flat467 Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 Hello fellow box car nerds. My catalytic converter resently went bad and I was wondering if any body knew of a replacement cat that won't cost an arm and a leg, and will not throw codes at me for the rest of my life. Thanks in advance for the advice! V4L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ConorV70R Posted April 17, 2015 Report Share Posted April 17, 2015 cut it off. put pipe in place. put in bung for O2 sensor, put spacers in said bung. plug in O2 and you shouldn't throw any codes. unless you have emissions testing then disregard everything i just said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRL Posted April 18, 2015 Report Share Posted April 18, 2015 How do you know it's bad?It is throwing a cat EFFICIENCY code?If so, don't worry about it. The R we have has apparently been doing this all it's lifeJust before we bought it at 48K miles, Volvo installed new CAT and both O2 sensors.That lasted almost exactly another 49-50K miles when the code came up again.I just clear it, it pops up about once every 3-4 months or 3 to 4K miles. Unless it comes back every 3-400 miles, just clear it and don't worry about it.It happens to many of these cars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat467 Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Thanks for the advice. Local shop said the same thing about the cat. However, I still have an odd burning smell coming from under the body of the car. Along with rough idle and week acceleration, until reaching higher rpm range, then everything seems normal I also have a code for cam position sensor and possibly a poorly set up VVT... Any advice would be great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat467 Posted May 13, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 13, 2015 Just for anyone who ever has the same problem. Misfire is cylinder 3 and 4. New plugs and Coils fixed all problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRL Posted May 15, 2015 Report Share Posted May 15, 2015 You need a new mechanic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat467 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 well don't stop there, would you mind explaining?I should have specified that my last posts were from 2 different mechanics. First one was just an auto shop that told me to take it to a Volvo specialist where they then determined it to be misfires, where then new plugs and coils fixed all problems. Volvo plugs only. Your cat going bat every 50K sounds like you might just be burning rich and sending too many hydrocarbons out the back. Ever have a compression test done? Make sure that you are burning all fuel? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEU Posted May 18, 2015 Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 So you don't need a new cat, you had an issue with spark plugs and coils. The originally post you talked about CEL and cat, which sounds like the out of efficiency code JRL is talking about. You should know that for the ME7 P80R cars throwing this code is VERY common. If you do some googling you'll would find that code and the fix for it. And its an easiest and cheap fix for it ($5). Adding an O2 Spacer on the rear O2 and problem solved. Maybe next time check on your codes to find out what's wrong with your vehicle. A cheap code reader can be had for under $20 on Amazon or you can go to Advanced auto and places like that to have them read it for you. Then you'd know it was throwing p0303 and p0304 CEL. Your first shop could have hooked up and read the codes for you, it takes 5min And doesn't matter if you are an import/domestic codes are codes... And what ever the shop is that mentioned the cat should have checked the codes first before throwing out that as a possible issue. At that point anything could have been the issue without diagnosis. Sparkplugs, coils, injectors, clogged cat, etc. etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flat467 Posted May 18, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2015 Thanks HR, I see now that my responses havent been lining up with my original question. The first shop did read the codes and determined the cat to be functioning properly, how ever with the low efficiency code. So I took the advice of JRL, cleared it, and took it to a Volvo specialist to diagnose the smell, and subsequent shaking of the engine at idle. Anyway, after all of this, the issue was a misfire in 3 and 4 leading to unburnt hydrocarbons leaving the engine and entering the cat and the of course leaving the cat..etc. cat efficiency code. It also shakes the engine like crazy, horrible feeling. Replacing the plugs and coils with Volvo plugs and coils solved the issue. no more misfire, no more unburnt fuel, no more cat code, no more shaking. I understand the debate on "volvo plug voodoo" but to each his own. I just wanted to post to this thread for future reference for anyone who may have the same issue down the road. I always hate it when there is a thread going and then it just stops without an ending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEU Posted May 19, 2015 Report Share Posted May 19, 2015 None of your original post has ANY information to do with the issues that was fixed. Cat codes and then VVT codes? Nothing to do with misfires until post #5. Again this is where a good code reader comes into place. If you said I have an issue with rough idle, smelly cat and weak acceleration, OH and BTW I have p0303 and p0304 CEL, we would have asked you how many miles are on the coils and plugs and if you had done a stage 0... Then you'd have information for future reference. Actually I'm sure if you look up misfire or the codes you would come with your answer before you posted this thread... Also my point is that either of those shop that diagnosed a bad cat from the low efficiency code should have read your misfire codes too and diagnosed the bad coils FIRST, especially if it's enough to give you rough idle and make the cat smell. A bad cat wouldn't give you a rough idle, especially with misfire codes!Plugs either need regapping or replacement. If you haven't checked or changed them in several years they will be bad no matter what brand you have. If you want to test your voodoo theory just swap plugs (properly gapped of course) if the non OEM plugs work voodoo busted... I'm guessing now that you have all new coils they would work JUST FINE... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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