My car stinks and I can't blame it on other cars forever.
November 17, 2009 9:42 AM Subscribe
Should I bother fixing my catalytic converter?
Worth it to fix my catalytic converter? It periodically smells like rotten eggs and the mpg is down from 16 to 13 or 14 on the highway. '97 Mountaineer, but I don't use it to commute so it accrues 2500 mi/yr, tops. The car's only about 100K miles old.
Don't know how much this costs to fix. Would it just be cheaper to leave it alone? The car passed the Seattle emissions test by default a month ago, since it's too old to plug into the computer. But am I going to be sorry if I don't fix it when the car ... explodes or something?
Worth it to fix my catalytic converter? It periodically smells like rotten eggs and the mpg is down from 16 to 13 or 14 on the highway. '97 Mountaineer, but I don't use it to commute so it accrues 2500 mi/yr, tops. The car's only about 100K miles old.
Don't know how much this costs to fix. Would it just be cheaper to leave it alone? The car passed the Seattle emissions test by default a month ago, since it's too old to plug into the computer. But am I going to be sorry if I don't fix it when the car ... explodes or something?
Best answer: As per my husband:
While it's annoying to have your car smell like sulphur, it's really just a symptom. The underlying problem is that the car is running too rich (too much fuel, not enough air) a mixture, possibly because of your injector ports. That's what's really reducing your gas mileage (not burning all your fuel) and causing the smell (when cats overheat, they stink, and too rich of a fuel mixture causes everything in contact to run hotter than normal).
posted by bookdragoness at 10:02 AM on November 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
While it's annoying to have your car smell like sulphur, it's really just a symptom. The underlying problem is that the car is running too rich (too much fuel, not enough air) a mixture, possibly because of your injector ports. That's what's really reducing your gas mileage (not burning all your fuel) and causing the smell (when cats overheat, they stink, and too rich of a fuel mixture causes everything in contact to run hotter than normal).
posted by bookdragoness at 10:02 AM on November 17, 2009 [1 favorite]
(when cats overheat, they stink, and too rich of a fuel mixture causes everything in contact to run hotter than normal)
This is validated by my experience as well.
posted by ChrisHartley at 10:05 AM on November 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
This is validated by my experience as well.
posted by ChrisHartley at 10:05 AM on November 17, 2009 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Sorry, pushed post too early. He says that if the cat smells like sulphur, it's probably bad too. A repair will probably run you approximately $180 for the cat and $50 per bad injector. Unless you're very familiar with doing your own car repairs/maintenance/tinkering-for-fun (or want a car project, since it's not your commuter), take it to a reputable shop.
posted by bookdragoness at 10:06 AM on November 17, 2009
posted by bookdragoness at 10:06 AM on November 17, 2009
Sorry, pushed post too early. He says that if the cat smells like sulphur, it's probably bad too.
I agree entirely.
posted by jefficator at 10:57 AM on November 17, 2009
I agree entirely.
posted by jefficator at 10:57 AM on November 17, 2009
...'97 Mountaineer...
...The car passed the Seattle emissions test by default a month ago, since it's too old to plug into the computer.
That's strange...I thought all passenger vehicles sold after 1/1/96 were required to have an OBD-II interface.
posted by jaimev at 12:01 PM on November 17, 2009
...The car passed the Seattle emissions test by default a month ago, since it's too old to plug into the computer.
That's strange...I thought all passenger vehicles sold after 1/1/96 were required to have an OBD-II interface.
posted by jaimev at 12:01 PM on November 17, 2009
Response by poster: Thanks, all. Not what I wanted to hear, but what can you do.
jaimev: That is strange. I think you must be right, but the emissions testers definitely didn't plug in. (I'll have to look for the connecter when I get home.)
posted by zvs at 12:12 PM on November 17, 2009
jaimev: That is strange. I think you must be right, but the emissions testers definitely didn't plug in. (I'll have to look for the connecter when I get home.)
posted by zvs at 12:12 PM on November 17, 2009
An overheated converter will likely eventually disintegrate internally or clog at some point in the future. Either it'll make an unbearably loud noise or your MPG and performance will take a nose-dive.
You're going to wind up fixing it eventually so do it now before it gets worse.
posted by Jon-o at 5:08 PM on November 17, 2009
You're going to wind up fixing it eventually so do it now before it gets worse.
posted by Jon-o at 5:08 PM on November 17, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 9:59 AM on November 17, 2009