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Stollen Catalytic Converter - Car Talk - Nairaland

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Pls Help: Catalytic Converter Missing In Exhaust Pipe / How To Remove Check Engine Light Originating From Bad/absent Catalytic Converter / Driving A Car Without Catalytic Converter (2) (3) (4)

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Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 6:30pm On Jan 30, 2012
I gave out my car to a mechanic to have the mirrors refitted, he left with my car came back with it and the car was jerking, when I called him he refused to answer, took the car to another mechanic and he told me my catalytic converter has been removed.

My car has been guzzling fuel since then and I had to park it. what can i do about this ? the car is a Toyota Corolla 2006 model
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 7:03pm On Jan 30, 2012
Mine was stolen the night I arrived lagos from Abuja. It's a toyota 4runner 1997 model. I now drive it only on saturdays and sundays cos the fuel consumption is legendary. It is Sad
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by KunleA2(m): 7:03pm On Jan 30, 2012
I think you should have him arrested. i have my converter stolen from the port. The car is a tokunbo. By the time we got it out, it has been stolen. its a camry

Sad.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 7:56pm On Jan 30, 2012
The Mechanic is on the run.

But can i get it replaced at minimal cost as I do not have time to go bunty hunting
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 9:08pm On Jan 30, 2012
Sorry guys for these clowns have put you guys through.

The cause of of the high fuel consumption is not becuase of the absence of the caty converter, but because of absence of o2 sensor attached on the caty. If I were you guys, I wont bother to put back the Caty. Why? Because its a blessing to run your car without the caty. Your engine would be more responsive without caty converter & there would be a noticeable improvement in the fuel economy, better than when it had the caty converter. The caty converter reduces engine output & hinders car good fuel economy. Thats why i regard those thieves that stole your caty as clowns, because they donot understand what they did. Caty is installed in western world to control emission. Is even against the law to run a vehicle without it, especially in North America.

How then would you solve the car running rich issue (excessive fuel -black smoke)? Simply, install back the oxygen sensor is the solution. You musnt attach the o2 sensor on Catalytic converter for the sensor to work. I did it on mine & it worked, & still working till date. What you need to do is to go auto used spare market, look for a condemned exhaust that has o2 sensor hole on it or a damaged or dead caty converter, with the hole for the sensor still intact. Buy the condemned part of the exhaust pipe with the hole of the o2. You need the hole with o2 thread for the sensor to screw in. Cut out the part of the exhaust pipe that has the hole, take it to a welder. Ask the welder to measure the pipe you cut (with the hole for o2), cut the exhaust pipe of the car with the measurement he gets from the pipe you bought & weld in the pipe with the o2 sensor to the exhaust pipe of the car. Pls, it should be done on exhaust pipe close to the engine or the particular location of the exhaust pipe where the catalytic converter was before. If the pipe you bought wont match with the pipe in the car, cut out, in circle, the hole of the o2 from the pipe, create a hole on the car exhaust & weld in the thread of the sensor on the car exhaust pipe. I hope my explanation is not confusing?

After the welding job, you will then have to purchase the o2 sensor. Its a little bit expensive. I bought mine brand new, a Bosch Universal 4- wire o2 sensor. The price was between 10 & 15k. Unless you want to try a used one, i would advice you to get a new one. Most modern cars have 4-wire o2 sensor that has heater. Or you can google it to know the type that your car should have. When you get the sensor, screw it in the constructed hole. The harness & the plug should be hanging around the location of the catalytic converter (believing that the sensor ws unplugged when the stole the catalytic converter). When you find the sensor plug, plug it in & all the black smoke, overfueling, rich running or high fuel consumption will be a thing of the past. You will even start enjoying the car engine performance more than when it has caty, with better fuel economy.

If you think you cant go through this conversion, you can go & search for the caty which is very expensive & you might end getting a clogged/dead one, which would worsen the situation you are in now.

I took pics of mine when i did my own o2 sensor construction job on the exhaust pipe. But they are too large & cant be attached here. It would have helped you guys in guiding you on how to do it or instruct the welder what to do. Goodluck.

