Is my cat. going bad?

[KChurch86]

So today after I got home, right before I shut the truck off I started hearing this little noise that at first sounded like something in the dash board vibrating. I revved the engine and the noise speed increased, and decreased while the engine wound down. I got out, popped the hood, and looked around. I could hear it faintly, but couldn't pinpoint it. Then I decided to crawl underneath, thinking maybe it was a heatshield. That's when I realized that my passenger-side catalytic converter was making the noise. It's only the passenger-side, the driver-side isn't doing it.

Is my catalytic converter going bad?

Have a listen:

http://s741.photobucket.com/user/KChurch86/media/2014-05-06_17-54-22_65_zps980513bp.mp4.html

I'm not in the mood to wait for this quick little video to upload to youtube so I just linked my Photobucket.

With the engine running I held my hand up all around the cat. (as close as I could get in as many places as I could reach, didn't feel like getting burned) and I couldn't feel a leak anywhere..

 

[KChurch86]

I should also note that the truck drives just fine, there's no loss of power, no SES light, nothing odd or out of the ordinary.

 

[Prime]

Didn't you just replace all that stuff?

 

[KChurch86]

Didn't you just replace all that stuff?

My thought exactly. Yes.

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[Prime]

Yeah. Just watched your video. That is a terrible sound! Is it localized right to that cat?

 

[KChurch86]

Yeah. Just watched your video. That is a terrible sound! Is it localized right to that cat?

It seems to be, it's hard to pinpoint from underneath because once I'm under there, it's all I can hear. Definitely seems to be at least coming from the cat., not sure if it's something upstream that is resonating in the cat.

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[KChurch86]

I think tomorrow before I leave work I'm going to start it up, climb underneath, and put my hand right on the cat. before it heats up to see if I can feel anything in the cat., or the pipe before it, etc.

 

[Prime]

That's where I would start. Or a mechanics stethoscope. So you can pinpoint EXACTLY where it's coming from.

 

[Intender]

sounds almost like you have a small exhaust leak. see if you can feel any air putting out around any of the joints in the exhaust. When I had my jetta I would burn through the copper gasket before my catalytic converter every couple of months and it would start making a sound just like that. if you run your hand around the exaust pipe particularly at any joints you should feel the puffs of air coming out if thats the problem. Might be something as simple as needing to tighten up the bolts.

 

[KChurch86]

sounds almost like you have a small exhaust leak. see if you can feel any air putting out around any of the joints in the exhaust. When I had my jetta I would burn through the copper gasket before my catalytic converter every couple of months and it would start making a sound just like that. if you run your hand around the exaust pipe particularly at any joints you should feel the puffs of air coming out if thats the problem. Might be something as simple as needing to tighten up the bolts.

Thanks for the suggestion. If it's loose bolts in the exhaust, it won't be the first time...

So today before I left work I fired it up and climbed underneath, the noise didn't start until the engine had started to warm up and the converter started getting hot. Then the noise started faintly. By the time the truck was hot, the noise was just like yesterday. Thermal expansion causing the leak to grow? Sounds good to me. I've got a bunch of running around to do but later tonight I'll climb back under and see if I can tighten up the bolts at the cat/header flange.

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[KChurch86]

Well I finally got around to checking this out...it doesn't seem as though there are any leaks around either of the flanges (header to cat, cat to y-pipe) and I couldn't feel any (major) leaks elsewhere in the system.

What I did find was that my secondary O2 sensor on the passenger-side had loosened up again. Actually, it was the CEL eliminator that had loosened up in the cat this time, the sensor itself was still tight.

I cranked down the jam nut as tight as I could without stripping anything out, and if that damn thing loosens up again I'm having the f***er welded in place. I'm so sick of O2 sensors loosening up on this damn thing.

Anyway I won't know until tomorrow if it solves the problem, if I start my truck right now it'll wake up my son and then we'll have a bear of a time getting him to go back to sleep. I'll have a listen tomorrow and see what I can hear.

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[KChurch86]

Wow, sooo much worse. There's got to be a large leak somewhere, as now it sounds like I'm running an open header on one side. I don't friggin' get it.

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[KChurch86]

Found it.

This afternoon I crawled underneath before starting the truck and really took a good look around. Everything was still tight, no wiggles or jiggles anywhere, nothing out of the ordinary.

I started it up and immediately went back under and put my hands around the pipe from the header flange all the way down to the far end of the y-pipe and didn't feel any air.

Then I looked at the rear weld of the catalytic converter and watched moisture seeping out of the weld. The driver's side was doing the same thing, but not nearly as bad. The longer I watched, the hotter the exhaust got, to the point that it was hot enough to not show the moisture anymore - which is why I couldn't see anything the other times I looked.

It seems as though these cats are garbage. Less than 8,000 miles and already the welds are failing? BS.

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[Prime]

That's bizare. Mine aren't leaking. Yet.

Call pace setter and yell at them.

 

[Prime]

Kyle, just wanted to bring this back to life. Both of my pace setter cats have grenaded. They sound like a box of rocks. I've gotta go back and check on the warranty. Time for all custom mid pipes. And saying goodbye to $500.

 

[KChurch86]

Kyle, just wanted to bring this back to life. Both of my pace setter cats have grenades. They sound like a box of rocks. I've gotta go back and check on the warranty. Time for all custom mid pipes. And saying goodbye to $500.

Ugh, sorry to hear man. My passenger-side cat is falling apart pretty bad, the threaded bung broke loose from the cat so my O2 sensor fell out 2 weeks ago on the way home from work. Some crafty roadside repairs got me home, where I was able to make a more permanent temporary solution. I haven't had a chance to call anybody yet, but even if they want to send me replacements; I don't want them at this point. I'm thinking custom mid-pipes and universal cats as well. It's either that or try another aftermarket OE-style brand :shucks:

 

[Prime]

Yeah. I'm with you on not wanting them replaced. Less than a year is just unacceptable. Tempted to just cut them off and send them back to the manufacturer. Complete with a lovely note signed with some of my dogs leavings. Because that's what I think of the product.

 

[KChurch86]

Yeah. I'm with you on not wanting them replaced. Less than a year is just unacceptable. Tempted to just cut them off and send them back to the manufacturer. Complete with a lovely note signed with some of my dogs leavings. Because that's what I think of the product.

I don't have a dog but I'll do the deed myself. Have you looked at Pacesetter's website? They sell them directly for far more than autoanything.com sold them, almost makes me wonder if autoanything got all the defective ones to sell, haha.

 

[Prime]

Interesting point

 

[Prime]

I had a pace setter header on my Heep years ago, and it held up great!