Photo by makelessnoise Most original equipment converters are designed to operate until 100,000 miles or more. And in fact, many of them operate well until they reach the recommended miles for replacement.
But this assumes that the converters aren’t poisoned by lead, phosphorus and silicon.
When leaded gasoline was still widely sold, many cars’ converters that use such fuel suffered from premature demise.
The lead may coats the catalyst and make it unable to be rendered.
Silicon also shows similar effects as leaded gasoline. Silicon is widely used in antifreeze and several types of RTV sealer.
The common cause of silicon infiltration into converters is coolant leaks in the combustion chamber. The leaks enable the silicon to enter the exhaust and eventually contaminate the converter.
Phosphorus is generated from oil burning. The substance may produce some barriers inside the converter that will disturb the work of the converter.
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Unburned fuel in the exhaust may generate excessive heat that can cause the converters to fail.
Rich fuel mixture, ignition misfire (a bad plug wire or a fouled spark plug) or a burned exhaust valve that leaks compression are the main factors that contribute to such failure.
It would be like dumping gasoline on a bed of glowing embers if you have unburned fuel in the exhaust. Things inside the exhaust get really hot rapidly.
And when the temperature increases to a certain degree, it will melt the ceramic substrate.
The substrate is used to support the catalyst, so if it melts down it will cause a complete or partial barrier inside.
As the result of blockage, the backpressure increases and prevent the engine from exhaling. This condition will reduce the power which is generated by the engine.
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You may feel sluggish at higher speeds and the consumption of fuel will increase rapidly and extremely.
If the converter is fully blocked, the engine usually will stall after starting and it won’t restart again.
A dead converter is unable to be restored. You also don’t need to try to unclog or clean out a blocked converter because it just won’t work.
So when facing with a damaged converter, the only option is replace it with a new one.
Converters were used to be covered by a five year or 50,000 miles federal emissions warranty (In California, it’s 7 years or 70,000 miles). This warranty was intended for cars up to model year 1995.
In 1995 the warranty was made longer to 8 years or 80,000 miles.
The converters that are going to be used for replacement must be the same type as the original one.
It’s either two-way, three-way, or three-way plus oxygen. It should have EPA approval and you need to install it in the same location as the original one.
A dead or plugged converter will be solved by replacing it with a new converter. But the most important thing is you need to diagnose and correct the root cause of the problem.
Because if these underlying problems are still there, the new replacement converter will soon suffer the same fate as the old one.
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So it’s best to check other items too when you have a dead converter problem. These items are air pump and related plumbing, feedback control system, and oxygen sensor.
If you have a sluggish O2 sensor, the fuel mixture is unable to switch back and forth between rich and lean quickly enough. If this is the case, the converter can’t work at its highest efficiency.
Perhaps this condition is not going to end up in a meltdown, but it can generate excessive pollution that will make your car fail an emission test.
If you keep using the sluggish oxygen sensor, it will most likely to fail someday. When this happens the fuel mixture will remain fixed and the engine will run too rich in fuel. As the result, your car will waste lots of fuel as well as producing high level of emission.
Many car manufacturers recommend us to check oxygen sensors at specific mileage intervals. This should be done in order to prevent car owners from problems that are related to oxygen sensor.
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Most imported cars have a reminder light that may illuminate every time the car reaches the 30,000 miles or so interval.
The light is to remind the vehicle owner to check his oxygen sensor and replace it when necessary.
Bosch, one of the leading supplier of oxygen sensors suggests vehicle owners to replace their oxygen sensors at roughly the same interval as the spark plugs for preventative maintenance.
You should replace the oxygen sensors of 1976 to early 1990 cars that use unheated 1 or 2 wire oxygen sensors every 30,000 to 50,000 miles.
For heated 3 and 4 wire O2 sensors on mid 1980s to mid 1990s vehicles, you should replace them every 60,000 miles.
If you have a 1996 vehicle and it’s equipped with newer OBD II, the recommended interval for replacing the oxygen sensor is 100,000 miles.
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