Mechanics----Volvo Catalytic -- bad.. replace or not

[JanaknJanet 0]

OK .. anybody have a opinion on this..

My daughter recently bought a 1996 Volvo 960.. a month or so later. check engine light goes on.. she takes it in .. (of course to the Volvo dealer--aack) well scan showed codes were for a defective Catalytic converter.. .. they gave her a quote for a Volvo part.. starting at $2000.. then fees for disposal etc of prior unit.. and all other stuff involved.. costing grand price over 3500..

she called me in tears... cause she cannt do this .. I agree.. I had to replace my cat in my 88 volvo.. was quoted similar but went to Midas.. paid only $250 for aftermarket..

The argument has now evolved... Her husband.. (might I say he is not mechanical at all-- bless him for trying tho) talked to .. his .. "family mechanic" (who works on cars part time) told him that the catalytic converter is simply a stop before exhaust to remove the impurities and if it is bad it wont hurt anything other than send out some toxins to the muffler.. probably would cause failure in DEQ testing.. . no other problems would happen.. .. Dtr Hubby.. told her that he doesnt need to fix it.. and wasnt going to add 3K to the creditcard for something unnecessarily.. .. (Iagree).. get this.. the "mechanic" told him that .. there are no aftermarket Catalytics because you really dont want to put some ones used unit on your car.. and get their toxins in your system...

OKOK . now me.. I told my daughter. that It NEEDS TO GET FIXED.. that.. if she doesnt fix it.. and a bafflel in the Cat blocks the flow.. it can cause back up pressure in the engine.. potentially causing engine failure.. unless she wants to be driving along and have her car stop dead in its tracks.. fine leave it alone....

Yes the Cat is a form of filtration for environmental whooties stuff.. but.. it also helps in the airflow regulation of the air/fuel consumption.. burn.. of the car.. is that not right?

so if the system is blocked or fails.. isnt it true that it can cause rough idle.. bad running engine.. and potentially causing the car to not run at all.?

Has anyone ever had their car stop working from a bad catalytic converter... ..

Son n law says that the mechanic told him that no car can stop working due to that. and i was telling him a line of poop... .. that having been said.. I was talking to a client of mine.. and just two weeks ago her husband had to be towed.. due to his car stopping.. guess what it was... Catalytic converter.. .. ..

I got the quote from Midas. for her make and model of the car.. and YES Professor Know it all.. they do make a Universal fit cat converter.. which is aka.. after market..

Quote.. from Midas... hmmm..

part cost $161.99 labor $90.00 shop fees 20.13= total cost $272.16

Whats the opinion on Catalytic converters..?? any mechanics.. ?? any experiences??

[kaydee457 13]

Well, if it is the cat I would go with the Midas.....However, first I'd take it over to Autozone and have the codes read to be sure. There certainly ARE aftermarket Cats out there...

A bad O2 sensor can sometimes give the same codes.......It's a lot easier to replace an O2 sensor than a Cat.

Years ago (20 or more) a clogged Cat could cause running problems and even cause a car to not run at all (if it had single exhaust) but I haven't heard this to be true of newer cars.

I know the honeycomb could stop up years ago but with computer controls these days it's unlikely for that to happen unless the car's really running terribly rich. It used to happen on cars with carb's but these days I don't think it can happen since the computer would compensate.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

A lot of European cars seem to have proprietary parts that make them ridiculously expensive to replace. I just spent $400 for a replacement headlight on a Volkswagen - list price for the part itself was $344.

[Steve Y Jessica 1]

OK .. anybody have a opinion on this..

My daughter recently bought a 1996 Volvo 960.. a month or so later. check engine light goes on.. she takes it in .. (of course to the Volvo dealer--aack) well scan showed codes were for a defective Catalytic converter.. .. they gave her a quote for a Volvo part.. starting at $2000.. then fees for disposal etc of prior unit.. and all other stuff involved.. costing grand price over 3500..

she called me in tears... cause she cannt do this .. I agree.. I had to replace my cat in my 88 volvo.. was quoted similar but went to Midas.. paid only $250 for aftermarket..

