(Poll) Have any of you replaced your catalytic converter?

[Rosieuk]

Replacing it tomorrow at 2pm, or rather the garage is.. desperation measure because I've replaced practically everything else. Idle misfire that isn't, in order, plugs, coil, injectors, isc, map/iat because they've all been changed or tested working perfectly. Once it hits 1300-1500rpm depending on its mood it feels like someone strapped a turbo on it (the first time I almost planted it in a wall), idle fuel has gone from 2.8 to 3.4l/h on the HUD but everything above 1300rpm perfectly normal. It's been running rich which I can now only assume is to do with the downstream O2 getting brain weebles and reporting lean after the cat, so the mixture goes rich. Everything screams blockage.. oh and on start up it creates the most amazing stink known to human kind..
The replacement is a Klarius maniverter, which I have HT painted in black to protect it a little and help it radiate some heat. If I can get a unit for £130 I'm not going to drop £400 for the manufacturer one, but I'll be really annoyed if it turns out to solve the problem because all the experts have told me I'm wrong for over a year..

[Xist]

Rosie, thank you for sharing. Have you asked on forums specifically for your car or on https://www.reddit.com/r/Cartalk/? I have gotten some good help there. Good luck!

[chefdave]

Had a 200 cell replacement cat when my exhaust fell off. Dealer quoted £600 for cat. Whole custom exhaust made out of stainless steel is still going 12 years later. Total cost of exhaust was £500 fitted. Any issues take back and will sort it same day if possiable.

[jcp123]

Ooh, I wish I could remember the cat I'd put on my Echo. It lasted less than 18 months. Never bothered to replace it again, so it ran with essentially a bad cat for ~2.5-3yrs.

Eastern was always the one recommended to me if I'd wanted to get something quality, but $130 installed was too good a deal to pass up on a car worth well under $1000.

[Xist]

Yeah, cats cost more for a 2000 Echo than my Civic for some reason. Rockauto would charge $256.79 for a 48-state Eastern CC.

Installation is free if you have a wrench!

[Rosieuk]

Originally Posted by Xist

Rosie, thank you for sharing. Have you asked on forums specifically for your car or on https://www.reddit.com/r/Cartalk/? I have gotten some good help there. Good luck!

I've looked on Hyundai forums and all over the place, all the advice has been about as useful as a chocolate teapot, replace this, replace that. The new cat is definitely better, runs at about 300c on the top and it's breathing better. Garage did their usual crappy job courtesy of Master Monobrow. Tore up the heatshield which is almost impossible to replace.. I suspect it's the inlet manifold (they're known for it) but that's a whole lot more hassle and expense.
I'd rather leave stuff like that to garages, although I usually source parts myself. I had skin cancer removed (they might as well have used a chainsaw looking at the scar) from my arm in December and have just been diagnosed with CFS and my back is wrecked courtesy of incompetent doctors, so bending and working with heavy parts is not a great move for me..
Still it looks a lot better painted up and fitted than the old one, and it doesn't seem that the bad idle is upsetting it any.. it's going into another garage for a full check over anyway before MOT.

[Xist]

I did a great deal of research way back when, but I am not sure that I kept anything but OEM prices. California98Civic helped me use the method he described here. The code kept coming back every 500-1000 miles. I dropped my cat in boiling acid and the code stayed away for 5,012 miles.

Should I try again or finally replace it?

[jcp123]

Originally Posted by Xist

Yeah, cats cost more for a 2000 Echo than my Civic for some reason. Rockauto would charge $256.79 for a 48-state Eastern CC.

Installation is free if you have a wrench!

At the time I'd just inherited the car. Knew little about emissions-controlled vehicles. The car ran badly, etc. Fixed the cat not knowing the running issues killed cats (dirty MAF, running lean causing high exhaust temps and burning the cat).

I don't regret it, really. It was still marginal enough to get me through annual inspection, and the car taught me a lot about how modern OBDII cars run and can be diagnosed.

[Xist]

I still have not changed the timing belt. The last few weeks have been very busy for me. but I have the crazy compulsion to clean out my engine compartment and check for leaks before starting work. The thing is, I have not noticed any drips, but I am definitely losing oil. Everyone says that is normal for a car with over 100,000 miles, but the engine must be burning it, and that very well may be what killed the cat.
It probably burned two quarts of oil in the 5,000 miles since I cleaned the cat. Maybe that was just enough oil to drop the cat below threshold.
I plan on replacing the gaskets and seals when I replace the timing belt, but I do not imagine that finding faulty gaskets and seals inside of the engine is easy.

[California98Civic]

I think investigating possible oil burning is important. Two quarts in a few thousand miles is a lot of missing oil. Have you inspected spark plugs and exhaust for signs of oil burning? Do both dry and wet compression tests, too.

FWIW, I had no CEL when I cleaned my CAT. And I have no CEL now, maybe 15,000 miles later.