Catalytic Converters For Dummies P0420 P0430

Catalytic converter replacement has become a big expensive drain on a lot of people's budgets these days. I would like to share some info about whats happening here and some ways to get around shelling out piles of money to become emissions compliant.

So you car or truck is running good but that check engine light is on with a code P0420 or P0430 and related catalyst efficiency below threshold codes. You like your car so you take is to be looked at and choke on the 1400 dollar or more estimate to replace the converter on your car.

Some mechanics will tell you that a converter never goes bad on its own, there is always something else wrong with the car. There is a lot of truth in this. Basically a converter reduces pollution by a chemical reaction that requires fuel from the engine in the form of unburnt gas in your exhaust stream, heat which it gets from your exhaust and oxygen.

When a car is having an engine skipping problem the converter can be destroyed from overheating. When a car is running too cold from a long warm-up time, lets say the thermostat is bad, the same thing can happen, good-bye converter.

Another way a converter can die is from poisoning due to the introduction of silicone into the exhaust. When a car engine has a head gasket leak, even a small one that doesn't make the car overheat, the silicons from the coolant can stop the converter from working.

These types of converter failures can often be brought back to life using a cleaning product called cataclean. You run the fuel tank low and dump one can of this liquid into your tank and drive for 20 minutes then fill up the tank. This actually works about half the time. Then you clear the engine light and drive two days and back to emissions for a retest. But I'm not here to hawk overpriced cleaning chemicals.

If you are going to spend the cash to replace a converter consider putting a new thermostat and a can of alumaseal in the radiator so the new cat has a healthy life span.

Lets talk about how your car knows the converter is bad in the first place. The rear oxygen sensors (the ones behind the converters) monitor how much oxygen is coming out of the converter at any time. A healthy converter will store all the oxygen and the sensor will see that there is little oxygen coming out of the back of the converter. These cars will not put on the engine light for catalytic converter failure because all is well.

Bad or failing converter cars show a lot of oxygen coming out of the converter and therefore the light comes on because the converter is not healthy.

There is a way to trick the rear oxygen sensor into thinking the converter is okay. Remember our friend silicone that was ruining the converter from coolant leaks inside the engine? Well it turns out silicone also kills oxygen sensors.

Proceed at your own risk because modifications to your car's emissions controls can cause permanent damage to your car. I am not responsible for anything you do to your car. This information is provided only for test purposes on cars not intended for road use.

There is s huge secret that has not made it into the public domain yet but here it is:

If you remove a rear oxygen sensor and pack it with red RTV silicone it will destroy the oxygen sensor in a way that will trick your car's computer into thinking the catalyst is okay because it can not sense the oxygen coming out of the sensor. But the sensor will still generate voltage enough to pass the cars oxygen sensor activity test. Never do this to a front oxygen sensor because it will mess up the fuel system.

Well there it is one of the best kept secrets in the smog loving world. This works nearly 100% of the time. You will never find a mechanic that will do this for you so you best be prepared to remove that sensor yourself and put it back in.

Certain newers cars will not tolerate having the rear oxygen sensor dummied up so you will have to get a new sensor after passing or the car will start to under fuel and you will get a codes for fuel trim rich. Some chrysler and mercedes cars actually use info from the rear oxygen sensor to adjust the fuel.

Bank 1 is always the side of the engine with the number one cylinder. Check firing order to determine for sure which side is bank one of you are looking for a particular sensor bank one or bank two.

If you want to restore the car to normal working condition you will need to get a new oxygen sensor becase any sensor that has been siliconed will never work properly again.

I hope this article has helped you learn about catalytic converter failures. Best of luck to you.