I hit a pothole and my flex pipe became disengaged. It could have been busted, but I knew something was wrong because the car started sounding very loud. The guy who fixed my tire said it was the flex pipe. He referred me to a place down the street. The mechanic tells me I need the flex pipe and the converter because some buildup in the converter had caused damage to the flex pipe. It didn’t make sense to me. He said I needed to replace the converter too. He charged me $350 for the total job. The converter does not look like the one that was there. My “Check Engine” light has been on ever since. What does somebody think about this?
Uh oh. $350 is way too cheap for a quality catalytic converter and flex pipe installed.
Without knowing what fault codes are stored in your car it’s impossible to know for sure if it’s related to the catalyst. But I’m guessing probably.
What’s the year, make, model of car?
“The converter does not look like the one that was there.”
That’s not necessarily a good thing. $350 is fairly inexpensive for converter part/labor. It must be an aftermarket part and hopefully up to the job.
I would have concerns regarding reinstallation of oxygen sensor(s) and their wiring/connections. That is a possible place to look for a culprit illuminating the CEL. Also, an exhaust leak will do it, another place to look.
CSA
And mileage.
Are you sure you didn’t understand that backwards? Are you sure he didn’t say that the corrosion in the pipes had built up in the converter?
$350 sounds like he just changed the flex pipe. Are you sure you didn’t indicate to him not to change the converter?
“I hit a pothole and my flex pipe became disengaged. It could have been busted, but I knew something was wrong because the car started sounding very loud.”
A leaking flex pipe could cause the Check Engine Light to come on.
Are you saying that the CEL was off when the car went to the mechanic for the converter/pipe replacement or was it on when it went there and it’s still on ?
Before the shop, was the CEL on or off?
Please explain.
CSA
Wheel This Little Beauty Into The Parking Lot Of A National Chain Auto Parts Store. Do You Have An Advance Auto Parts Near You?
Most of the nation-wide auto parts stores provide a free service that could help you. Talk to the parts people and when they’ve got a moment they’ll hop out with a little code reader gizmo and read any codes stored by your car as a result of the CEL coming on. These codes could or could not help us help you. The codes provide clues.
Have a pencil/paper ready and write the code(s) as given to you at the store. They will have a format like PO420, PO123, etcetera.
Post them here and people will form theories of what it all means.
CSA