Now I know why I got a message post from someone saying
"A Post was deleted..."
My writeup for someone using too many different types of cleaners and how it can damage the exhaust system - has been removed, so a post I spent a lot of time on - about the P0420 code - was also wiped out - possibly due to a deletion of a user that got pissed and so they required a deletion - So that took out my effort in the Thread ...
Maybe some of you might remember this...
The issue of 420 is what
@scotman says, the Catalytic converter is losing efficiency - this puts you in a bad spot for losing the Catalyst can also affect not just the smell of the exhaust but the overall Gas efficiency and mileage you can get per gallon of gas - let alone the performance hit.
The post I put up talked about how simple things we take for granted that may not be directly noticeable - over time - does increase the likelihood of a failed part.
Simple stuff...
- Backing up to park your car, Hit one of those abutments that chock your wheel? - if your exhaust pipe is low enough - it can strike it and place the pipe to bend and even break a seal - or even crack the Catalytic converters innards from the force the backup does on the chock.
- Excessive idle times - in close confines - a car parked by a wall - the exhaust if it's trapped can find places including itself, by the pipe, to creep back into the engine and force the engine to run mixtures to keep the idle normal at it's own expense - meaning that excessive CO2 can force the emissions to run the engine to a point of being too lean to keep the O2 sensors in normal range.
- Using cleaners in the hope of clearing up engine codes - some cleaners are way too agressive for simple use or combined use with others - that can create a toxic soup that will remove too much carbon and even plug the honeycomb in the system so it can breathe - to a point that once you floor it to clear out those toxins plugging up your motor - smashed into the sensors and the catalyst honeycombed structure - cracking it into pieces - to a point the when you remove it - you can hear it rattle - not to be confused with a loose motor or hanger mount - but the catalyst can get broken into dust by the heat and pressures of that exhaust gas pressure gradient across that catalyitic converter - reducing it's efficiency.
Even if that is not the case
- - it can even be done by the road debris hitting the underside of your car and pulling- striking or even denting the pipe and all the components it's attached to are also stressed. When they are heated to operating temperature - it can break because of the exhaust pressure of the gasses getting pushed thru that pipe and catalyst are still present.
- Lowering your car - places the exhaust in a vulnerable spot - even rolling over railroad tracks can dent up the system.
- Poor fuel grades - please don't use E85, with Gas stations now being less inspected; equates to more abuse, more and more often they use cheaper fuels that have blends of more alcohol (or something else more exotic) in them - this can damage the exhaust catalyst because your car emissions is not set up to run it. - This may require you to switch fuel stations and what grade of fuel to use from now on.
So, you are in for some homework, and if the Mileage is low enough - you might be able to get it fixed at a substantially reduced cost because of it being under warranty if the Catalyst is found to be defective due to a manufacturing defect as lack of rare earth metals or failed because it was not put together correctly at the Factory.
