How to fix faulty cat?
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 29
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From: kentucky
How to fix faulty cat? My car kept tripping the po420 code. I replaced the rear 02 sensor twice and the SES light keeps coming on. It seems the cat is faulty. The only thing is, nothing seems to be wrong. I haven't noticed any bad smells, overheating, or poor performance. My car has 56,000 miles and I know the cat is covered under warranty until 80,000. I've heard that you have to be the original owner for this to be covered at the dealership. Also I've heard the dealership wanting you to pay for the cat if you have a catback exhaust. They will lay the blame on your aftermarket exhaust. I don't want any problems with the dealership trying to rip me off. I have thought about gutting the cat and using a sim. I've also thought about finding a replacement. It seems most are universal and would have to be welded in. I don't want to invest alot of money to fix this. What should I do?
Last edited by PewterLS1; May 19, 2005 at 04:39 AM. Reason: mispell word
I had the same thing happen a few months ago. I would get a code saying I had an insufficient cat reading (driver side). I'd reset the PCM and it would come back usually within 15 or 20 miles. I figured it was either the cat or the O2 sensor. I swapped the two rear O2 sensors to see if the code moved to the passenger side, but it didn't. That told me my driver side cat was going south. The car drove fine and the cat didn't smell or anything. The only indication I had that anything was wrong was the code.
Took my WS6 to the dealer, told them what testing I had done and what my results were and they installed a new cat within a couple hours. I'm the third owner of my '00 WS6 and it had about 30K miles on her at the time. It doesn't matter how many owners a car's had. So long as it's within the time frame and mileage limit, the exhaust warranty is transferable.
Removing the cats and getting O2 sims is fine unless you live somewhere where you'll need them for state/county inspections.
I don't mean to rip on anyone, but if IMJ is eluding to just ignoring the problem by using sims or removing the O2 codes... that's not the way to go. If the cat is truely going south (which you may or may not be able to determine), you don't want to keep driving around with it. I had one clog up on me in my '89 Camaro RS and that thing blew with absolutely no warning, symptoms, or codes. I've never seen more smoke pour out of a pair of exhaust pipes. The damn thing died and left me stranded on the side of the road.
You should definately find out what the problem is and get it properly repaired.
Good luck,
Marc
Took my WS6 to the dealer, told them what testing I had done and what my results were and they installed a new cat within a couple hours. I'm the third owner of my '00 WS6 and it had about 30K miles on her at the time. It doesn't matter how many owners a car's had. So long as it's within the time frame and mileage limit, the exhaust warranty is transferable.
Removing the cats and getting O2 sims is fine unless you live somewhere where you'll need them for state/county inspections.
I don't mean to rip on anyone, but if IMJ is eluding to just ignoring the problem by using sims or removing the O2 codes... that's not the way to go. If the cat is truely going south (which you may or may not be able to determine), you don't want to keep driving around with it. I had one clog up on me in my '89 Camaro RS and that thing blew with absolutely no warning, symptoms, or codes. I've never seen more smoke pour out of a pair of exhaust pipes. The damn thing died and left me stranded on the side of the road.
You should definately find out what the problem is and get it properly repaired.
Good luck,
Marc
Thread Starter
Teching In
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 29
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From: kentucky
Thanks alot for the replies. I'll try going to the dealer first. if they don't want to fix it I'll try another one. They don't do emission testing here, but knowing my luck if I deleted my cats they would start the next day. Thanks again!
Joe
Joe
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Joined: Dec 2001
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From: Macomb, MI
Originally Posted by PewterLS1
My car kept tripping the po420 code. I replaced the rear 02 sensor twice and the SES light keeps coming on. It seems the cat is faulty. The only thing is, nothing seems to be wrong. I haven't noticed any bad smells, overheating, or poor performance. My car has 56,000 miles and I know the cat is covered under warranty until 80,000. I've heard that you have to be the original owner for this to be covered at the dealership. Also I've heard the dealership wanting you to pay for the cat if you have a catback exhaust. They will lay the blame on your aftermarket exhaust. I don't want any problems with the dealership trying to rip me off. I have thought about gutting the cat and using a sim. I've also thought about finding a replacement. It seems most are universal and would have to be welded in. I don't want to invest alot of money to fix this. What should I do?
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TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Dec 2001
Posts: 563
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From: Macomb, MI
Originally Posted by PewterLS1
Thanks HOSS99. Thats sounds good. Will you sell just the cats? Also do they still have the short pipe and flange on them so I can just bolt them up?
Thanks alot, Joe
Thanks alot, Joe
