Catalytic converters can be expected to last a good 10 years in a well-kept car. But various problems can threaten to shorten a cat’s lifespan. Impacts with external objects, electrical faults, and leaking fuel, oil, or fluids can sometimes damage a cat. If your converter ever encounters trouble, you’re likely to notice the following five issues, which should be addressed at your local Ford dealer without delay.
Does Your Ford Need a New Catalytic Converter?
Rattling Sounds
Inside every cat, there’s a delicate honeycomb-like mesh coated in platinum, palladium, and other precious metals. If a sudden jolt, leaking unburned fuel, or deterioration from age begins to break the mesh apart, the gases sweeping through the exhaust system will rattle these loose parts around. You might be able to hear this rattling whenever you rev your engine.
Rotten Egg Odors
Fully functioning cats convert over 90% of the toxic fumes emitted by your engine into more benign gases that are safer to breathe. When a cat stops working properly, you’ll soon smell the difference. Most notably, the dangerous emission of hydrogen sulfide has a terrible, sulphury, rotten egg-like odor.
Weaker Acceleration
When a clogged cat holds up the flow of gases through the car, this prevents the engine from taking in as much fresh oxygen. Engines with a restricted inflow of air soon start to lose power. As a result, you’re likely to notice a reduction in acceleration force whenever you need a quick burst of speed.
Lower Gas Mileage
As an oxygen-starved engine struggles to work efficiently, it carries the car less far for each gallon of gas. And so with a clogged-up cat, you’ll soon find your gas mileage dropping significantly.
Misfiring, Stalling Engine
When a clogged cat restricts airflow, the combustion chambers inside the engine lose the proper balance of fuel and oxygen. As a result, an excess of fuel builds up inside the combustion chambers, coating the spark plugs in a sooty layer.
This causes the spark plugs to start misfiring: your engine will start sputtering and juddering when you slow down to pause in idle. And your car might even stall entirely.
Black Exhaust Smoke
With an excess of fuel in the combustion chambers, some of it can start to leak back into the exhaust system. This leaking fuel can cause a great deal of damage to the cat.
When fuel reaches the converter, it can either break down the mesh work or ignite in the extreme heat, which instantly destroys the cat. In either case, you’ll notice your exhaust fumes thickening with black smoke.
How a Ford Dealer Can Inspect Your Converter
Engine problems have various potential causes. It’s necessary to first identify if the culprit is your cat or something else. Your technician can first remove the exhaust air cleaner to visually see if a thick cloud of vapor has built up at the intake. And if clogged emissions have built up at the intake, it creates excessive heat, so a technician can also use a pyrometer to see if the temperature there is unusually high.
Have your converter repaired or replaced today at Beachum and Lee Ford, Inc. We’re a local full-service dealership offering a broad range of excellent Ford vehicles and great customer service.
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