Catalytic converters glowing red?

They are getting so hot because there is so much unburned fuel getting into the exhaust. Does the vehicle run like it is misfiring? Does it run rough?

If not, then if you are willing to try something we can try to pin this down. Run the vehicle practically empty and then put 5 gallons or so of the highest test fuel you can get access too (93 or higher). Then buy a bottle of one of those octane boosters (any brand) and add that to the 5 gallons. Then run the vehicle like normal and see if the converters still glow. If not, then you have what is called detonation.

If it still does it, then we need to monitor the o2 sensor data with a scan tool and see if it is in fact running rich. If it is then we can dig further into causes of a rich condition.

Let me know what you find and we can go from there. Thanks

Engine sort of shakes. replaced cold air intake new filter and spark plugs and runs rough sort of.

Have an OBD scanner and when I test for 02 sensor and would the percent be based on the picture attached ?

You will want to look at the short term fuel trim. Maybe abbreviated like SHRFT bank 1 and 2.

If the engine is running rich the % will be negative. Remember the o2 sensor only measures the amount of oxygen in the exhaust. If the number is negative, that means there is a lower amount of oxygen. This is because there is more fuel in the exhaust taking the place of the oxygen. So the ECM will command the injectors to shorten their pulse width which will spray fuel for a less amount of time. This is how it lessens the amount of fuel in the engine.

It was positive and exhaust manifold started glowing on passenger side.

Which side was positive? There should be two different fuel trims, long term and short term. You want to watch both. You may also be burning oil as well as gas. Both will cook a converter in short order.

Both be are positive.

Positive means it's adding extra fuel. What are the long term and short term numbers for both banks? Has anything been done to the engine with add on parts? Like a chip? I see you have a CAI.

No nothing with chip just brand new cold air intake, idle air control valve, TPS sensor,sec air injection pump.

Okay. Here is a test you can try, if your scan tool reads live data bring up the fuel trims, both long and short term. Rev the engine to 2,000 rpm's and post the starting fuel trims and the 2,000 rpm's trim numbers. Also look at the O2 sensors both upstream and down and post those numbers.
If you have a scan tool that can read the mode 6 misfire counters that would be a good thing to watch as well. Misfires can dump a lot of fuel into the converter and cause them to burn out very fast.

What is the actual number for the short term? Remember the short term is telling us what is happening with the exhaust at this moment so if it is positive then the sensor is telling us that there is a lean condition and as Steve said it is commanding more fuel. However more fuel is causing the exhaust to glow so we need to find out why it is saying there is a lean exhaust when it appears to be rich due to the glowing cat.

This could be faulty o2 sensors. If only one side is glowing and the short term is positive on that side, what does the other bank say? What is the short term on that bank? If the number is lower or even negative, swap the o2 side to side and see if the glowing exhaust switches sides.

Then get the MAP/MAF sensor reading. Also the intake air temp reading and engine coolant temp. Lastly test the fuel pressure and let us know what it is.

Lots of info but please let us know each reading and we can figure this out. Thanks.

Engine coolant 22 degrees,short term bank 1 4.7,short term bank 2 4.7,long term says 0.0 for all,ignition timing advance cylinder 1 says 8.0 degrees,intake air temperature 1 degrees Celsius, Mass air flow sensor rate 14.47,absolute throttle position 18 percent,Bank 1 sensor 1 output 0.06 volts,bank 1 sensor 2 output is 0.6 volts, also says page 5 bank 1 sensor 2 short trim 99.2 percent.

Wouldn’t it throw a code thouogh there’s no pending codes or current?

It won't throw a code unless it actually thinks something is wrong. In this case it thinks everything is still okay.

Put details up about about readings.

Anything about info I put about reading?

What is the outside temperature where you are located? Did you take these readings when the engine was cold? Clearly they are in Celsius but you coolant temperature is no where near operating temperature. Operating temperature should be around 90 degrees Celsius. Then your intake temperature is low as well unless it is currently cold there.

There is nothing alarming with those numbers. The 4.7 short term fuel trims is that big of a deal. So that tells me the glowing exhaust is from a misfire.

