My 2002 Neon is going in for its SECOND catalytic converter replacement, and it only has 30,500 miles on it! I asked the service manager about this, and he goes "Shame on you." WHAT!? Short of beating it with a hammer this thing should NOT be going that fast. They are replacing it for free of course, it has an 8 year warranty, but still.

This is ridiculous. I asked him why is it going badlike this, and his flat out lie answer was, "When they go they go." Bull, Cats do not die, they get killed. I did nothing to it, and I was wondering if anyone had any info that might help me either make sure they did it right this time, or anything else?

 

Leak in your exhaust or engine, bad spark, check your fluids, if it's automatic then get a full tune up because i believe your supposed to at 30,000miles for and automatic. reset ur ecu, just give it a whirlwind of a check up.

 

Why are they replacing it? DTC's? They may just being throwing a part at it that isnt faulty because they dont know what the problem really is and/or they dont want to spend the time diagnosing it. Rule of thumb - DON'T trust service managers. I've worked at dealers and have friends that do and if I told you some of the horror stories that go down you wouldn't trust a SM as far as you could throw em. Most likely this guy isnt telling you the real story - cats dont go, they get manufactured incorrectly and/or the parameters in the computer are so stringent that the cat winds up getting blamed for something elses faultiness. I remember having a problem toyota rav 4 when I worked in the shop that was blowing codes - guess how we finally fixed it - software! and the dealer was sweating bullets because the owner was threatening to lemon law it. I was instructed by toyota to put on a new cat as well as reflashing the ecu but I'm betting that the new cat was just an extra precaution. Get on your service managers *** and tell him to look for any TSB's on the subject because im willing to bet DC is aware of the issue and has found a solution - trust me, DC doesnt want to pay for your warrantied cats or the labor they are paying the technician.

 

Yup, as they tech all mechanics attending school. If your cat died you HAVE a problem. You have to fix the problem and THEN replace the cat. If they did not isolate and fix the problem only installed a new cat, then your second cat will and DID fail too. Now tell them to fix the PROBLEM. Cats generally die when running rich. This causes them to overheat and melt. If you are plugging it up with soot then oil may be and issue. SOMETHING caused the cat too fail they don't do it on their own. If you still are not getting your issue resolved CALL DC! They will assist you. If found to be changing parts that are not broke or not fixing the problem causing repeat failures a dealer can be forced by the manufacturer to pay them reparation up to many times the value of parts and labor they were charged for the warranty repair. You probably have either an 02 or Fuel Injector issue.

 

I forgot to mention on with that rav issue that I also replaced the a/f ratio sensors and coincidentally I was talking to a friend of mine who still works for toyota that the current TSB includes - try the flash and replace the cat just in case it was "killed" and if the car comes back replace the a/fr sensors - its fairly hard to kill a cat and if you are the computer should know because the upstream o2 or a/fr sensor will read rich and adjust the fuel trim unless you are in open loop - if you are always running the car WOT this might be a possibility - the real problem is usually the afr or 02 sensors and if you have ever looked at their signals on a scope you would know why...they are sketchy devices - thats y I am hestitant to say a cat is junk even tho the computer says it is, not to mention a cat costs alot more than an 02 sesnsor - and thats y a revision from the manufacturer will include a re-flash, they usually set the constraints on the sensors far higher than the sensor can perform in the real world - in the lab on a brand new car, yeah they work great - give it 30k tho and that can make all the diff in the world - I have honestly never melted a cat even running way rich but the do get poisened from sulfur in the gas. The point I was making is that the technology for system self diagnosis of a/f ratios and catalyst efficiency is slightly behind that of the catalyst itself and whether or not this "kills" the cat is something I dont have an answer for..