Is it safe to clean your catalytic converter by pouring some lacquer thinner in your gas tank and running the engine for about 150 miles as Scotty Kilmer suggests in this video? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icTmYItwiE The p0420 code came on about a month ago, and it goes off and on intermittentl…

“Would the fact that the light goes on and off have anything to do with a bad o2 sensor?” –If you had the codes read, you might be able to tell.

"–If you had the codes read, you might be able to tell. " Actually NO…When you read the codes…if an O2 sensor is bad it’ll give a false reading to the OBD-II system. If a cat is bad…the O2 sensor will set the same error to the OBD-II system. You can’t tell what’s bad by the reading. All you know fr…

I’m going to guess that you have a P0420. Here is a pretty good write up: [image] P0420 Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold How to diagnose, repair, and info on symptoms and causes of a P0420 engine code which means the catalytic converter is no longer performing at a normal level…

The thing to do next is look at the signals coming from the O2 sensors with a graphing scanner or (oscillo)scope. A good troubleshooter can tell whether the sensors are bad or they’re just indicating another issue.

I did a lot of googling on this, after I got the dreaded 0420 last weekend going down the mountains into Orizaba, at 3500 rpm in second. A lot of negative thoughts, but I also encountered on several forums people who had actually tried it, and it worked for them. It is kind of scary to think of p…

Thanks for the posting. I especially liked it because that’s how I see it. Get the stuff in and drive it out ASAP to reduce contact with any parts that might be affected. The few people who said they tried it and it worked, no one said they had any problems as a result. My thought was to get two q…

Save your money…In Mexico, P0420 is not an issue. It’s something to be ignored…

js7b, thanks for sending along Scotty’s site. Because of Scotty’s site, I found two other sites and the third site I found demonstrated a ‘five-cent solution’ for shortening throttle response time plus getting the throttle to open virtually all the way - something I now know the throttle hasn’t done…

Save your money…In Mexico, P0420 is not an issue. It’s something to be ignored… Not if you are required to pass smog verification. Fortunately, I am not. Not yet. They have discussed making import cars by retirees be verified, but not yet. My area is one with smog verification for local cars. …

Lacquer Thinner and Catalytic Converter

Maintenance/Repairs

jtsanders May 15, 2011, 4:07pm 15

Lacquer thinner won’t damage your parts immediately. It will take time to dissolve parts to the point that they develop leaks. Still, anything that contains a variety of aggressive solvents will likely damage something in the fuel train given enough time. The problem in this case isn’t what you know that bites you, it’s what you don’t know.

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Lacquer Thinner and Catalytic Converter

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