UCrazyKid

So I have failing catalytic converters. The both are rattling. Drives me nuts, I hear it every time I leave my house and drive over our cobblestone driveway, everytime I hit a "dot" in the road, etc.

I have not had a CEL yet but I'm sick of listening to the racket. The car is still under California's emissions warranty and should cover the cats.

Can some one recommend a dealer that will not give me a hard time about not having a CEL and just replace them because of the noise?

I have no dealer experience as of yet. I have only had my car for 9 months and I haven't had any problems (knock wood). I'm located in Campbell.
The car is 2002 coupe

Thanks!
Andy

Orient Express

Go see your local dealer in San Jose. If the parts are indeed defective, then they will replace them.

UCrazyKid

I have heard that if there is now CEL they won't change them.

Holger B

Disconnect O2 sensor = CEL. Then drive to dealer. Problem solved.

gota911

What he said! ^ hee hee

Orient Express

Actually not. If you disconnect the O2 sensor, then the car will register a bad O2 sensor fault, and you will get that O2 sensor replaced.

The only resolution to this is to visit your local dealer, describe the problem and demonstrate it to them. If you indeed have a catalytic converter with a damaged or loose substrate, then it will be replaced.

If you have a muffler with a damaged or loose baffle it too will be replaced if the car is in the 50k/5yr warranty. If not, mufflers are relatively inexpensive.

mooty

if your dealer refuse to warranty your cat simply b/c your CEL is not on, he's wrong.
if your cat rattles, it's dead. it needs replacement.
in fact if you open and close the doors and you can hear cat rattle, they are long gone.

TheSpeedDemon

^^^ yep the law requires them to be replaced if not functioning. You could always see if a muffler shop will validate your cats are bad and use that as leverage if the dealer pushes back.

Holger B

Is there a specific code for cats? Not that I'm aware of.

An O2 CEL along with a description of the problem should prompt the tech to check (and hopefully replace) the cats.

I also agree with the others that a CEL isn't necessarily required to get the problem fixed.

Orient Express

The Cat internal structure can be damaged, i.e the honeycomb substrate can come loose from the case, and the cat will still operate normally, thus no ECU error. But if the cat substrate has partially collapsed, then that can cause excessive backpressure on the engine. This is why if the cat rattles, that is enough cause to have it replaced.

TT Surgeon

Cats are part of the emissions system and federally mandated to be replaced 10yrs/100k miles, regardless of current warranty status, I believe. This is above and beyand any warranty coverage issue.

Orient Express

Yes, but on your own dime. I doubt that as long as they pass emissions testing, that anyone is going to spend a grand on replacing them. There are no Cat police to make you do it. The 100K interval is a recommendation. This is just like air bags which have a 10 year replacement recommendation.