check engine light / feels like its going to stall

[michaelpb]

I have a '02 civic si with 76,500 miles. Check engine light is on, car shakes & feels like it wants to stall. Honda says it is the catalytic converter. What is involved in replacing it (cost wise)? Has anyone had a similar problem? Do you think this is the problem?

[BrodyP]

Honda charges about 600$ bucks to replace it. My opinion would to be purchase a high performance cat from Random and have Meinke slam it on..250$ for the cat and 60$ for them to weld it up.

[michaelpb]

Originally Posted by BrodyP

Honda charges about 600$ bucks to replace it. My opinion would to be purchase a high performance cat from Random and have Meinke slam it on..250$ for the cat and 60$ for them to weld it up.

Thanks for your suggestion. Depending on what Honda tells me, I may do that.

When I bought the car, I also purchased an extended warranty. Honday is saying since I put an aftermarket exhaust (no headers) & intake on the car, they are not sure the warranty will cover it. The exhaust & intake have been on the car since '02.

Someone told me that this was challenged in court about 10 years ago and if the dealer is pressed he will replace the part. If you took him to small claims court he would lose unless he could prove that the aftermarket part caused the failure. That is the law. Has anyone else heard this?

[hxgaser]

Originally Posted by michaelpb

...unless he could prove that the aftermarket part caused the failure. That is the law. Has anyone else heard this?

Yup, It is called Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Do some googling and you will find lots of information. It is correct that unless they can specifically proved that the aftermarket parts caused the failure, which in this case I highly doubt, they have to honor the warranty.