The exhaust system of modern Honda cars is a reliable assembly that does an excellent job of purifying exhaust gases. For the owners of such vehicles, a failure of the catalytic converter, which is installed inside this system, can cause a big blow to the budget. It is so because the price of such parts is high due to precious metals inside the case. Even after their failure, they are highly valued and can be sold to dealers. The cost depends on the condition of the spare part and the volume of platinum group metals in it. You can find a buyer for an unusable part on autocatalystmarket.com/us/en/products/honda.
When the part needs to be replaced
Over time, the catalytic converter ceases to perform its function at full capacity and finally fails. You can find out about a malfunction due to the following symptoms:
- the performance of the engine is noticeably reduced;
- fuel consumption increases;
- problems with ignition;
- unstable idle speed.
When the catalytic converter fails, you can notice a sharp rattling sound under the vehicle’s bottom and an unpleasant smell of exhaust gases. On rare occasions, you may notice the “Check Engine” indicator that alerts of an engine error.
Reasons for catalytic converter failure
According to technical regulations, the average service life of a catalytic converter is approximately 120,000 miles of the run. Failure may be caused by excessive clogging or damage to the case. This part can be damaged due to:
- Use of low-quality fuel – the fuel mixture does not burn out in the engine and gets inside the catalytic converter. This causes the melting of the exhaust system parts.
- Off-brand parts – even if they use catalytic converters that are intended for foreign markets, such parts may not cope with the loads and fail earlier than the suggested time.
- Temperature extremes — this spare part starts operation when it is heated up to 300 ° С, and in cases with a faulty ignition, it is exposed to the impact of such extremes.
- Driving on poor quality roads – it can cause mechanical damage to the converter’s case and other serious consequences.
- In rare cases, the operation of the catalytic converter is affected by engine malfunctions.
Honda vehicle owners should be aware that catalytic converter replacement cannot be postponed since there are some driving limitations during its malfunction.
Replacement and removal of the catalytic converter
Buying a new catalytic converter is an expensive investment. And many vehicle owners can decide to solve the problem in a more affordable way. Many people choose universal parts or inexpensive analogs. But no one gives guarantees that the part will last as long as the original catalytic converter. Therefore, many choose to completely remove the catalytic converter from the exhaust system. But such a procedure should be performed by specialists at the car repair shops and implies making adjustments to the onboard computer.
