Myth, "You Can Clean a Catalyst".

The hard part is getting some "experts" to understand that it is their lack of understanding that allows them to believe in it.  From an e-mail related to a forum.


Hi Joe.



" I think the point being made in the forums about cat cleaning was only a desperate maneuver to pass
a smog test, not to restore a cat's efficiency."



That unfortunately isn't how it is presented either in the forum, nor especially via the advertising that the company that is promoting cataclean is putting out there.



When you wrote this



"It's entirely possible. Actually lacquer thinner works quite well, so maybe that's all that product is. I've also heard of people removing the CAT and dumping it overnight in a bucket of laundry detergent."



How should a reader interpret your post? It sure looks like you thought that cleaning catalysts was possible.



RB had written" ."Fast forward to late December where at around 158,500 miles the truck started throwing an intermittent SES light. I ran it over to the dealer and my Service Advisor told me that the fault was the dreaded “catalyst efficiency” DTC. I had resigned myself to spending a few hours under the truck trying to install spark plug anti-foulers(and cursing the stuck O2 sensors) when I ran across an ad for Cataclean: http://www.cataclean.com/ It was apparently developed in England and is now sold over here by Mr. Gasket and Prestolite"



Instead of pointing out that is tampering and not only has an impact on the systems ability to test the catalysts correctly, it totally ignores the fact that testing of the catalysts is only a small part of the responsibility of the downstream sensors. Your post makes it appear that you supported his statements. If you want XXXXX to truly educate the consumers, then you shouldn't be standing by and supporting the myths like RB posted. Did " the cleaner", make a difference? The answer is, if it did it didn't occur inside the catalyst and if you knew that you shouldn't have let his comments stand unchallenged.  



Look up this code. DTC P2096.  Use any platform that supports it, and then explain what would happen if someone tampers with the location and therefore the exhaust sampling of the downstream O2 sensors. 



You wrote" You know, some folks don't have $1700 to spend, so if some snake oil gets
them passed the Smog Monster, even for a few weeks, all well and good."



Sure I know some folks don't have that kind of money laying around, but they also don't have the money for another car payment which is where they will end up if manufacturers and dealers have their way. Proper education, service and care would decrease the occurrences of the major failures be they mechanical or emissions related. Your Mini wouldn't have lost it's catalyst to a major failure had you been more attentive to a misfire that occurred in the past. You are looking at your catalyst failure as its own single event, when in fact that kind of a failure is caused by something else and should be preventable.

Just a little update

It's been really busy the last few weeks, so I haven't had much time to write. I have more to put up from the last few posts to complete the stories, but in the mean time here are a few pictures from work we did in the shop this week.

This is from a 2011 Subaru Outback that the customer was reporting difficulty shifting into first gear. A short trip around the block revealed noise from the throw out bearing. If it wasn't for this bearing failing, the clutch itself would likely have lasted a few more years. I'll add more to this this story during the coming week.