just pulled off my cat to check if it was clogged cause i got a P0420 code and this is how it looks.
wanted to know if anything looks wrong its a stock cat and 50k miles dont know too much about the catalytic convertor. im pretty sure its the rear O2 sensor but my plan was to pull out the cat and gut it but there was nutthing inside never seen the inside of a cat but im pretty sure that its been taken out am i correct?

 

It looks more like how my midpipe looked, but yea definitely no cat there. This is how it would look with the cat.

 

Ok yah I thought it would look like that but when I took it off was surprised it was clean. That's the reason my CEL is throwing a p0420 right cause there's no cat?

 

Yea that will cause that cel.

 

Sorry to thread jack but I didnt want to start my own thread for a simple question.

05 MT
145k on car
67k on new engine

I threw a P0420, so i checked my cat. The honeycomb is still there, and fully intact. No power loss. No other symptoms. I have searched through a few threads, and they all seem to go straight to replace the cat.

My question is, is a p0420 code automatically mean your cats bad, or could it be the rear 02 sensor. Every thread is seemed the first reply was, "cat junk, buy mid-pipe." But my cat seems to be fine, so i dont want to toss it if it fine.


Also side note, when replacing my ess the screw broke off in the hole. I do not have a drill that i can fit into that space to drill it out... What do i do?

 

Did you see the tip of the rear O2 sensor in the cat when you looked?


Find a small broken screw extractor set for the ESS bolt. Or pull your engine

 

haha no all i saw was a golden brown honeycomb, fully intact, didnt look damaged at all.
So if the cat is intact, and the p0420 code is being thrown, should i take a look at the 02 sensors


And I was hoping for an easy fix on the screw but that seems to never happen...

 

Yes, it's possible that the O2 sensor isn't reporting consistently any more, and it was off in the wrong direction for long enough to throw the code. Fortunately, it's the cheaper of the two sensors.

 

And im assuming it would be the rear o2 sensor, due to the fact the p0420 code is saying the cat is not working properly, when in fact it is working properly just the rear sensor isnt functioning properly and not picking up the right readings. Also this only seems to come on when i get on the gas hard. Driving conservative it wasnt throwing a code. Also just noticed the rear o2 seems to be aftermarket. I am also going to do a coil plug wire change soon, as im approching 30k on these coils.

 

okay okay ... I gotta say this

IMO

To me that is not what a stock cat looks like with the element removed.
It's just not.

Yes I'm calling bullshit on the stock cat fail...
I'm doing it nicely ... It doesn't look right to me .

I AM JUST SAYING DON"T GET YOUR ******* PANTIES IN A KNOT!!!!!