The catylitic converters malfunctioned on my 2005 Honda Accord Hybrid. This happen to you?

Question

My car has had the "check engine" light on for about a week so i took it to the dealer and they said that both catylitic converters were gone. On a 2005 vehicle? Is this unheard of? I have the certified Honda warranty plus and additional warranty so it is covered but what the hell? is this something one-off for Honda. It sounds "suspect" to me and i would like to know what everyone elses expierence is.

To give a bit of background, I am running full synthetic and have burned a tank or two of premium gas until I realized the mileage is made WORSE (would this have something to do with it?)

Answer 1

When the check engine light comes on with the code for the catalytic converter it is indicating that the ability of the converter to process exhaust gases has deminished to less than 50% of its original capacity. This does not mean that the converter has 'failed'; it is still working to clean up the exhaust. But as it 'converts' bad gases go harmless gases the coatings on the converter core are expended so over time the converter will use up the reactive materials.

The converter should last more than 3 years; that's why the warranty on that part is for 8 years/80,000 miles under the federal emissions warranty for all manufacturers. As the converter will gradually lose its ability to process the emissions that 8 year life is a reasonable expectation. (The warranty on the hybrid converter may be longer).

To answer your questions: this is a 'one-off' failure; it is not common on Hondas nor on the Accord Hybrid. There is nothing you did to accelerate the failure and premium gas has no effect on the durability of the catalyst.

Whether or not anything the previous owner did while they had the car contributed to the failure is something that we'll never know. Converters can be damaged by raw fuel getting down to the coverters from engine misfires or by using the wrong fuel in a car (such as putting diesel fuel in by mistake). Unfortunately you'll never find out unless you can find the previous owner and even then they probably wouldn't say if they did anything that contributed to the failure for fear that they would be liable for the cost of repair.

There should be no recurrance of the failure after the converters are replaced. I'd be glad that the certified warranty is such a good one on Hondas.

hope that answers your questions

Answer 2

Yes it happens, just be happy it didnt cost you the over $1000.00 dollars it would have with out a warranty.
Cars break down, they are MACHINES!

And yes, bad gas can cause the convertor to burn out.