Even though you don't have codes for misfires, I suspect that is the issue. The running rough is what we need to chase.

Lastly, is it possible to get a picture or quick video of the catalytic converter glowing? Maybe at night so we can get an idea as to how severe it is.

Yes and in Buffalo so pretty cold now. could be because of not changing spark plug wires or the ignition coil pack?

Exhaust manifold glows and the catalytic converter glows, all the way once it keeps running the whole thing. just figured not let it get to that much and also have a video sounds like it’s knocking or pinging if can hear it.

And also the coil pack; do you hook up spark plugs according to numbering on it? because that’s how I have it now.

Could be. The coils on these vehicles have been known to fail. How long does it have to run before the converter starts glowing?

5 to 10 minutes of that and what’s the cause of the exhaust manifold glowing?

Sorry just posted this and then saw the videos. That thing is running pretty rough and that thing is red hot so you weren't exaggerating. I am surprised there are no codes.

However, now that I have seen that, your issue could be one of a couple things. First is a misfire so we need to suspect that coil.

Next, the converter could be clogged. Are you able to measure the back pressure? This is where you remove the o2 sensor and install a gauge made for this. If you don't have one don't buy one. Try removing the upstream o2 on that side and see if the engine smooths out. It is going to be loud but a clogged converter can glow and cause rough running. If you want to an exhaust shop can measure back pressure and it is pretty cheap. Cheaper then guessing at replacing the converter.

After that, we have to suspect internal engine issues as valve issues or piston ring issues.

Clearly with that glowing that red, it is a safety issue. That can catch the surrounding components on fire so be careful.

What I was going to do is order a new coil pack,changed out whole catalytic converter to flow master with precats and regular cats direct fit and not driving at the moment just started doing the glowing and rough running.

So it may be worth while to try and pull out the o2 sensors from that side and see if it improves. If it does then it is clogged.

If you make that change we clearly want to make sure the new converter and exhaust is not damaged. So if this is the issue then we need to find out why it was clogged because it will clog the new one as well. The most common thing that clogs converters is coolant and oil. So we will want to pressure test the system and maybe even test the cooling system for combustion gases.

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/head-gasket-blown-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/radiator-pressure-test

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-engine-compression

So I just Took out 02 sensor from precat and ran it for like 10 minutes it took a little longer to start glowing but definitely ran a bit smoother. how do we test those things? also passenger side exhaust manifold still glowing.

Could they be clogged due to just being so old they are stock the car is 20 years old ?

That sounds like the blockage is farther down then. An easy way to test if you have a welder is to drill a hole in between the items you want to test, Then use a piece of 3 16th brake tubing lightly sharpened to hammer into the hole. Then you just connect a pressure gauge to it. Start the engine and rev it a couple times while watching the gauge. You shouldn't see much over a pound of pressure if that. Then you pop the test tube out and weld the hole shut. For pre and post catalytic converter you can use the O2 sensors as ports, they use the same thread as a spark plug so adapters are easy to make.

Don’t quite understand what to test.

Can it all be from a simple misfire?

You would be measuring the pressures in the exhaust system. An open unplugged system should have close to zero psi across the rpm range. A partially plugged system will show pressure that increases rapidly with RPM. A misfire will dump extra fuel into the exhaust and if the system is plugged that alone will cause misfires as the exhaust cannot get out of the engine and the new fuel doesn't burn very well. However a blockage past the converters is a real possibility. That location would let the extra fuel from the misfires get into the converter and ignite and it wouldn't mess up the O2 readings real bad as long as there was some flow. If there is a flange between the front converter and the rear you could split the exhaust there and see if it runs better. This entire thing could be nothing but a bad muffler or converter.

This is kind of a weird question but when I bought the car the tailpipe rusted off muffler and kind of was hanging could stuff had got in and clogged the catalytic converters up or no?

Not likely but the muffler could be rusted inside, or someplace farther up. Testing for pressure would show if it's the problem, and where.

What do I use to test for pressure and could it be the EGR valve maybe?

The pressure testing uses nothing special, just a simple fuel pressure vacuum test gauge.
Not going to be the EGR. If it was open it would cause poor running but it wouldn't cause the converters to heat up like that.