Problems/Service/Maintenance Do you have problems with your new 2.0, 2.2, or 2.4L? What kind of service did you have done?

Catalytic Converter Going Bad

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Old Nov 21, 2006 | 09:20 PM
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05redline's Avatar
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Catalytic Converter Going Bad

Those with 2.0 SSs and have had bad converters on your cars, what were some of the symtopms you have seen before hand? Did you all get service lights? Also, has anyone had their converters go bad on an all stock car? Mine is untouched. Lately my exhaust has had a buzzy sound to it, and I am wondering is this an early sign of a bad converter?
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Old Nov 21, 2006 | 11:27 PM
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a buzz sound is very unlikely to have anything to with your cat. most likely a broken baffle in the muffler or a crack in the interior wall of the dual wall resonator. provided the exhaust is stock. otherwise all bets are off as far as a buzz. the symtoms your car will/may exhibit. are unusually high boost, bogging down upon moderate to heavy acceleration, and maybe not always a MIL be it from misfires due to the inability to expell exhaust gases or from improper fluctuation in the upstream ho2s sensor or inconsistent readings from the downstream ho2s sensor. should mostly stay between 650mv adn 850mv some fluctuation from that is ok but anything durastic is abnormal

and on top of that by federal law you have 8yrs and 80,000 miles warranty on catalytic converters (although not on all emissions related parts as some may believe) so if you were to have a bad cat you could get it replaced under warranty provided you have less than 80k. since you could not be out by time. so unless your are in some all stock racing shoot out, i would not worry unless you start to exhibit some moree durastic and obvious symtoms. but when and if they do occur bring it to a dealer asap as driving under the above stated conditons can result in more severe engine damage.
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Old Nov 21, 2006 | 11:31 PM
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If its the same buzzing noise I heard, then it's your resonator.
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 03:27 PM
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I had a problem with mine when I got it, smelt sulfur and would see huge black clouds under part throttle, saw 15 # boost, took it in, they said it was normal and it was breaking in, at 3k miles... a month later driving car would bog down to nothing if you even tried to tap the gas. I've burned out cats so I know it was immediatly the cat, went home punched the bitch out, and bought a 3" one. As of right now I've tried stopping the 3"cti downpipe and high flow cat to stop leaking at both ends so I swapped back to my stock one, sounds lovely IMO so my 3" is for emissions now, and I'm fine with stock piping, now just need to clear out resonator and change the muffle to compensate, but other then that I love the sound of my exhaust.

Btw I am in no way saying to clear out your cat as this is ILLEGAL and you WILL NOT pass emissions.
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 03:40 PM
  #5  
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From: Central NY
Originally Posted by Julex
I had a problem with mine when I got it, smelt sulfur and would see huge black clouds under part throttle, saw 15 # boost, took it in, they said it was normal and it was breaking in, at 3k miles... a month later driving car would bog down to nothing if you even tried to tap the gas. I've burned out cats so I know it was immediatly the cat, went home punched the bitch out, and bought a 3" one. As of right now I've tried stopping the 3"cti downpipe and high flow cat to stop leaking at both ends so I swapped back to my stock one, sounds lovely IMO so my 3" is for emissions now, and I'm fine with stock piping, now just need to clear out resonator and change the muffle to compensate, but other then that I love the sound of my exhaust.

Btw I am in no way saying to clear out your cat as this is ILLEGAL and you WILL NOT pass emissions.
Did you get a CEL from hollowing your cat? Cause I hollowed mine about 200 miles ago, and I still dont have a CEL
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 03:50 PM
  #6  
JohnnySasakiMGS's Avatar
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From: Upstate NY
Originally Posted by chevytech
a buzz sound is very unlikely to have anything to with your cat. most likely a broken baffle in the muffler or a crack in the interior wall of the dual wall resonator. provided the exhaust is stock. otherwise all bets are off as far as a buzz. the symtoms your car will/may exhibit. are unusually high boost, bogging down upon moderate to heavy acceleration, and maybe not always a MIL be it from misfires due to the inability to expell exhaust gases or from improper fluctuation in the upstream ho2s sensor or inconsistent readings from the downstream ho2s sensor. should mostly stay between 650mv adn 850mv some fluctuation from that is ok but anything durastic is abnormal

and on top of that by federal law you have 8yrs and 80,000 miles warranty on catalytic converters (although not on all emissions related parts as some may believe) so if you were to have a bad cat you could get it replaced under warranty provided you have less than 80k. since you could not be out by time. so unless your are in some all stock racing shoot out, i would not worry unless you start to exhibit some moree durastic and obvious symtoms. but when and if they do occur bring it to a dealer asap as driving under the above stated conditons can result in more severe engine damage.

Damn dude, what dealership do you work for? I want you to be my service tech!
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 08:57 PM
  #7  
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From: Manchester, New Hampshire
No CEL and I've had mine like that for 5k miles lol. I've never seen any codes for anything exhaust related except 2nd o2 sensor when I left it unplugged on purpose.

And yea 8 year warranty no matter what car you have. That's on all Emissions equipment, nothing else. Which is great, if the dealers don't try to stick it to you, which is what they have to try and do, cause if they repaired everything they'd lose money, sad fact.
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 08:59 PM
  #8  
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From: Central NY
what the hell is the point of adding an 02 sensor after the cat, if it doesnt do anything?!
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 09:08 PM
  #9  
Coblt ss super's Avatar
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From: Westchester, New York
my car still has the sulfur smell at 9000 miles what could that mean for mine?
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Old Dec 2, 2006 | 09:24 PM
  #10  
patathSS's Avatar
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From: OP, KS
Originally Posted by HackAbuse
what the hell is the point of adding an 02 sensor after the cat, if it doesnt do anything?!
The point of it is to monitor the cat and make sure it is working properly.
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 08:30 AM
  #11  
06CobaltssOrange's Avatar
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From: New York
Hey

when it happened my supercharger started getting alot louder then the car because the cat was not letting anything out of the exhaust so my s/c sounded insane! and ull notice a big power stop like u cant even spin 2nd!
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 01:26 PM
  #12  
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From: Windsor, Ontario
I just had my cat replaced today... It went on the weekend.... My exhaust got really quiet and I could only hear the motor and supercharger wine.... I couldn't hit any RPM's past 4500, I had no power..... It all started a week ealier when I started the car cold, I'd hear an annyoying rattle, I though it was a heat sheild but turns out it wasn't....
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Old Dec 5, 2006 | 01:48 PM
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From: baltimore md
xtc catless dp ftw no cat problems then
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