Auto Dopers-Repair Info-Catalytic Converter–Urgent
I had my “Check Engine” light come on, & took it to a mechanic.
They claim my catalytic converter is “stopped up”.
$725+ tax, & 3 days for parts.
Cars is a 1999 Ford Contour
Rip off, or genuine?
I’ve not too much past history with these guys, but they run a clean, well-staffed & well-organized shop, & have been there more than a couple of years.
Input?
Catalytic converters have a reputation for being crazy expensive to replace.
I’d also concentrate really hard on why it went bad in the first place - maybe bad valves or injectors.
Seeing as people are running around and stealing catalytic converters out of cars for their platinum content, that’s probably a good price, but 3 days seems awfully long. Were they planning on leaving your car disassembled on the lift while they wait for the UPS guy to deliver the parts? Labor-wise, I don’t think it should be much worse than a muffler replacement.
Speaking of which, how is the rest of your exhaust system? You’ll not have a much better time to replace anything such as the muffler or pipes while the cat is out.
If you haven’t done so already, try to get some ballpark price estimates from places like Midas or Sears. If other estimates come in at $700-800, then your shop’s probably not trying to gouge, but there still is the “stopped up” question, and you’d need to take the car to another shop, and be prepared to pay their diagnostic service charge to get a second opinion to see if it really is plugged. It’s entirely possible that the thing is mechanicaly damaged from doing something like driving over a curb and smashing it, or an exhaust pipe hanger broke and there’s a kink restricting flow.
Cats CAN get ‘stopped up’ and when they do, they cause rough running or idle, or can even cause your car to bog or to simply die out.
They can be expensive, but just a quick check puts the cost for parts alone at between 160 and 380 depending on what you need. They generally bolt on, but stuff may need to be taken off of the car to get at them, so like usual, you’re paying for vapor, er, labor in moderate excess. That’s probably a little high, but not altogether out of the ballpark. Me, I’d price it around a bit, may save you a couple hundred.
It’s unlikely, but depending on when the car was first purchased and how many miles it has, it may be under warranty. The EPA mandates an 8yr/80,000mi warranty on the catalytic converter for any car built after 1995.
If it is “stopped up” with soot or other combustion debris, try pulling the PCV valve off the intake manifold. This will cause the engine to run lean, and the excess oxygen will be in the exhaust. Hot, oxygen rich exhaust should burn up the stopped up debris.
I had a 76 Cordoba that the converter stopped up on. I just cut it out and spliced in a tailpipe extension from Auto Zone. You probably wouldn’t pass inspection in CA after that, but your locations says that’s not a consideration.
It’s not an unreasonable price. A high quality aftermarket converter from my supplier would cost more than that.
Field experience has shown that some cars’ electronic control systems are very sensitive to converter operation, to where some aftermarket converters will trigger the “check engine” light because they don’t mimic factory performance closely enough. As a result, knowledgeable shops will only use factory converters (which tend to be the most expensive) on those cars. I’d be cautious about searching for a better price, as it may come with headaches.
IIRC a Contour has two or more catalytic convertors. Are they replacing them all?
If the only problem is a Check Engine light, and your car is running ok, and you don’t have to pass emissions tests, I’d ignore it. My 98 Contour had a Check Engine light for like 7 years! It concerned me at first, but it just means a trouble code has been stored in the computer, which could be anything from a loose gas cap to a catalytic convertor.
Here’s one for $358.04 for your car.
http://www.racepages.com/products/?N=1616+4294967264+10332+4294967219
In some states like NJ if you take your car in for inspection and the Check Engine Light is light up you will automaticly fail.
Before we go buy a new converter I have a few questions.
First off what lead the shop to determine that the converter was “stopped up” To the best of my knowledge there is no fault code for a plugged converter. It is not unreasonable to expect fuel trim codes or miss fire codes as a result of a plugged converter, but the mere presence of these codes does not automatically condemn the converter.
Secondly Cats don’t go bad and get plugged on their own when everything else on the car is running with in specifications. Something failed that caused the converter to get plugged. Replacing the converter without repairing the underlying cause is frankly pissing away money. The failure will only reoccur.
