I was wondering if you guys could let me know the easiest way to tell if my catalytic converter is done. My car has 200 00kms on it. Alos would you guys endorse the use of a hi-flow cat to replace the stock one....and can u recommend a good cat.
#1 if your cat is bad your CEL will be on.
Are you trying to test for it being plugged, or not operating correclty, best way to see if it is plugged is use a backpressure gauge.
Thanks to govt. regulation there is no true difference between the internals of a high flow cat and a stock cat. The one that came off the car must be the same as the new one, wether it be two or three way cat. A high flow cat is simply bigger in shape, nothing else, no performance is gained, nothing whatsoever
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
either the oven Dings or the meowing stops.
The CEL will tell you.
-Chris
IamRascal wrote:either the oven Dings or the meowing stops.
Just because the meowing stops doesn't mean the meat is thoroughly cooked.
the CEL has already came on and I scanned it. I know that the problem is either the cat or the O2 sensonr after the cat....this is why I want to know how to check the cat since I have no idea how to figure out it is the sensor.
pass_The_J wrote:the CEL has already came on and I scanned it. I know that the problem is either the cat or the O2 sensonr after the cat....this is why I want to know how to check the cat since I have no idea how to figure out it is the sensor.
Let me just say this, I have never replaced a downstream O2 sensor on any car ever. Not saying they dont fail, just saying I have never seen it.
- 2004 Cavalier - 124k, owned since new
i think i replaced the rear O2 sensor on my 99 cav. not sure though. my mechanic did it for me(middle of dec and i wasn't crawling under there) the rear one is harder to change right? cause i remember him telling me that it was the harder one.
from my experiance CAT's last forever, only one ive ever changed was on a 92 corolla with 450,000kms on it.
http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg
you can usually tell by the horribe smell of rotten eggs that your cat is done
When they took off my stock cat, we held them both up to direct sunlight to see how much could pass through. Stock was pitch black, aftermarket high-flow was very difuse, bright light. This was done way back somewhere around 100K miles on the OE cat.
ypu cant see through a cat at all. specially on our cars b/c just at the end of the cat the pipe bends.
On some j-bodies, that may be true, but on my '96 'Fire, the OE cat was a straight one, as is the aftermarket high-flow unit; inlet and outlet pipes make a straight line. So maybe there isn't a change in the content as per federal regulations, but there seems to be a difference of design, or application of the regulations, that lets the aftermarket cat breath better. Oh yeah, the guy also shot air from a hose through each. OE was a gentle breeze and high flow was diffuse, but still gusty.