Ikenna.

18 Likes

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by ayusman16(m): 9:32pm On Jan 30, 2012
Most catalyst are stolen either from d port or by d mechanic.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 10:35pm On Jan 30, 2012
While not an epidemic, the same happens here in the US.

Not condoning this but you can read up on tricking your downstream o2 sensor into thinking that you have a cat.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 9:11am On Jan 31, 2012
@Ikenna351 Please kindly send me the Pictures through my email address emma21ng@yahoo.com I will be mighty grateful
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by KunleA2(m): 9:32am On Jan 31, 2012
Ikenna351:

Sorry guys for these clowns have put you guys through.

The cause of of the high fuel consumption is not becuase of the absence of the caty converter, but because of absence of o2 sensor attached on the caty. If I were you guys, I wont bother to put back the Caty. Why? Because its a blessing to run your car without the caty. Your engine would be more responsive without caty converter & there would be a noticeable improvement in the fuel economy, better than when it had the caty converter. The caty converter reduces engine output & hinders car good fuel economy. Thats why i regard those thieves that stole your caty as clowns, because they donot understand what they did. Caty is installed in western world to control emission. Is even against the law to run a vehicle without it, especially in North America.

How then would you solve the car running rich issue (excessive fuel -black smoke)? Simply, install back the oxygen sensor is the solution. You musnt attach the o2 sensor on Catalytic converter for the sensor to work. I did it on mine & it worked, & still working till date. What you need to do is to go auto used spare market, look for a condemned exhaust that has o2 sensor hole on it or a damaged or dead caty converter, with the hole for the sensor still intact. Buy the condemned part of the exhaust pipe with the hole of the o2. You need the hole with o2 thread for the sensor to screw in. Cut out the part of the exhaust pipe that has the hole, take it to a welder. Ask the welder to measure the pipe you cut (with the hole for o2), cut the exhaust pipe of the car with the measurement he gets from the pipe you bought & weld in the pipe with the o2 sensor to the exhaust pipe of the car. Pls, it should be done on exhaust pipe close to the engine or the particular location of the exhaust pipe where the catalytic converter was before. If the pipe you bought wont match with the pipe in the car, cut out, in circle, the hole of the o2 from the pipe, create a hole  on the car exhaust & weld in the thread of the sensor on the car exhaust pipe. I hope my explanation is not confusing?

After the welding job, you will then have to purchase the o2 sensor. Its a little bit expensive. I bought mine brand new, a Bosch Universal  4- wire o2 sensor. The price was between 10 & 15k. Unless you want to try a used one, i would advice you to get a new one. Most modern cars have 4-wire o2 sensor that has heater. Or you can google it to know the type that your car should have. When you get the sensor, screw it  in the constructed hole. The harness & the plug should be hanging around the location of the catalytic converter (believing that the sensor ws unplugged when the stole the catalytic converter). When you find the sensor plug, plug it in & all the black smoke, overfueling, rich running or high fuel consumption will be a thing of the past. You will even start enjoying the car engine performance more than when it has caty, with better fuel economy.

If you think you cant go through this conversion, you can go & search for the caty which is very expensive & you might end getting a clogged/dead one, which would worsen the situation you are in now.

I took pics of mine when i did my own o2 sensor construction job on the exhaust pipe. But they are too large & cant be attached here. It would have helped you guys in guiding you on how to do it or instruct the welder what to do. Goodluck.

Ikenna.


Rather than these somewhat lengthy step (no offense). You can just gut out and old or condemned Catalytic converter and weld it in place. You will still have it there but without its contents. Bolt back the o2 sensor and you should be good to go. undecided

4 Likes

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:14pm On Feb 01, 2012
thirdi:

@Ikenna351 Please kindly send me the Pictures through my email address emma21ng@yahoo.com I will be mighty grateful

I have sent you the pics. Have you received the mail?

Yes. Kunle is right. It would be easier to just get a condemned caty converter, open it, remove all the stuff inside & close/weld it back. You then attached or fix in the converter on the exhaust & bolt in the o2 sensor. But you will still have to buy and do some welding work on the condemned caty converter anyway, which you might end up spending close to the method i suggested earlier.

