Headline: Bad cat makes van a dog.

At first, it just felt as if we got a fill of poor gas.
A week or two later, it felt as if we were hauling a heavy load - but we
weren't.
After a month, we were down shifting on hills that were never a problem
before.
Finally the syncro's extra low gear was needed on steep hills. We
started to accept the worst and checked our savings account.

We booked an appointment with the VW-MD and headed off on the 230 km
trip to OWASCO with one of us following in our trusty Subaru. Well the
van ran reasonably on the flat but any hill was a killer. After about 60
km trouble began. The oil light blinked and the buzzer buzzed. The
engine is cooked, Right? Were our worst fears confirmed?

We'll skip the rest of the saga and leap to the last line...THE CAT DID
IT.
The catalytic converter had disintegrated to such an extent that the
muffler was plugged with debris. The engine was choking. It couldn't
breath. The van was a dog.

Now with a new cat it purrs like a kitten.

Question: what has low oil pressure got to do with a plugged exhaust? We
were told by two reputable VW mechanics that this was not their first
experience of low oil pressure in conjunction with a plugged cat but
neither of them could explain the causal relationship. Can you?

Larry
'86 Syncro Westfalia in Ontario, Canada