Catalytic Converter Failure: Now What?
By Matt Keegan


As your engine burns fuel, it produces environmentally harmful gases. These gases, if not handled properly, will leave your car's exhaust and work harm on the environment. The Environmental Protection Agency, established in 1970, began to require that cars come equipped with devices to reduce harmful emissions. Thus, the catalytic converter was born.

The catalytic converter in your vehicle is installed in the exhaust line between the exhaust manifold and the muffler. Pellets inside the converter work to change the harmful gases into harmless gases before they leave the tailpipe and out into the open air. Thus, a properly functioning catalytic converter is essential toward maintaining good air quality.

Signs of a deteriorating catalytic converter include the following:

* Rusted or broken converter body or end tubes.

* Bits of substrate in other sections of the exhaust system.

* No rattle detected in a pellitized converter (If the converter doesn't rattle, the pellets may have melted