I have a 1989 4x4 with 22RE. I think my Cat is clogged. Will removing the Cat cause any unwanted problems such as causing O2 sensor problems? My O2 sensor is before the cat, not sure if that makes a difference. Please, no legal or environmental comments.

 

apart from the legal and enviromental ramifications , lol, u will probably suffer from reduced fuel economy. i gained around 2 mpg after i installed a a hi flow cat onto my catless truck. which i soon lost again after putting 33s on it.

 

You will have no issues in driveability. Actually you probably may get a little more power out of it without the converter being on as well as increased gas mileage. You may gain 1-2 mpg MAX if that.

James

 

I just don't want my check engine light to be on all the time with O2 sensor issues.

 

On the 89, the O2 is in front of the cat... and you may have one behind it as well. If you only have the one O2 in front of the cat, as long as you put in a pipe to replace it the cat, everything should be alright with it. You may or may not gain or lose mileage or performance... The only thing that may happen is you'll likely lose some backpressure and the exhaust may not keep the O2 sensor hot enough to give accurate readings. If the O2 can't remain hot enough it will likely throw an O2 code.
If you have two O2's, you may get issues with the CEL since the second O2 measures the efficiency of the converter.