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Solo hi flow cat issues

5K views 40 replies 17 participants last post by  Les 
#1 ·
I was wondering if anyone knows if solo has worked out the problems with there hi flow cats. I was going to go that route last year but backed off after many failures and repeat failures were reported
 
#2 ·
I had the first gen ones and they had some leaks at the outlet welds. They replaced them under warranty,on the spot, (I visited Zorro muffler) They have been perfect since May and no codes since. They redesigned the outlet.
 
#3 ·
I was on of the first to get the solo cats with there group buy. I had one replaced with no out of pocket cost, and they have been fine.
 
#4 ·
Occasionally there are problems, but one quick phone call to Steve at solo to explain your situation will most definately have it resolved for you. I was one of the beta testers of the HFC's and still have my pre-release HFC's, now with over 30k miles on them, nary a leak or any other problems to report.

Once in a while if road derbis comes in contact with the underside of the car, it can dent and therefore possibly damage the innards of the HFC, but that's not a manufacturer defect, that's just physical damage.

If you're just going on "reports" ... often people only complain when there's something to complain about. Not trying to sound rude, but there are many many many solo HFC customers who installed them and never looked back, never had problems, and are enjoying the additional power that upgrading to HFC's brings.

I'd say you should call Steve to sort this out for yourself. No need to be "scared".
--zepcom
 
#5 ·
There are no issues with our converters. We are only human and any time there has been an issue in the past, which has been very rare, we have remedied the situation with professionalism. We take care of our customers like they are family, because they are. I can assure you we have no issues with our converters if installed correctly. Thanks so much and feel free to contact me with any questions you may have.

Steve
516-655-9002
 
#6 ·
They are very high quality, high flo cats, i have no complaints, i bought the car with mine on them, and love the power gains, sounds, and quality of product. Had what sounded like a leaking cat, took it to mufflerman/solo head quarters in Buffalo, and they threw it right up on the lift, looked at it, were not able to completely identify the problem(it didnt do it all the time) they said bring it back if the problem occurs, well since then it has gotten worse...moral of the story, its not the cats you have to worry about or the exhaust system it self, its the factory flex pipe....thts what the noise turned out to be. But since im throwing headers on there, i could care less,its in the garage covered for the witner, and they're comig off in less than 2 months and im going catless with kooks mids and the solo axel backs... "off road car only" ;) all in all though, i dont have one bad word about any solo product that i've owned.
 
#7 ·
I will say that hands down Solo has had the best customer service of any car parts supplier I have ever dealt with. May be the best ongoing customer service experience I have had with ANY company. I would bring them my business again and again if they had anything that I need.
 
#14 ·
i will say that hands down solo has had the best customer service of any car parts supplier i have ever dealt with. May be the best ongoing customer service experience i have had with any company.
agreed!!!!!!!!
 
#10 ·
Just put on a set last weekend. Had one quick question about fitment but Steve got back to me quickly and set me straight. The only problem I had was a bank 2 lean code on the downstream O2 yesterday but have since learned that was a cortex tune issue. The tune has been removed and to quote Zep a "big boy" tune is in the works.
 
#11 ·
Just wondering if these cats will hold up with my supercharged application. I've already cooked a set of Kooks (no pun intended ) and need reassurance I will not do the same with these.
 
#12 ·
There was a thread about boosted applications melting HFC from Camaros. And everyone was curious about it for a long time and there was a massive thread on camaro5 about it.

Zep can chime in on this but the solo HFCS are good for a 6 liter motor just for one cat. So that comes on to 12liters total. You'll have zero issues with boost.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using AutoGuide.Com Free App
 
#13 ·
Zep can chime in on this but the solo HFCS are good for a 6 liter motor just for one cat. So that comes on to 12liters total. You'll have zero issues with boost.
I have no direct experience with this as I'm still N/A on my car, for what it's worth.

I have heard solo say many times that each cat is (over)rated for 6.0L, so yes, WiscoG8, you are correct.

I have not heard of any failures of SOLO HFC's in a supercharged G8 setup.
 
