i am the original owner of a v6 2000 camaro…i am on my 4th cat convertor which is now rattling like a rock in a tin can…they keep plugging up so bad they stop the engine from running…the first at 28000 miles…the dealer replaced spark plugs, injectors, entire exhaust…the second lasted only s long as the first…any ideas?
Rattling is an entirely different defect than plugging up, that being said you still should not be on your 4th cat. Rattling is a manufacturing defect. After getting the new one installed start keeping a record of temperature at various places on the cat. sounds a little odd? well 4 cats. IS odd. I need more data to work up an answer.
An upstream sniff of the exhaust gases would be good info also, has the after cat. 02 sensor ever been replaced,perhaps examined or readings from each 02 sensor been recorded? you need some data to work this one out. Have you been putting mothballs in the gas tank?
driving with a check engine light on for a long time?
There’s not enough info known to make much of a guess as to why this is happening; assuming the converters are really plugging up and causing the engine stoppage and the real cause is not something else such as a fuel pump.
The only reason for a converter to plug up this quickly is:
Excessively rich running.
Excessive oil consumption.
Overheating converter disentegrating due to rich running.
Engine coolant destroying the converter.
Where is the Check Engine Light in all of this? On, blinking or what?
What codes are present?
Any chance the rattling is a loose heat shield, the converter diagnosis is wrong, and a failing fuel pump is not the real cause of this problem? Or a failing crank sensor, etc.?
When was the fuel filter last changed?