....and the answer is
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 138
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From: BOISE
....and the answer is ok, so I got SES light on and the code is #P0420--the pcm determined that the catalyst system efficency for bank 1 is below threshold.........? does any have an idea what this is telling me besides something about emissions
Like was mentioned, it's either a bad cat or O2 sensor. To be sure, swap the two O2 sensors, clear the code and then when the code comes back, if it's a P0420 again, that means you have a bad cat. If, when the code comes back, you have a P0430, you have a bad O2 sensor.
If it's a bad cat... I believe the emissions warranty is something like 8 years or 80K miles (unless you have an '00 - '02. Their warranty was extended like was mentioned above). I had both of my cats replaced at seperate times under warranty for the same reason.
If it's a bad O2 sensor... buy a new one.
Marc
If it's a bad cat... I believe the emissions warranty is something like 8 years or 80K miles (unless you have an '00 - '02. Their warranty was extended like was mentioned above). I had both of my cats replaced at seperate times under warranty for the same reason.
If it's a bad O2 sensor... buy a new one.
Marc
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My driver side went bad first (P0420) and then my passenger side went (P0430) about a year later. Haven't had a problem with either since. The passenger side was replaced about a year ago.
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Joined: Nov 2005
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From: Boston, MA
I've had 3 or four cats go on my 2000...Lucky for me I got the extended warranty letter in the mail. Anyway, I would just tell the dealer to fix it. It's not the O2's most of the time. O2's are covered till 80k I think, check the warranty book.
Thread Starter
On The Tree
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 138
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From: BOISE
Its a Bad Cat Driverside its covered under warranty the o2s are good they said its running extremely lean cause it to dump fuel in the cats and smokem, And said i need a whole emission cleaning to flush out the carbon....?
Do you need the letter to get the warranty work done? I bought the car just recently, and the seller gave me the paperwork for it, but it's under HIS name. I get p0430 and I have replaced the O2 sensor just to see (I was pretty sure it was the cat anyhow)
On the tree
Joined: May 2004
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No letter needed, this was a national compaign.
The Cats, O2's, full exhaust system and ECM are covered 8yr/80,000 miles. The extended the cats to 10yr/120,000 mile just recently on the 00-02 cars due to these exact problems.
here is my reasoning as to why. I would of have thought the GM engineers would of have caught this and fixed it the right way.
First you go in for a bad cat. GM only replaces the offending side instead of replacing both. Now what happens is the ECM sees the efficiency rates are different between both sides so now it throws the code for the opposite side. Now once again GM only replaces the other side. They do this until you get tired of it or get rid of the cats all together.
If GM would replace both at the same time the ECM would not freak out 6 months later because the flow rates would be the same.
The Cats, O2's, full exhaust system and ECM are covered 8yr/80,000 miles. The extended the cats to 10yr/120,000 mile just recently on the 00-02 cars due to these exact problems.
here is my reasoning as to why. I would of have thought the GM engineers would of have caught this and fixed it the right way.
First you go in for a bad cat. GM only replaces the offending side instead of replacing both. Now what happens is the ECM sees the efficiency rates are different between both sides so now it throws the code for the opposite side. Now once again GM only replaces the other side. They do this until you get tired of it or get rid of the cats all together.
If GM would replace both at the same time the ECM would not freak out 6 months later because the flow rates would be the same.
