Catalyst Converter Problem....

[HUM GOOD]

my cat sound like ti is breaking apart.

Has anyone had this issue....I'm over 100,000 so the warranty is void.
Can I cut them out, empty and put them back in?

any ideas?

I don't really wanna fit the bill for new cats....

Thanks Joe

[pdsq99f4]

They can do that sometimes. Usually the air filter is clogged too. It's not really legal to empty them out and your check engine light will always be on.

[Rene S. Nielsen]

Hi

I just did this to mine since they both colapsed (funny spelling). You don't even have to pull them from the car to do it.

Just crawl under and unmount the protection cage. Then you will have plenty of room to make a hole in the cat, open it up, empty it out and weld it back together.

Just remember to put someairway protection on because the inside of the cat will not taste very good, and I would imagine that it's not very healthy either.

Regards
Rene

[HUM GOOD]

hey Rene - how does the truck run with them empty?

as pd mentioned - does the check engine light stay on?

how large of a hole worked?

[HUMTECH]

You can but o2 sensor cheaters to install after the cat which will tell the pcm everything is normal. If you need to pass a smog test you will fail though. I put them on my 98 Z71 pickup and they work great. Not positive if they are avail for the Hummer, but def worth it. With an open cat it will think your running rich and the pcm will pull fuel trying to correct, or unplug the post sensor and it will run in open loop

[IRA51]

gutting the cats and useing Sims to repace the down stream O2s works great ,if you don't mind breaking the fedral law on cat tampering/removal. getting new high flow cat's is a far better idea.

[HUMTECH]

High flow Cat? The backpressure rating on a stock gm cat is 0.5 psi max. I think they flow pretty good

[IRA51]

the Random tec cats and the Magnaflow cats are cheaper that the factory cat ,and flow as well or better . I was under the impression his was bad.

[8500lbs]

I have the Dyna Tech high flow cats and I have less than 50,000 miles one them. I thought they were great untill yesterday when they tripped the engine light three times. it is P0420 or insufficient flow. Not sure what the deal is but i am going to try and call Dyna tech and have them replaced. ig it is a no go then i am going to strip them and look for the censor chearters. Does any one know or recomend a place to get them from,

Thanks
B

[IRA51]

a P0420 is bank 1 I think and it could be anything from an exaust leak to a bad cat . some times a bad O2 can set it . if the down stream O2 does not see much of a reduction it can set it . I would check the O2's first to see if they are good B4 changing the cat .check your coolant level,a leaking head gasket can kill cat's and O2's .

[HUMTECH]

a P0420 is bank 1 I think and it could be anything from an exaust leak to a bad cat . some times a bad O2 can set it . if the down stream O2 does not see much of a reduction it can set it . I would check the O2's first to see if they are good B4 changing the cat .check your coolant level,a leaking head gasket can kill cat's and O2's .
Correct, p0420 is bank 1 catalyst low efficiency. Outside chance that an o2 sensor will set this code, but is possible. Also needs a pretty good exhaust leak, at least one audibly noticable to set it. But still possible for sure. As said above, check for exhaust leak, o2 scan data would help, but in the end my money would be the cat is bad. In my experience i have never seen a low catalyst efficiency code set that a new converter didnt fix. I even gambled on a couple that had headers installed that were leaking badly and turned out the new cats fixed them.

[HumminNBoatin']

Mine had both cats replaced in the 50k to 60k Range One went bad and then one after that shortly followed. Also I think the warranty on Cats is Over 8 years and I am not sure of the mileage. Humtech may know the answer to this.

Eric

[HUMTECH]

I believe they are covered for 8 yrs 80,000 miles. Not positive though

[Rene S. Nielsen]

I just cut a hole from top to buttom in the middel of the cat and then straight across in both top and buttom.

Then I open it up with some pliers and pulled everything out. pused "the flap" back and welded them up.

And yes the check engine light will light up all the time.

I'm looking into getting some new cat's but everything for the Hummer is pricy in Europe and takes about 14 - 20 days to get every part.

Rene

[IRA51]

if you can weld and have a Mig ,high flow universal cat's are under $110.00 each at retail. I like the Magnaflo cat's .