Is my catalytic converter screwed?

[David]

Hey guys,

Had a rattle occur under my car some time ago, thought it might of been loose heat shields (like in Erics video).. but not so. Took the converter off to look inside and found a honycombe looking thing loose, rolling around.

Just wondering.. is it it dead? Can it be fixed?

Also, can this cause a performance decrease ?

Thanks 🙂

Topic

[Lorrin Barth]

Probably still works somewhat but cannot be fixed – well, there is replacement. As for performance, probably yes but hard to say.

Look at the bright side, it is not welded in.

[EricTheCarGuy]

Nope. Once the internals break apart it’s pretty much toast. You’ll have to replace it to fix it unfortunately. Beware of aftermarket converted BTW. They have been known to set of a P0420 even after replacement. Some manufacturers have pretty strict monitors when it comes to cat efficiency.

Good luck and keep us posted.

[David]

damn 🙁 .. thanks guys

Just wondering, how bad is it to drive without the honeycomb section in the cat converter ?

[Wayne]

Bad for what? Gutting it, I wouldn’t. Recycling centers, local salvage yards, and even many places online will buy these used cats for a bit of cash so long as the precious metals are still in them, so you can likely get a bit toward the purchase of a new cat from it so long as you don’t gut it. Don’t expect alot, but $30-$100 depending upon market and who you sell to, still ain’t bad. Ebay would likely pay the most, but the most pain…
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IMPORT-OEM-FULL-Catalytic-Converter-SCRAP-Recycling-Platinum-Palladium-Rhodium-/331172509434

Were it me, I’d leave it out or make some kind of makeshift patch if you can’t replace it right away. If you run with it, you run the risk of bits of it getting thrown into the muffler. Instead of $300 fix, you end up with a $600 fix.

Realistically, it’s not that big a deal IMO to run without it for a bit. I’ve used 2 store bought patch sections before (clamped together) to create a temporary patch before just to get me by for a bit, and without getting ticketed for noise pollution in the meantime.

I’ve just left ’em open air before as well, so long as it’s not that long a time, and you don’t sit next to a cop at a light, or get up really early for work making the neighbors irate, it’s not a biggie. Just remember in addition to pollution both noise, and air, expect it to run rich in addition for that time.

[Author]

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