#15 ·
Our cats have held up on any supercharged application that have been used with. The only issue has been when the tuning was really bad, and it ran way too rich for anyone's liking. Other than that, they are awesome. They are specially wound inside to make them stronger and hold up to higher temperatures, not like other converters. Thanks:)
 
#18 ·
Didn't know they used a metal substrate. :driving:
 
#19 ·
The internals of our cats are specially wound stainless steel substrate, the highest quality you can get. Ceramics will melt at high temperatures, which is why we don't use that.
 
#21 ·
correct. Cats flow exhaust similar to headers and Cortex doesn't have (nor will they make) a headers or HFC canned tune for the cortex.

SOLO HFC's are safe to run on stock ECM tune (100% stock, not what cortex calls the 87 tune with tweaks) ... or custom tune. Further, I recommend datalogging if you have the equipment to ensure that the custom tune is accurate for the mods that are on your car, like a brainscan for your car.

--zep
 
#22 · (Edited)
Myself and a couple of other guys have been experiencing issues with our Solo HFC's lately. I'm on my 3rd set in 14 months.

Originally purchased cats in June of 2013. Was experiencing exhaust vibration at about 2,000 rpm about 6 months later. Visited the Mississauga Zoro shop, but weren't able to diagnose the cause of the rattle.

Went back in April 2014 with a loud rattle (sounded like a golf ball in the exhaust). Driver's side cat had failed and was replaced under warranty.

2 weeks later, passenger side cat experienced the same failure, and was replaced under warranty.

Hear the noise here: http://youtu.be/J8rQ2mHWQTA

2 weeks ago (Mid July 2014), driver's side cat failed again, (hear the noise here: (http://youtu.be/VDyQb9_VMwU ) but this time more violently. Instead of substrate rattling around INSIDE the converter, it became dislodged and jammed into the mid pipe. Driver's side cat was replaced and the mid-pipe cut, substrate material removed, and welded back together under warranty.

At this point I was advised by the folks at the Mississauga location that there's a 3rd gen design cat on the way that addresses the issue of the substrate material coming loose, and availability is "any day now".

This morning I started my car in my driveway, and the passenger side cat is now rattling.

A friend who purchased his HFC's brand new right around the time that I had mine done under warranty in April had his fail 2 weeks ago... right around the time mine failed.

To be clear, I HAVE NO COMPLAINT WHATSOEVER WITH SOLO's CUSTOMER SERVICE. With each interaction I've had with these folks, they have been professional and accommodating. In my opinion, Solo/Zoro should conduct clinics on how to get customer service right - I've yet to see a company do it better than they do.

The reason for posting this is not to complain, but simply to bring this issue to light, in case others running Solo HFC's are having a similar issue.
 
#23 ·
That's bogus Mr. Service. I understand their customer service is generally top notch, but I too have been hearing of these issues. A few guys I know are *patiently* awaiting these 3rd Gen cats... I have been reserved about popping for the HFC's until I know these issues are resolved. While they are replacing your hardware, it doesn't do much for faith in the product when they keep failing with some regularity. Also, not to mention the time you are spending commuting back and forth and waiting for install. Hope all turns out well for you folks who have these installed... I just won't be one of them until the product is ameliorated.
 
#24 ·
Late last year my driver side SOLO HFC core detached and collapsed completely clogging the exhaust pipe stalling my G8 on the Interstate during a family out-of-state trip. It proved to be a very expensive experience to say the least. I knew, based upon prior customer service experience, that at least I would not have to pay for replacements for the apparently defective SOLO cats.

Called 'em when I finally got home. Dude claimed they never collapse and it had to be the tune (VMS) being too rich or too lean. He finally agreed that the SOLO cat should not have failed under such low mileage, and stated that he would call the head honcho recommending replacement.

They would only replaced the one cat, however, assuring me that my fear that both were defective was inaccurate. The replacement cat arrived (without the bung hole plug), but I did not install it because the passenger side had begun to rattle.

