re: More Catalytic Converter Problems

[Edmonds17]

We have a '00 V70XC w/92,000 mi. We have the "CEL" coming on and must go through an emissions test by the end of the month.

My mechanic said the "CEL" was coming on due to a bad catalytic converter. Rather than pay almost $1,200. for a Volvo catalytic converter, I went to my local muffler shop and had an aftermarket catalytic converter installed. The CEL came back on after a couple of miles. My mechanic told me to go back to the muffler shop and have them check to see if there were any pinhole leaks in the weld(s). The muffler shop found a pinhole leak and plugged it. Unfortunately, the CEL light came back on after a few miles.

I went back to my mechanic who said the car had the fault code of PO422 (bad catalytic converter.) He then blanked out the adaptive driving memory part of the computer in the hope that doing this would correct the CEL problem. No luck. The CEL came on immediately.

In desperation, I took the XC to a Volvo dealer. $100. just for the diagnosis. Again, bad catalytic converter. Wants to sell me a Volvo catalytic converter for almost $1,200. plus labor to install it.

$1,200. for a Volvo catalytic converter is outrageous. Whoever designed, built and sold these cars should be shot!

I plan to go back to the muffler shop to have them remove the new catalytic converter and install a 2nd new catalytic converter.

Any suggestions on what else I can do. Forcing owners to pay outrageous prices for Volvo repair parts should be a crime. It is certainly terrible PR. We already suffered through the ETM fiasco and now to have this hassle is another black mark for Volvo.

Has anyone had experience with aftermarket catalytic converters? Will they work on XC's?

Any other suggestions?

Edmonds17

[morregerbert]

aftermarket cats dont work as good as oem cats, they made from precious metals, that makes them so expensive.
looks like your muffler shop installed cheap universal weld in cat, they should replace it with bolt on aftermarket unit which designed for your particular car, which can be much more expensive like half of the price of oem unit.

[INGRED]

there are a few places on e by that sell the whole converter and pipe assembly for anywhere between 265.00 to about 429.00...then you just have to have it installed worked out pretty well

[wrightme43]

I work at Midas. We do cats all the time.
You most likely have a car that will meet california spec. If you open the hood you will find a sticker that reads
Meets federal AND california specs for emmisions.
You will need a california spec converter. They make aftermarket (Magnaflow brand) that are weld in. You can get them with the O2 bung ready to go. We do it all the time.
About 400$ installed.

Or here is the other thing. It could just be a cheap converter. Ask for a Extra Load converter. We install those as our base converter. We get a WHOLE lot of business from other places after they have already paid another shop to install one that doesnt work.

Ask for a good tech. Talk to the tech. Make friends with the tech. Learn his name. Give him a tip. Ask for him everytime you need to go to the shop. Make appointments with your tech. He will get to know your car, its running condition and operation becomes a point of pride to him. I know it sounds stupid in todays world but people want to be appreciated.

Now ask to see the scan tool in operation. Its called mode 10. You can monitor in real time the pre cat 02 sensor and post cat 02 sensor. You can watch that the cat is not doing its job. Ask them to log that it fails in real time and write it down. Have the right cat installed.
Return you disfunctional cat to the place you bought it. Ask for a return of your money. (may or may not happen how they handle it is a good measure of how well that shop it run.) If they are cool and understanding you may have found a great shop.

You may be able to do this at the shop you had it installed at.

[wrightme43]

You will only be able to use the Extra Load converter if you do NOT have a california emmisions car.
My 99 volvo orginally bought in KY meets Cali emission specs and will need a california converter if it goes bad.

Just wanted to clairfy what I posted for you.
Hope this helps
Steve

[mr.bobby]

Just had mine replaced with an aftermarket unit at a Montreal, Quebec Midas shop. After doing all of the research and finding out that the OEM costs $1300+labor= tax to replace and would take 10 days to arrive from Sweden I decided then to try European auto Parts online and they had one for my model @ $599.00 US + 2 shipping charges since they could not directly mail to Canada. I hesitated. I continued to talk with other private shops in Montreal and in NY. No one would guarantee an aftermarket fix, though just about everyone I spoke with was willing to try to fab something up for me, for a price ranging from $400- 600. Finally fed up with my own procrastination of 6 months, I drove into a local Midas shop and after a brief discussion with the manager I decided to let him try out his solution though he warned me that the new CAT might make for a noisier ride than the OEM. I told him to do it.
Replaced and out of the shop in 3hrs and cost $574.00 all in (incl. is a 15% tax). They used a Magnaflow Universal unit and turns out not too be noisy because this car has 2 mufflers stock. The O2 sensors were welded in. No engine lights so far.
Now I can put my plans to buy a new car on hold ... because I really appreciate this car and have hauled just about everything in it and on it for the last 8 years. And was able to drive for 7 months with a progressively worse sounding car ...but it did take its time to finally cross my noise threshold. 187000KM and ticking.

[JRL]

Call Erie
LIFETIME guarantee on their used parts.
I just bought a used CAT for under $300 shipped
(and if it goes bad I'll just get another)!

[zeus1]

install two of these (drill the first one out to fit the 02 sensor) where the 02 sensor connects to the exhaust. i was getting the cat efficiency code and spent the 13 bucks for these and no issues since, no cel.

http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-HELP-42.../dp/B0002JMS6I

[JRL]

www.erievovo.com
Buy a USED one, about $300 and GUARANTEED (for life)!

[8pack]

Dorman Non Fouler Plug Fix - I personally have not tried this yet but plan to. My 2000XC70 150kmiles has been intermittently throwing the P0422 code for several years. I have always been able to time it with inspection so that there was no CEL and have an OBD II reader to make sure it was good before I went in.

I feel like it is always hanging over my head so although I know a used Cat may be the proper way to go, for a $15 and 1/2hr worth of work I am going to try the Non fouler. It can easily be reversed and there are no permanent changes to the car. The car will apparently run a bit leaner, so keeping an ear out for detonation is probably prudent.

My car is working its way towards Volvo heaven and I only drive it a couple of thousand miles a year. I just took a bad driveshaft out and am running FWD only, so i am not worried about a little pinging or shertened engine life....

From what I have researched, it goes in After the Cat, and pulls the 02 sensor away from the exhaust enough to trick the ECM into believing the Cat is working. I won't explain it further as the links below do a good job. It seems this is pretty frequently used by the "Tuner" crowd on the Japanese imports with good success. No reason it won't work here.....

I will update when i get to it. In the interim if anyone tries it and it works let us know.

http://www.k-series.com/forum/showth...hanical-02-Sim

http://www.civicforums.com/forums/7-...on-w-pics.html