My sisters '03 EP3 has been throwing a CEL for the past month or so, and she finally got it checked. It threw code P0420, bad cat converter. The dealer told her it would need replaced along with both o2 sensors. Does this sound right? How would they know the cat is bad and just not one of the sensors?

Also, are all EP3 cats interchangeable (ie. an '05 on an '03)?
Any info would be appreciated

And no, I dont have any pics of my sister


Modified by thegrayghost at 10:29 PM 11/19/2006

 

Thats so odd that such a new car already has a bad cat on it.... hummmm.... anyone????

 

if the cat is bad, thre is a recognizable loss of power, and if you put yoru hand by hte exhuast and rev it up, not much air iwll come out. and it will also rattle.

 

well, when my cat went bad on another car it did not throw a code but i could tell it was bad (I could not go over 50 mph)

I don't think the sensors are bad though.

yes they are all interchangable.

 

Well it has around 105,000 miles on it...yes she drives alot. I know they can get clogged, but to go bad and throw a code that says so seems odd to me. Thanks for the replies

 

You will only experience a noticable loss of power if the cat is clogged. You will not neccessarily notice a power loss if the cat is no longer effective although it will trip the CEL. Its always a good idea to change your O2 sensor as its common to see them go bad after 100K. I would say cahnge the O2 sensors first and then if its still tripping the light go for the new cat. It might save you some money.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Vtec2ner &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You will only experience a noticable loss of power if the cat is clogged. You will not neccessarily notice a power loss if the cat is no longer effective although it will trip the CEL. Its always a good idea to change your O2 sensor as its common to see them go bad after 100K. I would say cahnge the O2 sensors first and then if its still tripping the light go for the new cat. It might save you some money.</TD></TR></TABLE>


If the cat is clogged it WILL break a new 02 sensor relatively quick. The cats heat up alot from them being clogged.

 

Thanks for the info