In North America, there is something they call o2 Bung. Its like a nut that sizes o2 sensor. So what Americans do when their caty converter fail is to purchase the bung (as cheap as N100), remove the caty, weld in pipe in place of the caty, create a small hole that will size the bung on the pipe, weld in the bung on the pipe & bolt in the o2 sensor. If you have anyone there, you can have the person purchase & send the bung to you. Its as cheap as anything you can imagine.

If you need the pics of how i did mine, post your email address. Though, i will try and resize the pics/images. As soon as am done, i will attach them here.

Ikenna.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:32pm On Feb 01, 2012
Attached are the pics.

Ikenna.

2 Likes

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:33pm On Feb 01, 2012
More pics

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:34pm On Feb 01, 2012
more

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:35pm On Feb 01, 2012
more

1 Like

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Ikenna351(m): 12:37pm On Feb 01, 2012
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Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by miccodb(m): 1:33pm On Feb 01, 2012
Ikenna351:

Sorry guys for these clowns have put you guys through.

The cause of of the high fuel consumption is not becuase of the absence of the caty converter, but because of absence of o2 sensor attached on the caty. If I were you guys, I wont bother to put back the Caty. Why? Because its a blessing to run your car without the caty. Your engine would be more responsive without caty converter & there would be a noticeable improvement in the fuel economy, better than when it had the caty converter. The caty converter reduces engine output & hinders car good fuel economy. Thats why i regard those thieves that stole your caty as clowns, because they donot understand what they did. Caty is installed in western world to control emission. Is even against the law to run a vehicle without it, especially in North America.

How then would you solve the car running rich issue (excessive fuel -black smoke)? Simply, install back the oxygen sensor is the solution. You musnt attach the o2 sensor on Catalytic converter for the sensor to work. I did it on mine & it worked, & still working till date. What you need to do is to go auto used spare market, look for a condemned exhaust that has o2 sensor hole on it or a damaged or dead caty converter, with the hole for the sensor still intact. Buy the condemned part of the exhaust pipe with the hole of the o2. You need the hole with o2 thread for the sensor to screw in. Cut out the part of the exhaust pipe that has the hole, take it to a welder. Ask the welder to measure the pipe you cut (with the hole for o2), cut the exhaust pipe of the car with the measurement he gets from the pipe you bought & weld in the pipe with the o2 sensor to the exhaust pipe of the car. Pls, it should be done on exhaust pipe close to the engine or the particular location of the exhaust pipe where the catalytic converter was before. If the pipe you bought wont match with the pipe in the car, cut out, in circle, the hole of the o2 from the pipe, create a hole on the car exhaust & weld in the thread of the sensor on the car exhaust pipe. I hope my explanation is not confusing?

After the welding job, you will then have to purchase the o2 sensor. Its a little bit expensive. I bought mine brand new, a Bosch Universal 4- wire o2 sensor. The price was between 10 & 15k. Unless you want to try a used one, i would advice you to get a new one. Most modern cars have 4-wire o2 sensor that has heater. Or you can google it to know the type that your car should have. When you get the sensor, screw it in the constructed hole. The harness & the plug should be hanging around the location of the catalytic converter (believing that the sensor ws unplugged when the stole the catalytic converter). When you find the sensor plug, plug it in & all the black smoke, overfueling, rich running or high fuel consumption will be a thing of the past. You will even start enjoying the car engine performance more than when it has caty, with better fuel economy.

If you think you cant go through this conversion, you can go & search for the caty which is very expensive & you might end getting a clogged/dead one, which would worsen the situation you are in now.

I took pics of mine when i did my own o2 sensor construction job on the exhaust pipe. But they are too large & cant be attached here. It would have helped you guys in guiding you on how to do it or instruct the welder what to do. Goodluck.

