 98 Cobra which BTW is hellofalotoffun!! lol But when he got back with my car his buddy Derek got under my car and saw that my cat was glowing! and i said no way and I looked and it was. So i realized why it might be. 1 My exhaust aftermarket it's a custom 2.25 crush bent piping with a resonator and magnaflow muffler.. sounds nice but i guess its worse then my stock exhaust. So i guess the back pressure is causing all this to happen.

I was wondering if I were to eliminate the cat and put a high flow cat would I throw an engine code and will it run like crap until it gets fixed? Because I am thinking of a skunk2 70mm with the higher flowing cat.

[Mikey6p]

cats need to be very hot to operate properly. I am not sure if glowing is normal...but it would not surprise me.

[kilsjdm]

If the cat is glowing red its plugged up!!! Its not suppose to get THAT hot. If you put a high flow cat in Im pretty sure your going to throw a code because the O2 sensor screws to it

[USDM-FG2]

I have heard people using the Random Technology cat with no problems Ill give it a try and ill order a skunk2 70mm exhaust and call it a day

[twistedframe]

its most likely a bigger problem than just your exhaust. When they glow like that it means they are getting plugged up like it was already stated. A plugged cat can cause alot of engine problems including catastrophic engine failure. I would take it to the dealer and see what they say. If at all possible I would get a factory exhaust back on there when you take it in just so they don't try and blame that. You should be able to get it covered under warranty b/c cats and emission control devices are usually covered for 8 years OR 80,000 miles. Again I would not take that very lightly. Good luck.

Edit - you will probably also need at least one 02 sensor since it will most likely be fouled out from your clogged cat.