Hello,

I would like to completely change the exhaust system from front to back as well as the cat converter.

It's a Ford Galaxy Mk2 2.3 Petrol (2002).

I believe that it is Euro 4 standard as it complies with ulez in London. However, some of the systems available online and particularly for the Catalyst are shown to be up to euro 2 and 3.

Could I still fit a supposedly up to euro 3 cat to a car that's meant to be euro 4? Or would I run into problems? Would I still pass Mot/emission?

Thank you very much in advance!

The impression I get is that the MK2 was certified as Euro 3 but meets Euro 4 standard (it wasn't certified as Euro 4 as Euro 4 didn't exist as a standard when the mk2 petrols were produced).

The cat is huge compared to other cars, though its also a long way down the exhaust so probabbly needs to be much bigger.

Mine also complies with ULEZ and all the CAZ zones elsewhere currently in England. I've tried entering a reg off an early mk2 V6 model that I parked next to into the same checkers and that shows to be compliant as well.

Personally I've replaced most of mine apart from the cat and manifold (the front downpipe as the flange at the rear end rotted away, and the rest as the pipe rotted out in several places and it wasn't fixable given the level of rot). The cat is rusty but has stood up much better than the rest of the system (which in the case of the rear boxes is 3 years old and are showing signs of needing replacment again after 73k miles covered in that time).

I believe the general restriction is you have to fit a type approved cat, to a car that has type approval (which a mk2 would have given its age). So any cats provided matched to the vehicle, should be fine. That said, I'd keep the original cat if you can as its likely to perform better if its in working order than any replacement would. If its collapsed internally or corroded to the point of leaking then this won't be possible, but its fairly rare that they actually rot as much as the rest of the system given the higher temp in that part of the system.

I'd also suggest that you might want to ask your local scrapyard about disposing of it if its the genuine article. I took a couple of Cats off a 2001 Focus that we had disposed of the rest of hoping to get a few quid back for them as didn't think they would be worth much and they were no longer needed. Came out of there with £270 for each of them as they checked the code on them and found they were worth a fair bit more than I'd have expected.

Thank you for such a detailed response. I checked in a few other places and it said Euro 3, so I will just got with it.

I have another question about the exhaust system itself. The one that I ordered has the hangers, but without the usual "bubble" on the end to secure it. How would I go about it? Do I need to buy the tips separately? Some of the rubber mounts that came with it have a metal ring inside too. Is the hanger just supposed to slide into the mount? I have attached some photos.

https://ibb.co/gTfd9Zb


https://ibb.co/gtHMRLC

It should just slide in - your best best is to loosly assemble the bits and get them to hang correctly and then do a final tighten once your happy its hanging correctly. Some work well, others take a bit of playing about to get them seated correctly (this can be worse if the items have been couriered to you with poor packaging as tends to be the case!).

The large lumps can be difficult to get back throught the rubber hangers anyway, which may be why they have been reduced on the ones you have (the flattened bit should be enough to hold it though).

Quote from: brianh on September 08, 2022, 10:39:52 PMIt should just slide in - your best best is to loosly assemble the bits and get them to hang correctly and then do a final tighten once your happy its hanging correctly. Some work well, others take a bit of playing about to get them seated correctly (this can be worse if the items have been couriered to you with poor packaging as tends to be the case!).

The large lumps can be difficult to get back throught the rubber hangers anyway, which may be why they have been reduced on the ones you have (the flattened bit should be enough to hold it though).

Thank you, I am not too keen on the quality of the system that I ordered. Everything just seems too loose.

I will probably return it and order a different one. Hopefully, it has the bubbles on the end to secure it properly.

May I ask what make were your replacement parts?

When I replaced the rear silencer on my Alhambra a while back, I used washing-up liquid to help persuade the rubber hangers to slide back over the suspension spigots welded to the silencer box.

Quote from: Pro_Ninja on September 09, 2022, 05:45:19 PMThank you, I am not too keen on the quality of the system that I ordered. Everything just seems too loose.

I will probably return it and order a different one. Hopefully, it has the bubbles on the end to secure it properly.

May I ask what make were your replacement parts?

Downpipe was bm catalysts sourced off ebay. Rear box I think likely Klarius at a guess (euro car parts). The centre box I can't remember think it may have been sourced from ebay. Downpipe far better quality than the other bits have been though.