The argument has now evolved... Her husband.. (might I say he is not mechanical at all-- bless him for trying tho) talked to .. his .. "family mechanic" (who works on cars part time) told him that the catalytic converter is simply a stop before exhaust to remove the impurities and if it is bad it wont hurt anything other than send out some toxins to the muffler.. probably would cause failure in DEQ testing.. . no other problems would happen.. .. Dtr Hubby.. told her that he doesnt need to fix it.. and wasnt going to add 3K to the creditcard for something unnecessarily.. .. (Iagree).. get this.. the "mechanic" told him that .. there are no aftermarket Catalytics because you really dont want to put some ones used unit on your car.. and get their toxins in your system...

OKOK . now me.. I told my daughter. that It NEEDS TO GET FIXED.. that.. if she doesnt fix it.. and a bafflel in the Cat blocks the flow.. it can cause back up pressure in the engine.. potentially causing engine failure.. unless she wants to be driving along and have her car stop dead in its tracks.. fine leave it alone....

Yes the Cat is a form of filtration for environmental whooties stuff.. but.. it also helps in the airflow regulation of the air/fuel consumption.. burn.. of the car.. is that not right?

so if the system is blocked or fails.. isnt it true that it can cause rough idle.. bad running engine.. and potentially causing the car to not run at all.?

Has anyone ever had their car stop working from a bad catalytic converter... ..

Son n law says that the mechanic told him that no car can stop working due to that. and i was telling him a line of poop... .. that having been said.. I was talking to a client of mine.. and just two weeks ago her husband had to be towed.. due to his car stopping.. guess what it was... Catalytic converter.. .. ..

I got the quote from Midas. for her make and model of the car.. and YES Professor Know it all.. they do make a Universal fit cat converter.. which is aka.. after market..

Quote.. from Midas... hmmm..

part cost $161.99 labor $90.00 shop fees 20.13= total cost $272.16

Whats the opinion on Catalytic converters..?? any mechanics.. ?? any experiences??

Yes, you are 100% correct. For now, she will not notice any problems. But if she tries to pass a exhaust gas test, she will fail. But, if one of the baffles in the converter come loose and blocks the flow of air she will notice it depending on the amount of blockage. Ranging from a bad idle to the car stopping running. Because if the airflow is comletely blocked, there will be nowhere for the exhaust to go and the engine will not run.

This can take a short amount of time, or the car may run for a very long time.

I would use Midas! The parts make no difference, dealers are always overpriced.

It is her decision as to what to do. She can get it replaced for the security that she will not have any problems. Or she can do nothing right now, knowing that one day the car will break down and she could have the possibility of being stranded one day. But, it will not cause any other harm to the car.

[Steve Y Jessica 1]

Well, if it is the cat I would go with the Midas.....However, first I'd take it over to Autozone and have the codes read to be sure. There certainly ARE aftermarket Cats out there...

A bad O2 sensor can sometimes give the same codes.......It's a lot easier to replace an O2 sensor than a Cat.

Years ago (20 or more) a clogged Cat could cause running problems and even cause a car to not run at all (if it had single exhaust) but I haven't heard this to be true of newer cars.

I know the honeycomb could stop up years ago but with computer controls these days it's unlikely for that to happen unless the car's really running terribly rich. It used to happen on cars with carb's but these days I don't think it can happen since the computer would compensate.

Yes, even with todays newer cars and the computer control, if the exhaust gets backed up, the computer cannot compensate for a completely blocked exhaust.

[Heracles 417]

If the CC fails it will not damage the car. The CC is a device which simply reduces hazardous pollution from the exhaust fumes.

If it does die, the biggest problem will be that the exhaust sounds will increase rapidly. The car will most definitely fail any state inspection, which test for pollution.

$3500 is a bunch of bull ####. A new engine would not cost that much.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Aficionado

[Heracles 417]

If she lives in CA it will cost roughly $225 to buy. If she lives anywhere else in the US she can buy one for $130. The installation should not cost much.

Edited July 18, 2008 by Aficionado