I agree with Gary T that a quality of converters can vary greatly, and cheap ones are not necessary worth the effort. I have seen posts on professional repair forums where a car failed a smog test, and the cat was condemned. An aftermarket converter was installed, and emissions went up by more than 50% :smack:
Lots of things can cause engine check lights. Confirm their diagnosis; Autozone offers free analysis of engine codes. Maybe it is just a leaky gas cap.
I’ll second the AutoZone suggestion. Your car is equipped with OBD-II capability. It’s easy enough to have them plug in a scanner and verify any error codes for free.
And the leaky gas cap thing is a common cause of check engine lights and other emission codes. Try removing and retightening your gas cap to release any pressure in the tank. The light won’t go off immediately but if this is the cause it will after driving around for a bit. As it ages, the gas cap seal loses it sealing ability, triggering the light. This happens all the time on my wife’s vehicle.
Full disclosure: I know fuckall about cat converters and autos in general. I’m just skeptical of a “stopped up” cat converter diagnosis.
Well I do know quite a bit about cars, and while a stopped up cat is not the most common ailment a car can have it is certainly quite possible. Furthermore I doubt very seriously that a lay person would be able to connect the dots from what ever fault code is stored to a plugged cat. As I said before there is no plugged cat code. There very well may have been additional diagnostic tests preformed to get to the shop’s diagnosis. Autozone will not be doing those tests, and probably don’t have a clue as to what they might entail anyway.
I know if I was going to fuck someone on a repair I would not pick a part that is 3 days away. I would pick a part that could be installed that day, to prevent them from going elsewhere. Also I don’t what their car sitting around my parking lot for the extra days, I need the parking for the other people I am [del]fucking[/del] servicing.
Think about it.
Ok, but wouldn’t a “stopped up cat” possibly exhibit other symptoms, such as engine hesitation, poor performance, or stalling? The OP only mentioned “check engine light” which could be a number of things.
Not every repair shop is as ethical or scrupulous as you apparently are. I’m merely suggesting the OP try other options before dropping coin for a new cat that may or may not be needed. My suggestion was an easy/free one to try. No harm if it didn’t work.
And I appreciate it.
I decided to go with the fix. The shop has a good rep (I’ve been asking around), & it is a 99, coming on 10 years old. Repairs will be needed. But I’ll phone & ask more about the problem today.
I just had cat/exhaust work done about a month ago on my 2000 Dodge van, Bosda. My local mechanic is a good guy - I trust him, and have been going there for over ten years. I needed a cat, pipe and muffler, along with the assorted hardware. He also fixed an o-ring on my gas filler pipe at no charge (it was making the check engine light come on sporadically). Here’s the actual invoice from the job, for your reference. Bob (the owner of the shop) generally won’t use the dirt cheap parts because they tend to boomerang back at him - as in fail prematurely. He usually goes middle-of-the-road, unless the customer requests factory parts. Not a cheap repair, but then the car’s been paid for for two years. I got no major gripes.
Good luck with your repair work.
s/f
(Lemme know if you can’t read that link - I’ll blow it up a bit)
A plugged cat would exhibit poor top end performance to a total non-running condition depending on how plugged it is. Now if the cat is only partially plugged and Bosda doesn’t run the engine to red line, he might never notice the problem until it got worse.
The part I wanted you to think about is if the shop were trying to fuck Bosda, why would they make him wait 3 days for his screwing? Making him wait 3 days would give him time to think about it, and possibly take the car for a second opinion. Assuming the shop is in fact out to fuck him they are much more likely to sell him something they either have in stock, or something they can get that afternoon. That way by the time he gets cold feet the car is already fixed.
ETA the code in question could be a converter efficiency code which would have no effect on performance. The good old boy at the shop might be describing this as stopped up. Who knows.
Well, hopefully the new cat(s) will give you some extra power and clear up the CEL (Check Engine Light.) Like I said though, Contours are famous for throwing CELs and as Rick said, there is no CEL code for a clogged cat. 
If you ever need to (probably temporarily) get rid of a Check Engine light on a Ford Contour for some reason, pull fuses 4 and 12 in the engine compartment fuse box and wait a few minutes, then put them back in. That will clear the codes from the ECU (computer), and have the computer re-learn it’s driving parameters. So, the car will run a little strangely for a while, just drive it gently for a day or so.
You can also do that by disconnecting the battery, but then you lose your clock, radio settings, etc.
