I was wondering if as the cat converters on exhaust systems get clogged, do they increase the temp of the operating system on the car?? I replaced the rad, cap, tstat, water pump on my car, all within the last 2 years, and yet, even on a cool day, the car gets to the 110 mark in stop and go traffic...
If the car is driving on the freeway, as the fuel consumption meter increases the fuel intake, the water temp correspondingly goes up within about a minute... As the consumption goes down, so does the temp...
The only link I seem to make now is that maybe the cats are getting plugged. I drive the same road once a week, and there is a big hill. When I first got the car, I was able to go right up it without it shifting down, now the place where it shifts is getting lower, and lower down the hill...
Should I be looking at gutting the cats?? If so, what kind of wire should be used to weld them back shut?? Just regular steel mig welding wire?? Are the heat shields important, or can I just discard them??
Thanks in advance.

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'95 S320 LWB
'87 300SDL
'04 E500 wagon 4matic