Anyone had to replace the Catalytic Converter?

dnelms · #1 06-21-2006, 03:52 PM

My daughter's car started acting up again. She said it would not shift gears (2002 6 cyl., automatic) like normal, the RPM would rev up until it shifted. I drove it to my mechanic this morning and was convinced the whole transmission was going away as it would not get up and go like normal. They replaced the fuel filter, drove it, same problem. They took it to the guy who does their transmission work and he diagnosed that it was not the transmission. They now think it's the catalytic converter. I have it at a muffler shop to be diagnosed in the morning and replaced if necessary. I did a search on the forum and this seems to be an odd problem, not very ccommon. Has anyone had to replace on before, approx. cost and could that be the cause of it not running properly?

BNaylor · #2 06-21-2006, 10:11 PM

A bad or clogged CAT convertor on an Alero 3.4L is uncommon but has been known to happen. I have a family member with a '01 Grand AM GT (3.4L) and the CAT was diagnosed bad with only 58K miles on the odometer. GM might have used flaky CATs on some 2001 - 2002 models. How many miles do you have because the CAT has a warranty to 80K miles or 8 years, whichever comes first.

dnelms · #3 06-22-2006, 04:45 AM

Not positive about the mileage as I don't drive it and it's at the shop right now. However, I'm pretty sure it's in the high 50's though. We bought it 2 years ago at CarMax. You think the CAT warranty went with the car? I'll look into it further and thanks for the heads up.

BNaylor · #4 06-22-2006, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnelms

Not positive about the mileage as I don't drive it and it's at the shop right now. However, I'm pretty sure it's in the high 50's though. We bought it 2 years ago at CarMax. You think the CAT warranty went with the car? I'll look into it further and thanks for the heads up.

What ever remaining warranties are left to include emissions should be transferable to the new owner. You can call Olds Customer Service at 800-630-6537 to confirm.

dnelms · #5 06-22-2006, 01:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnaylor

What ever remaining warranties are left to include emissions should be transferable to the new owner. You can call Olds Customer Service at 800-630-6537 to confirm.

Oldsmobile did have my warranty information. Of course, my car was already being repaired when I called them. Turns out that the converter was completely clogged and it was the problem. Olds of course wanted me to take it to a dealer, but it was too late. They have agreed to talk with the place I had the converter replaced at and may (although I doubt it happens) reimburse us some of the cost ($197). Any help would be great, but at least it corrected the problem. The guy did ask me if I had any problems with the coil pack on the Alero. Had not, although my daughter has had starting problems that we think was sue to the iginition switch. Now I wonder if it's time to have the coil pack checked, as he said he has replaced a good number of CAT's on Aleros, all due to a bad coil pack.

Thanks again for the heads up and the customer service number, I may get a little relief out of it.

BNaylor · #6 06-22-2006, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnelms

Oldsmobile did have my warranty information. Of course, my car was already being repaired when I called them. Turns out that the converter was completely clogged and it was the problem. Olds of course wanted me to take it to a dealer, but it was too late. They have agreed to talk with the place I had the converter replaced at and may (although I doubt it happens) reimburse us some of the cost ($197). Any help would be great, but at least it corrected the problem. The guy did ask me if I had any problems with the coil pack on the Alero. Had not, although my daughter has had starting problems that we think was sue to the iginition switch. Now I wonder if it's time to have the coil pack checked, as he said he has replaced a good number of CAT's on Aleros, all due to a bad coil pack.

Thanks again for the heads up and the customer service number, I may get a little relief out of it.

Thanks for the feedback. If you are persistent enough GM may give in. I've heard of them helping out and reimbursing owners for the CAT, especially if it is a 2001 - 2002 model.

I can see stuff like coil packs, ignition control modules and even bad spark plugs/wires cause premature CAT failure due to causing misfires which will eventually damage the CAT. Normally they will give you a SES light and set off a misfire DTC error code like P030X but not always.

Good luck and hopefully you get some relief on the CAT.

PotIsYourFriend · #7 06-22-2006, 10:08 PM

I've replaced mine twice.. Once for 700 bucks the other time for 250... Beware the Stealership will cost over 1k...

EDIT!!!!!! Nevermind you're not silly like me...

BNaylor · #8 06-23-2006, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PotIsYourFriend

I've replaced mine twice.. Once for 700 bucks the other time for 250... Beware the Stealership will cost over 1k...

EDIT!!!!!! Nevermind you're not silly like me...

Ouch, even $250 is too much. $700 is a total rip off.

If it ever goes bad again go with an aftermarket hi-flow from Magnaflow. At least get some performance gain out of it. I've seen the Magnaflows for around $55.00 including shipping and about $50 for labor at a mom n pop muffler shop. Fully odbii compliant too.

dnelms · #9 06-23-2006, 02:20 PM

Just to keep this updated, after my conversation yesterday with Olds Customer Service, they said they would contact me beteen 7 and 9 last night. Never got a call, figured I'd have to press the issue later. But today at lunch, they called me and gave me a file number and the address to send the paperwork to. So maybe, just maybe I may get some reimbursement out of it. I'll update this as time goes on, just so others can see the outcome and it may help someone else down the road.

JTrujillo86 · #10 06-23-2006, 08:53 PM

Oldsmobile and my local GM dealership picked up the tab on my second warping dash. The vehicle's bumper-to-bumper warranty had ran out and the warranty on the first replacement dash was up as well. I call my dealership and Oldsmobile Customer Service and each agreed to cover half of the cost. If I would have had to do it myself it would have been over $1k.

I think if you are asking for reasonable help, they won't hesitate to help you, at least somewhat. The only bad thing is now I have two -- possibly three -- door panels that are on the fast track to warping. I know that many people here have said all you can do is replace them, but I'm seriously thinking about doing some surgery on her and seeing if I can rig something up to make it look not so bad. I was thinking (this may sound a little W.T. to some) about taking the door panels off and trying some Gorilla glue and applying some heat to see if I can reshape the top of the panel.

- Jeremy

dnelms · #11 08-07-2006, 02:20 PM

Just an update to this. We had the cat converter replaced and I contacted Oldsmobile about it being under warranty. We got a check Friday for the full amount of what we spent ($196). Was pleasantly surprised and will keep Oldsmobile in mind when buying our next car because of it.

PotIsYourFriend · #12 08-08-2006, 10:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dnelms

Just an update to this. We had the cat converter replaced and I contacted Oldsmobile about it being under warranty. We got a check Friday for the full amount of what we spent ($196). Was pleasantly surprised and will keep Oldsmobile in mind when buying our next car because of it.

It'll be a used one

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