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Installing a new Catalytic Converter on my 1998 Dodge Durango over the July 4th holiday weekend. Was wondering if there is a “Break In” method after installing a new one? Did a Google search on this and found that a lot of people say slap it on and go while others say to let it idle for 5min, bump the RPMs to 2500 for 2mins then let it cool…
Common sense would tell me that since the material is new that there should be some kind of “break in” to get everything formed and in place where it should… Just wondering?
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I pretty sure there’s no break in for a cat. Most people would have it done at a shop and then have to drive home.
On the other hand, if doing that 7 minute break in makes you feel better about it then do it.
[quote=”barneyb” post=101711]I pretty sure there’s no break in for a cat. Most people would have it done at a shop and then have to drive home.
On the other hand, if doing that 7 minute break in makes you feel better about it then do it.[/quote]
one of the manufactures sites that i visited touched on the topic without a proper break in it could lead to premature failure.. My thought is what would a shop care if it fails? your most likely going to come to them to have a new one installed anyways when it does… that’s why i ask what “should” be done.
I’ve never heard of it personally.
That being said? One thing I HATE to see anyone replacing a converter do? Is not address any issues of what caused it to fail in the first place. Other then design flaws and mechanical breakdown of the internal parts. Sadly most auto repair ‘jiffy’ type shops will just throw in a new converter—solve the usually annoying P0420 code (the computers way of making sure the converter is doing it’s job).. Without addressing the “Why it happened”? Will almost assure it will fail again over time.
If things have not been checked out? I would at least check and see if the onboard computer can relay fuel trim numbers. (disregard if the failed item was corrected–in that case a jolly “Well Done” is in order…or mechanical fail happened (aka, hit something in the road, smashed converter..etc..) With the expense of some converters costing about a grand in some cases? I like to be sure the cause has been found/corrected.
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There is no break in for a converter but for some reason after one heat cycle a new cat seems to work better as in lower emissions.
[quote=”Tedybear315″ post=101743]I’ve never heard of it personally.
That being said? One thing I HATE to see anyone replacing a converter do? Is not address any issues of what caused it to fail in the first place. Other then design flaws and mechanical breakdown of the internal parts. Sadly most auto repair ‘jiffy’ type shops will just throw in a new converter—solve the usually annoying P0420 code (the computers way of making sure the converter is doing it’s job).. Without addressing the “Why it happened”? Will almost assure it will fail again over time.
If things have not been checked out? I would at least check and see if the onboard computer can relay fuel trim numbers. (disregard if the failed item was corrected–in that case a jolly “Well Done” is in order…or mechanical fail happened (aka, hit something in the road, smashed converter..etc..) With the expense of some converters costing about a grand in some cases? I like to be sure the cause has been found/corrected.
S-[/quote]
i agree 100% B)
The reason for the replacement is that the previous owner did one heck of a hack job to the current exhaust system. Left it with at least 3-4 areas where there are some serious leaks, one being between the upstream O2 sensor and the cat. This cause the truck to run rich and the fool decided it be okay to drive it for 2 years like this. I was planning to address this last spring then my transmission tanked so i put it on hold till i got that fixed. Now that the weather is warm again i attempted to seal the leaks better but, when i did i started noticing lack of power. The muffler is starting to get really rusted so i am going to replace it with a Magnaflow system. I also figure since the cash flow is there, rather than rig up a hacked converter that is probably damaged and since i plan on later putting in a proformence engine i thought i would throw in a direct fit Magnaflow cat as well as 2 new Os sensors.
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