catalytic converter question

[BILLANDLISA HORTON]

I know very little about catalytic converters except that they can get stopped up at one point in your vehicles life and that it smells like rotten eggs when this begins to happen. I also assume that this affects a lot of vehicles since going up hill behind vehicles I smell the eggs a lot. Having said all that.........is there a point in milage (200,000 for instance) that you can be pretty sure that your converter is stopping/stopped up??? They are very expensive too. Thanks

 

[Todd Z]

There is really no set time they go... As far as the smell goes, you can get that in a normally running vehicle.. The only way is if it falls apart and start making a rattle, or physically taking it down and looking inside it for clogs..

Todd Z

 

[Kevin Palmer]

After market converters are cheap.Can be bought for $100.00 or so. Installed for a total of $200.00 or so. Most OEM Converters will last the life of the vehicles, especially the styles that are on our Tracs. They are of the honey comb design, not the waffle type. The old style is what use to plug up.



I seriously doubt that you will ever have an issue with your converter.



Simply by smelling the rotten egg smell means nothing as far as it being plugged. The smell is a result of the converter doing it's job. It is burning contaminants. The best method to test tis is to drill a hole in front of the converter, insert a pressure guage, floor the engine. If it goes up 1 to 4 PSI your good to go. If it gets close to 15 PSI or much higher it is plugged.

 

[john main]

Another couple pieces of info...the Warn co that makes most of the US cats is using less nickel in them to prevent it's workers from receiving heavy metal poisoning, this elimination/reduction of the nickel increases the rotten egg smell. Also an overly rich fuel mixture will burn/plug up the cat in no time at all.

 

[Tom Schindler]

I had a Catalytic Converter fail on my 1996 Trac. I got it used and when I had to get it smog tested and it failed. Paid 140.00 for a cat and replaced it myself. Took about a half hour. The following day, after a long drive, I took it to get tested again and it passed with flying colors.



With that being said, I never knew that the converter was bad. The exhaust did not smell any different then any other cars do. An old Girlfriend had a 1979 Mercury Zephyr Wagon with 280,000 miles on it. Original Cat. Passed smog testing better then most new cars pass.



Alot of it depends on how well the engine runs. Too rich, bad plugs, wires, airfilter, etc. and it can get pluged up. Too lean, clogged fuel injectors, fuel filter, carbon in the combustion chamber, etc. and it can run too hot and you can burn the converter up. A well running engine that has been taken care of properly and the converter should outlive the vehicle.



Things to look out for that can be a sign of a bad converter.



Loss of power. The converter is clogged and restricting exhaust flow (happened to a friend in his Pontiac Parissan <SP?>) You vehicle might only want to drive 25 MPH and not any faster.



Failure of emission testing. For example, NOx readings too high with CO high also. The three way cat has an element called Rhodium that has burned out. (It takes CO and NOx, removes the O from the NOX and adds it to the CO and you get CO2 and N)



Noises from the exhaust such as a buzzing or rattle in the tailpipe, not the underneith. If you hear it from under the vehicle, check the heat shields. The welds sometimes break causing the shield to rattle.



If you do not have any emmission testing in your area, don't worry about it unless you have problems.



The smell alone will not prove anything.





Tom

 

[Johnny O]

I used to have a '91 Lincoln that I put 152k on, I currently have an '87 Astro work beater with 133k, both with original cats and passed smog no problem.