Ikenna.
sienna pls we need u to confirm this cos i dont quite agree with this. idont think the presence of an o2 sensor will reduce your fuel consumption. will that change the waveform of the downstream o2 sensor. i believe there is more to the cat port than just the catalyst it self. please do a more detailed research as i believe the o2 sensor works with the cat threshhold to determine ow long d fuel is sprayed
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 1:53pm On Feb 01, 2012
Ikenna351:

Sorry guys for these clowns have put you guys through.

The cause of of the high fuel consumption is not becuase of the absence of the caty converter, but because of absence of o2 sensor attached on the caty. If I were you guys, I wont bother to put back the Caty. Why? Because its a blessing to run your car without the caty. Your engine would be more responsive without caty converter & there would be a noticeable improvement in the fuel economy, better than when it had the caty converter. The caty converter reduces engine output & hinders car good fuel economy. Thats why i regard those thieves that stole your caty as clowns, because they donot understand what they did. Caty is installed in western world to control emission. Is even against the law to run a vehicle without it, especially in North America.
Ikenna.

Ikenna, I disagree.

Removing the catalyst from an older car (pre-OBD II) won't cause any issues. OBD II cars have Lambda probes before AND after the catalyst. If you delete the catalyst, the post-catalyst probe will register a different mixture, and throw a check engine light. So deleting the catalyst is not that straight-forward. I've done this on countless VAG models, and the only way to delete the catalyst is to code the post catalyst Lambda probes out. So we're talking different fuel map, so the post catalyst probes are no longer required.

Running a car without a catalyst in North America is prohibited in some states, not all. Not all states require emissions, some states simply check there's no check engine light illuminated, with no sniffer test. These guys run test pipes in place of their factory catalysts, with the OBD II post-catalyst probes coded out.

The days of catalysts hindering performance are long past. We've had cars on dynos here, with catalyst, and after removal, and power output remains the same. On some cars, there's actually been a reduction in torque. So catalyst removal may free up a few extra ponies in an older car, not a new one. New cars have less restrictive catalysts, typically 300 cells and lower. The lower the number, the less restrictive they are.

If you're not sure what you're doing, it's not adviceable to delete your catalysts. Remove the catalysts from a 2006 Honda Accord V6, and see what happens.

2 Likes

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 3:37pm On Feb 01, 2012
The best way to keep your catalyst safe during transit is to remove it, and hide it somewhere in the car. Some folk hide it under the rear seat bench. Some with very expensive, new cars ship the catalyst seperately from the car, or give it to someone coming to Nigeria.

A bit long winded, but Nigerian society leaves you with very little choice.

1 Like

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by miccodb(m): 5:40pm On Feb 01, 2012
a quick one siena. any possibility i get a free grin haynes or any good service manual for my vw golf 2.0 1997 car. i also have a missing cat on the vehicle and my gas mileage is as poor as can be imagined. im finking of fooling the ecu with the spark plug defouler. i hope that helps my consumption tho i experience no power losses
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 6:36pm On Feb 01, 2012
miccodb:

a quick one siena. any possibility i get a free grin haynes or any good service manual for my vw golf 2.0 1997 car. i also have a missing cat on the vehicle and my gas mileage is as poor as can be imagined. im finking of fooling the ecu with the spark plug defouler. i hope that helps my consumption tho i experience no power losses

I can certainly purchase a Haynes or Bentley manual on your behalf. wink

A missing catalyst on a Volkswagen Golf IV? shocked Why was it removed, or was it stolen too? The defouler is simply a spacer that moves the Lambda sensor tip from the gas-flow. Sometimes it works, but it's not a permanent solution.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Wistleblo: 9:26pm On Feb 01, 2012
every car needs a catalytic converter hence it will make the smoke from the exhaust pipe harmful to the environment; a catalytic converter purifies the smoke before it comes out through the exhaust pipe; i suggest that for your own safety and others, you either fix this or park the vehicle.

1 Like

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 1:37pm On Feb 03, 2012
Do Molues come with catalytic converters? lipsrsealed or all this trucks on our roads

I need help some one refer me to a good mechanic for toyota cars

1 Like

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 2:41pm On Feb 03, 2012
Siena, what about the issue of gutting referred to by Kunle-A. Speaking of the Nissan Maxima of which I'm more familiar, I know that gutting the caty is commonplace in the US, and the emission test is beaten by the use of an 02 simulator (perhaps what Ikenna called 02 bung). As a matter of fact some gut the caty because as Ikenna said it makes the car more responsive.