After reading your post, I'm tempted to put the SOLO cats in the display case at my buddy's speed shop like I did with those ****ty headers that another company sent me a couple of years ago.

JAM
 
#26 ·
Hi Guys. First off thank you for all your support. I'll try to explain a few things. Our current converters are made to our spec's and are the best we have seen. We have the manufacturer spray each cat to 6.0L of cleaning ability. We have them weld each wind of the 200 cell substrate so that it can't unwind. We also have the best "attach to the side" method that we've seen. These three main differences on our cats make them superior to any that we' have come across. The cost to have this done is great but we feel it is worth it. We sell a lot of these 200 cell converters and our warranty or problem rate is actually less than the ceramic converters we sell in our retail stores. ( ceramic cats are the usual cheaper cats that are 400 cell similar in design to the stock cats ) Converters are a wear item and if the exhaust gas that is being fed into them isn't within spec the cat can fail premature. In over 90% of premature cat failure it is caused by the exhaust gas that is being fed into it. While knowing that we still have not let a customer down in regards to warranty. We try extremely hard to make the best product ( we also use interlock flex pipe on the G8 cats which is the most expensive but longest lasting flex that you can get ) and also do whatever we can in regards to warranty. 3rd gen cats...this may have been mis-communicated or overstated. We have a company that came to us and let us know that they have "the best" 200 cell cat ever. It does look like a good design with all of the featured that we currently have and no more. They say their 200 cell substrate is better ( longer lasting ) but can't tell us why. We have asked for samples sprayed to 6.0L and have yet to see any. They say they should be here soon. We would need to test these ( the best car to test on would be one of the ones above that is a problem one ) and go from there. Many companies say their product is better but this has to be tested and thoroughly looked into. The one big difference for us is the 3rd gen company will stock converters for us if we approve them and our current company won't. We currently have to order 300 or more at a time and it takes 4-5 weeks on average to receive them. If the 3rd gen company is "as good" as our current company ( better would be nice but i'm not sure it will be as ours are very hard to beat ) we'll likely go with them as they can service us better. Sorry for the long ramble but there's no short way to talk about this. We will continue to do our very best and move forward in a smart, customer oriented way. Thanks, Jeff and Steve.
 
#34 ·
Converters are a wear item and if the exhaust gas that is being fed into them isn't within spec the cat can fail premature. In over 90% of premature cat failure it is caused by the exhaust gas that is being fed into it. Thanks, Jeff and Steve.
Hi Steve and Jeff - as you know, I recently ordered a set from you on Dec 1st. Can you please specify exactly what the ideal AFR at WOT is for your cats not to fail. I am quite concerned after reading this thread. I've had a set of your cats on pre-blower, so I want to let my tuner know what AFR to shoot for. Also, the current cats failed on the car only after 35,000km (Kooks). My car does run a tad rich now for safety. Currently my cats are hallowed and I cannot take the exhaust stink anymore, which is the reason why I bought your cats. Thanks, Ang
 
#27 ·
Thanks for adding this to the conversation Steve. So based on what was stated, are you saying I should wait on getting the cats until the supplying company is finalized? I've been waiting for weeks to get these put on at Zoro so should go a different route or wait a little longer. I'm torn here as I love my Solo products and service but don't want to wait for weeks on end.
 
#28 ·
There is no need to wait at all. As explained above, the cats are working well and have a very low failure rate due to exhaust gas flow.


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#29 ·
Okay thanks Steve. I'll be calling Jack tomorrow to see of they've arrived.
 
#30 ·
Steve,

I appreciate your input, and appreciate the efforts that you and your team have put forth so far. As I said, you guys absolutely excel at customer service.

I will gladly volunteer to use my car as a test mule with the new design converters should the opportunity arise. I would also be open to investigating the cause of the failures I've experienced... whether that be AFR analysis etc. Feel free to PM me if you want.
 
#31 ·
Thanks Johnnyservice. If you need another test mule, we will let you know. As of right now, the newest design is working well and we have no current issues with any of the cats.
 
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