No, it will have to be replaced if you need to pass an emissions test.
There was some stuff being sold in the U.K. that was suppose to clean them out. But, it is generally known that the stuff doesn't work.

 

Bg44k

 

wtf????

beers

 

no it does not, and cant do it...

great product!! but i dont know wft kenny is talking about.

beers

 

How can I tell if my cat is clogged? Some on the forum say you can visually see the internals melted away. Any other signs besides that? Will a clogged cat give off a CEL? I've been experiencing bad idle, hesitations, and unresponsiveness. I got the flash already, and changed out all plugs. Could this be a bad cat?

 

It might give you a CEL, but *sometimes* it might not throw anything at all. The only way to tell is either visually *look* at it, or test it.

 

how do you test it?

 

I've had 4 cats replaced, on my car, in almost 4 yrs. They all plugged up. None burnt out. I would first get flashing CEL's and solid CEL's for a misfire. Soon, the car wouldn't be able to rev over 7K.

 

hi gc

the cat on my car developed a fault and had to be replaced.
i had just got her through the MOT test we have in the uk, and i have a cat back exhaust which has the familar crackle etc.

i had noticed after the test that the exhaust wasn't its usual sporty crackly self.

a few days later the CEL light came on and stayed on, driving home from work, but the car lost no power and revved like usual.

when mazda hooked the car up to the computer they got a CAT failure code, it cost about £1200 to put a new CAT in.

My dealership paid for the part, me the labour as a good will payment cause i just had the car a few weeks, was peeved but better than £1200 me paying £210.

But the things I noticed were the difference in the exhaust note.
When I got the car back, it was alot quicker, I now use low sulphur shell petrol (gas) or the BP ultimate to help keep the engine clean and the emissions down so not to clog it again.

this happened at 62k odd miles, and someone on here thought my car was running too rich, but the full tank of petrol returned around 280 to 300 miles driving sensible.

i now red line at least once a day and use good quality petrol, the car is driving great better on higher octane petrol, so hopefully this will keep the cat in good shape.

they do glow red as very high temperatures etc, i did use a product on my other mazda mx3, jap import called CATACLEAN sold in England.

it was being advertised on TV to clean clogged CATS, they interviewed UK MOT garages who had failed people due to emissions, they would pour the CATACLEAN into the fuel tank, drive the car around for a bit return to the MOT garage and it had clean out the CAT and the car passed the emissions test.

it all sounded quite honest and the TV guy tested it and his car got better MPG and more perkiness etc.

i did notice a difference in the car after about 40-50 miles, like it got a bit of a boost, whether it did clean the CAT i can not say for sure as it always passes the MOT.

i have also read that these cleaners can damage sensors etc in the exhaust and they are not recommended by the manufacturer, plus nothing would withstand the high temperatures of combustion to go out in the exhaust and through the CAT.

so its hard to really say, you could try it and see, but you may end up like me an just bite the bullet and get a new CAT.

but i understand how you feel.

 

yes that would unclog it. since you will be taking the cat material out that makes it into a resonated midpipe so you wont even have to buy a midpipe. just be careful not to smash the o2 sensor

 

there is a chemical out there that cleans cats ... but i dont know how well.

most times you just need to clean the sensor and not the cat. a little brake

cleaner onthe sensor and a torch cleans em nicely.

i clean my cat using the revline method. try it, it makes me smile

 

A long steel rod and a several hours of work should unclog the cat for you. If you don't care about legality.

 

Took this off yesterday took bout an hour with a lot of distractions getting pulled away to clear it with a pry bar hammer and a metal rod also put some 2x4 on the floor so i didnt mess that up heres a b4 and after shot oh yea dont for get brute strength beast mode when intel fails brute force is authorized.

 

7 year thread bump but you got it,now you just have to deal with the check light

 

Yes it is and we shall see about the light soon enough

 

Kudos on not starting a new thread of a common problem.
If you have an Android phone, you can get the Torque app & a Bluetooth dongle to read the OBD codes & clear the CEL that will surely pop up.
That's what I use.

 

Yes been using that setup for a while ive actually found this post about 4 times before i posted anything but im curious about my ignition as well but thats an issue for another warmer day with the tester and weather i can actually drive it in

 

Well, if you have more than 30k or don't know how many miles are on your coils, plugs, & wires, you might want to plan on changing them anyway.
They are the usual suspects for bad cats.

 

Yea was planning on bhr anyways but more or less waiting to get the warner weather is been around -30 around here lately i took the cat off outside it was -18 thankful my car has 0 rust on it

 

Hi,
I've noticed that my idle isn't as smooth as it could be.
Also there is a surge/turbo feeling around 7-8krpms - but would a failing CAT do the oppsosite and reduce power at higher revs?

Here's a 41megapixel picture...seems the heatshield is breaking...taking it to a ramp soon...I can also visibly see the heat shimmer/air warp around it...is this normal or excessive?

Cheers,
Jon

<img src="https://yfl8nw.bn1301.livefilestore.com/y3mbUQxcdOtM0rhB9mmakfMcgTxqWmP7Wu_vgKGbou3hwZGMEm F50Xe-f-wSS_aD0DvFrhYSd0m4zkL2In8yGyi5FgGyboNBfCKLy4-quIXT_yV6WQifphTlBYyUTfA3B1pZ9IDo3LSgwSfIVVQwd33Ib cYhYVmt9QbKMZlXCXUxpU?width=7712&height=4352&cropm ode=none" width="964" height="544" />

 

That's pretty subjective. No idea.

I can say that cataclean will work for a few thousand miles (or at least it will get rid of the CEL on a partially failed cat) but it's not a permanent solution. On my other car I ended up putting the o2 sensor on a spacer to keep the CEL off.

On the 8 I did a visual check of the cat from the engine side and it looked clear at 50k miles. OBDII says it's running between 700-900 celsius depending on what I'm doing.