1 Like

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 3:53pm On Feb 03, 2012
Costee:

Siena, what about the issue of gutting referred to by Kunle-A. Speaking of the Nissan Maxima of which I'm more familiar, I know that gutting the caty is commonplace in the US, and the emission test is beaten by the use of an 02 simulator (perhaps what Ikenna called 02 bung). As a matter of fact some gut the caty because as Ikenna said it makes the car more responsive.

Costee, some states will visually inspect the catalyst, some check for a CEL, while others go the whole hog, and do emission testing. In such states, gutting / removing the catalyst means the car will not pass emissions.

The O2 "cheat" is merely a defouler, commonly used on worn engines, to prevent oil from fouling the spark plugs. It's a spacer, that moves the O2 sensor tip from the gas flow. In some cases, it will work enough for the ECU not to throw a CEL, but the car may still be thirstier than normal. The O2 sensor does not register static data, the information it picks up is constantly changing. So some cars fitted with defoulers will still often throw up a code, and illuminate the CEL.

Gutting a catalyst is done in the US in states that don't do emission testing. It's a cheap way of losing the catalyst, without the need to purchase a test pipe (a pipe that fits in place of the catalyst). The downside is, you end up with a hollow section, which creates turbulence. This will alter the back pressure, which a naturally aspirated engine is very sensitive to. This will choke performance, and raise fuel consumption. A straight pipe is the best option - if you decide to delete the catalyst.

Deleting the catalyst to increase response works more on older cars, pre-OBD-II. It also favours turbocharged engines, where the catalyst is bolted directly to the turbo, by increasing spool-up time. On a 2006 Toyota Corolla, it's pointless removing it.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 3:58pm On Feb 03, 2012
thirdi:

Do Molues come with catalytic converters? lipsrsealed or all this trucks on our roads

I need help some one refer me to a good mechanic for toyota cars

Bro, if you're comparing your petrol-engined '06 Toyota Corolla with a 25-year-old diesel-engined Molue or heavy-goods vehicles, then there's no point trying to offer you a solution to the current issues with your car.

2 Likes

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 5:47pm On Feb 03, 2012
what i mean is that there is already enough pollutants to kill us all in Nigeria, generators , molues, buses and all that I want is to fix my car and will not mind taking out the catalyse if that will solve my problem.
grin
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Nobody: 6:22pm On Feb 03, 2012
^^^ That's good. Simply replace your missing catalyst with a good used one.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by thirdi(m): 1:51pm On Feb 07, 2012
Can you assist by telling me where i can get this from cheesy
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by Kingsyze: 9:21am On Aug 18, 2012
Please guys I have a 2001 Honda Accord (baby boy)V4 I just bought,the check enginde indicator light on on the car has been on since I got d car, I think from the pix posted hia i av a cable close to my exhaust dangling out and I suspect something has been removed from there. subsequently my car consumes a lot of fuel and the malfunction indicator light is permanently on. I have a colleague that has d same car and I compared the consumption and mine was higher even more than a V6, Please help me, wot should i do? see d pic of d indicator.

Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by ASTdiagnostics: 3:00pm On Aug 18, 2012
hi poster: i will strongly advice you replace what ever part that has been removed or stolen from your vehicle with the correct vehicle parts so as it cannwork efficiently.
Re: Stollen Catalytic Converter by dregun: 10:54am On Aug 19, 2012
Hi,i own a 2004 acura tsx, my engine malfnctn indicator is permanently on,whn i ignite d engine an indicator whc' reads"MAINT REQ'D" flashes on d dash 4 like 2secs, and also my O2 sensor cable is partially in place wit a wire nt firmly in place...do u advise i replace d O2 sensor completely and wil dis improve d fuel economy of my car?... Thanx(siena pls ur imput wil b wel appreciated)

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