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What a difference a new catalytic convertor makes! Night and day. The old one had to go on account of a crack on the bottom and my bi-annual smog test is coming up this year. Bolt on install took 4 hours total, including 90 min of prepping the mating surfaces (donut gasket and used downpipe flare end) for a leak free fit. First thing I noticed on start up was the engine idling higher, suggesting less exhaust restriction. Then while driving the second thing I noticed is how fast the turbo spooled up compared to before the cat replacement. I would say half the time it took prior. Lastly, as I was returning from a post office run of 4 miles slightly uphill with lots of turns, I drove the entire route in 5th gear, which I ordinarily drive in 4th. And I had the AC on! The last test was a steep uphill climb 1/4 mile from home that I usually take in 3rd with some effort. At the very top is a sharp left turn followed by more incline that usually requires a downshift to 2nd. This time it was an easy pull in 3rd the whole way. And most importantly, I still had the AC on! I was really quite surprised that a new cat convertor would make such a difference under normal driving conditions.
Knowing what the inside of the new cat looked like, I had to see what the old one looked like on the inlet side. Because the old downpipe and cat were welded together, I had to sawzall the pipe off to look inside. At first glance it was obvious why the dramatic difference between the two - all but a small circle (maybe 1/3 of the total core diameter) was blocked from way too many carbon molecules being baked on it's surface. Aside from the crack on the bottom, the only other indicator that the old cat was on it's way out was the last smog test taken 18 months ago. It barely passed. With everything else checking out fine, the only other variable was the cat. The technician also indicated as much at the time.
Another lesson learned.
posted by 205.188.11...
, Wed, 12 Jul 2006 14:28:49, Wed, 12 Jul 2006 17:23:55
, Wed, 12 Jul 2006 06:54:18
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