How can i tell if my catalytic converter is stopped up on my car?

Answer 1

i own a repair shop,and i usually can tell by the amount of heat on them,some of them will get red ,they,ll get really hot,and on some you can tell by the amount of exhaust that's coming out of the tail pipe of it,if its clogged up some it wont be smooth at all,and on the running part of it you can try and let it idle up a small hill just barely an incline,and if its stopped up some it will choke down or die,and if your still not sure they can drill a hole in it at a repair shop,and do a back pressure test on it,this will tell for sure good luck i hope this help,s.

Answer 2

Catalytic Converter Stopped Up

Answer 3

what are the symptoms you are experiencing? How badly the catalytic converter is plugged up can cause different symptoms, from a small miss because of a partially plugged exhaust system, to completely stopping the car because the exhaust gases cannot exit through the exhaust system. The experience I had with a car I owned was an almost completely plugged up catalytic converter. The car would start & run normally until you got about 1- 2 miles up the road, start missing, and continue to have less and less po\wer until it quit running completely, even with the gas pedal all the way to the floor. But give it 5 or 10 minutes for the exhaust gases to leak out, and the car would go another mile or two before the same thing happened again. Good thing I wasn't out of town, but close to home when it happened!

Answer 4

Take it to a shop and have a back pressure test done on it. That is 100% guaranteed to tell you. It might only be patially plugged which might only cause a 2-3 psi increase in back pressure which would be impossible to detect by placing your hand over the tailpipe but would be enough of a problem to cause your car to run poorly. Infared thermometers are good too but they don't necessarily tell you if it is plugged. Your car might have a sensor problem and be running rich or lean which would throw the temp of the cat way off thus giving you a misleading reading. If your car is not running properly due to a fuel mixture problem this could give you the "sulfer" smell that everyone determines to be a faulty cat. The smell once again is not an accurate sign that it is faulty. The stinky smell that you get out of a tailpipe is usually cause by excessive fuel that is why you smell it when you get behind a car pulling a hill, they are loading up the cat and it stinks, that does not mean that it is bad. Get a back pressure check done.

Answer 5

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RE:
How can i tell if my catalytic converter is stopped up on my car?

Answer 6

When the catalytic converter plugs up it stops up the exhaust pipe. The car will slow down and maybe overheat. If it plugs up tight enough, the engine will not run.

Answer 7

1.Remove the heat shield and tap on it ,if something is rattling then the honeycomb is broken.
2.you need a thermometer for this .Take a temp reading at the inlet and the outlet.The temp should be higher at the outlet,and be within around 400 degrees of the inlet temp.Also after warm up if the cat is so hot it's glowing red,it's bad.

3.the lady above me is right about the sulfur smell,but that doesn't always happen.
4.Since your down there check the rest of your exhaust,you could have a pinched pipe or your muffler could also be clogged.Also look at your tail pipe alot of people back into things and bend up they tail pipe,causing severe back pressure.
Hope that helps,good luck to you.

Answer 8

The engine will die after a short time; that is if it is STOPPED UP. Since the exhaust has to pass through it. If it can't pass through, then it will cause the engine to stall.

But I think, what you mean, is how can you tell if it is no longer working.
In which case your exhaust will probably smell like rotten eggs.

Answer 9

Well, this is an odd way to put it but does your car "fart" when youre idling? My moms cars c.c. is going bad and it gives off the most rank smell every once in a while when shes idling... it smells like rotten meat... yucky answer... yes i know... but if anything take it to an auto place that does a free diagnostic...

Answer 10

if your converter is plugged,, you will lose some power. and, under load it will run hot.. to check, use a temp gun to check the heat before the converter and after.. it should read aprox. 150 degrees HOTTER, after the converter., if not, it's plugged.