PLEASE I NEED A HELP AND YOUR ADVICE ON THE SAID TOPIC. I TOOK MY CAR (HONDA PILOT 2005)TO MY MECHANIC WHEN I NOTICED SOME NOISE FROM THE EXHAUST. HE TOLD ME AFTER CHECKING THAT THE PROBLEM WAS JUST A SEAL ROUND THE MOUTH OF THE EXHAUST PIPE WHICH HE SAID WILL COST N2,500. BUT TO MY DISMAY, THE MECHANIC CAME TO TELL ME AGAIN THAT THE "INDOMIE" WAS MISSING IN THE PIPE AND THAT IT WILL COST ME N35,000 TO REPLACE IT.

I ASKED HIM WAT AN "INDOMIE" IS AND THE IMPLICATION OF NOT HAVING IT IN THE EXHAUST. HE TOLD ME IT WILL MAKE MY CAR TO CONSUME MORE FUEL. I REFUSE TO BUY. BUT MY OBSERVATION WAS THAT, BEFORE I VISITED THE MECHANIC, THE CAR DOES NOT CONSUME FUEL LIKE IT DOES NOW AFTER VISITING.

PLEASE I NEED AN ADVICE ON WHAT THIS "INDOMIE IS AND THE IMPLICATION OF NOT HAVING IT IN THE EXHAUST.

indomie indeed!

Before I start, the missing device is called " Catalytic Converter". Dont mind that clown.

Yes, if the cat converter is missing or removed, the fuel consumption will increase. Why? To start with, oxygen sensor is bolted on caty converter. Oxygen sensor fine tunes fuel mixture with air in intake manifold before it goes into combustion chambers via injectors. So if the caty is missing, probably the o2 sensor is missing too. So, your ECU wont be receiving any signal from o2 sensor, therefore excessive fueling results. Besides, your SUV should have more than one caty converter. The caty looks like a mini exhaust pot, depending on the location of the exhaust pipe where the caty is bolted on the exhaust pipe. I believe the engine would be a V6 or V8. In most modern V6, each exhaust manifold, on each of the 2 cylinder banks, has mini sized caty converter. And there may be another one, a big sized one, in the middle. Some vehicles do have another caty at the rear, making it 4. You should also know that each caty has o2 sensor screwed on it. So you need to check by yourself to know how many caty your SUV have & how many is still remaining.

Yes, caty converter is an expensive device & its been stolen on daily basis, most especially in the western world. In Europe & North America, stolen of caty converters are even higher than the stollen of vehicles. The high cost led to it. And its very easy to remove. Its just a bolt-in device. So its still fortunate that Nigerians thieves dont know yet about the caty. The moment they do, na another wahala go be that. You could park your car in a street, walk into a store, walk out, jump into your car, start your car & your engine would start sounding like it has no exhaust at all. We pray that it doesnt come to that.

Do you trust that mechanic that much to believe that the caty was removed before he went under to check the cause of the leak?

Ikenna.

@ Ikenna thanks for your response as well as the lecture on Catalytic Converter. Yes the car is a V6. And like u av asked i dont think i trust the mechanics. though i gave my mechanic the job to do but he was not the one that eventually did the job. he engaged someone else to do the job.

the issue is i drove the car myself from lagos to abuja after collecting from the clearing agent. i left lagos with a full tank and had to top it up at akure and before topping it the fuel was a bit below half tank. same i did at lokoja with my fuel a bit below half tank. but since i visited the mechanic, i discover fuel does nt last in the car. half tank cannot sustain me for 4 days, and all i do is jst to drive frm home to work and work to home (my home & place of work all at central area). you see why i said i cant trust the mechanics.

secondly, if i decide to buy another caty, i hope i will get to see one that would be the exact one for my car. cos i wouldnt wnt to spend that much and at the end it wont work with the car.

Central Area? Hmm! Your vehicle is really guzzling fuel. I believe is not just because of the absence of caty, nut absence of o2 sensor too.

My house is at Area 1, while my office is at zone 1, Wuse. I drive my daily driver to work every day, from Monday to Friday, which has never cost me more than 2k (20 litres)to fuel for 5 days of driving to work & driving back home every week ( Area 1 to zone 1). And its also a V6, though manual transmission.

The problem shouldnt be if you can get a matching caty, but if the caty you will get will have a matching o2 sensor. But you need to acertain if the missing one has o2 sensor. If it has, the sensor harness (wire) should be dangling or folded around where the cary was removed. So please, check first for the 02 sensor before you go to purchase the caty. But the high fuel consumption of your vehicle has made it obvious that something is wrong with the injection system. The MIL (engine check light) on the instrument cluster should even be indicating that something is wrong.

Ikenna.

The theft of INDOMIE has been in existence for a very long time now, mine was removed in 2004. I took my 1999 Avalon to a panel beater because the exhaust pot was leaking, the panel beater remove the exhaust pot, then i was not aware of caty, the next day i noticed the sign of check engine on my dashboard, since then the car has not been itself. Locally here in Nigeria, its used as gun powder. so shine your eyes.

@ Ikenna thanks, i will follow ur instruction in replacing it.