Prius owners with Catalytic Converter protector! Help other Prius Owners find the right protector.

I was thinking about you testing for excessive heat because of lack of airflow and it got me thinking. I have a thermopro tp20 for my BBQ grill. It has two temp probes that pull into transmitter and you them read the temps on a receiver. I watch my grill and meat temps from the house. I am going to use this to check temps behind engine and around the cats before and after the install of my protective guard covering the cats. It would be interesting to see the temp change if any. This isn't the best time of year to test this because its cool now. I have a filr ir camera but I think the the Thermopro will work better. Test while driving around town.

 

This is the advertisement that I got while reading this thread.....
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RIDGID



Uh.....
Yeah.
I guess it could have been worse.
There are hand-held units that make zero noise....

 

I’m pretty sure the hand held one is what was used on mine

 

You have to know your enemy....

 

That reminded me that the O2 sensors also give temperature before and after the cat. The probes would be great to check other areas though.


iPhone ?

 

This is what I did to my daughters Gen II. I made a cover that covered the bottom of the exhaust manifold that connects to the first cat. Also welded some wheel locking nuts to the flange bolts. So using a ratchet, extension, and 14 mm socket won't work to remove the bolts. The cover should discourage cutting the pipe after the flange like they did the first time. Then I welded two rods between the front flange and first cat, two rods between the two cats, two rods between the last cat and resonator. Then I made a cover out of 16 gauge sheet metal I had in my shop. I cut some vent slots in the cover to help dissipate heat from the cats and may cut in some more.

I am going to do some temperature testing on this car with all this protection on it. I do have some concerns about these cat shields holding excessive heat in the cat area. I will test my gen II with no covers or cat plate and compare to the one with a cat cover. I bought a CCM cover for my gen II but have not installed it yet. I think all this should slow any cat thieves down a bit.

 

Cover over exhaust manifold flange. Open on top.

 

Smog check requiring additional fee to remove catalytic converter cover | PriusChat

 

If I had to do it again I would use expanded metal. That and weld rod at the cut points and protect the front flange area. Heat dissipation would be better in the summer. I did some temp testing while driving around (air temp outside was only about 60 deg) . The only time the temp climbed up over 100 deg at the front cat area is when I drove a few miles down the the freeway and stopped at a light at the exit ramp. I cut some extra vent holes in the rear of my cover. Driving around town stop and go didn't rally climb that much. If there is a little air flow the temp stayed way down. Those heat shields are very important.

 

Hope you don't 'have to' do it again....

 

Kind of a bump on this thread. I finally put some holes in the small shield I made to get in the way of my front flange bolts. I was able to use a punch for all of the ones above the bottom row which saved some time. I'm lucky I have access to equipment that can do that. But I think I agree with you that the expanded metal seems like a good solution. For a reasonably skilled DIY owner it's probably as good a guard as an aluminum cat shield.

 

Miller Cat guard ($180) being installed for $150 next week

 

The local shop only charged me $50 to install, this is a no brainer. They can get the cat even with this on, but I'm hoping they will just skip me and find another Prius

 

I just had a Miller Cat Shield installed with the upgraded hardware. To me it makes the most sense because as far as I know the other major brand uses rivets that are a pain to remove while the Miller uses security screws that come with a special bit so the plate can be easily removed and reattached

As far as I know Id go with the Miller with the upgraded hardware