RussellM

As the title says, I need to make my car throw a code- more specifically I need a P0420. As many of you already know, the cats on these cars are now waranteed for 10 years or 120,000 miles because they are crap. This past week the chevy dealership replaced my passenger side cat for free because the car was throwing a P0430. They refused to replace the driver's side cat because it wasn't showing any codes. As soon as they replaced my passenger side cat, my car developed a horrible vibration that gets worse with more RPM, it has very little power- particularly at high RPM, and it makes a kind of a rattling sound from the converter area at idle. I'm pretty sure that my driver side cat is plugged. I took it right back to the dealership, but they refused to replace the cat because the SES light isn't on. I argued with the service manager for 30 min but he wouldn't budge. I tried to make it come up by unplugging the rear O2 sensor and I went to autozone to get a scan, but the wrong code came up. What can I do to cause a P0420? They will have to replace it if I can make the code come up. This car is my daily driver and I can't drive it like this for long. I'm on a very tight budget, so high flow cats or an ORY is not an option. Please Help.

2001NBMZ28

Is it the drivers side cat that's rattling? Try tapping it with a rubber mallet. Are you close to exceeding the warranty? You can read up on P0420 for your year at gearchatter.com

RussellM

yes, the driver's side cat is rattling. The car has 110,000 miles and the warranty goes to 120,000. The vibration is so severe that I'm afraid I'm damaging my engine with so much backpressure. Thank you for your help. Any other suggestions?

2001NBMZ28

Well, to me if it's rattling inside it means it's coming apart inside or something's loose, like an 02. Dealers can check cat efficiency by scanning the car...maybe try another dealer. IMO they shouldn't turn you away just because they don't see a code if it's rattling like crazy and causing a vibration.

RE AND CHERYL

iTrader: (31)

If the cat is rattling then it is bad weather it throws a code or not. My 98 Dodge Ram had a cat shell out and never got a SES light. With my truck the service tech came out to the parking lot and hit the cat, after hearing the rattle he ordered a new one under warranty adn never brought the truck into the shop until they changed the cat.

Try another dealer.

Re'