Catalytic converters, also known as cats, clean most of your engine’s more dangerous emissions before they enter the atmosphere. Not only do cats make the air of our cities far healthier to breathe, but it’s also illegal to drive without one. If you ever experience the following car issues, visit your local Genesis dealer to have the problem diagnosed. You might need to have your cat replaced.
Does Your Genesis Need a New Catalytic Converter?
Your Check Engine Light Comes On
A clogged or faulty cat rapidly causes problems in the exhaust system and also in the engine. Modern Genesis vehicles are packed with sophisticated sensors designed to pick up any such malfunction.
The first warning you’ll have of a bad cat will often be the check engine light coming to life on your instrument panel. But you won’t know for sure if the problem lies with your cat or something else until you have your car inspected by a technician.
Your Fuel Mileage Plummets
When cats malfunction, the car’s entire flow of air and fumes often becomes blocked. This clogged airflow restricts fresh oxygen from entering the engine at the front of your car.
As a result, engine problems rapidly ensue. With less oxygen to help the spark plugs ignite, the combustion chambers may start misfiring. This leads to a drop in fuel efficiency; a full gas tank will no longer be taking you as far as before.
You Lose Accelerative Power
As the oxygen-starved cylinders start to misfire, the engine also loses power. As a result, you might find it harder to accelerate when crossing intersections or overtaking other vehicles.
You Can Smell Rotten Eggs
One of the noxious fumes that cats usually clean is hydrogen sulfide. This gas has a rather pungent smell which is similar to that of rotten eggs. So if you ever smell rotten eggs while driving, open all your windows at once as hydrogen sulfide is dangerous to breathe.
You can also check to see if your battery is leaking as battery acid creates a similar rotten egg smell. If your battery’s fine, you’ll probably need to have your cat repaired or replaced.
You Hear Rattling While Revving
The honeycomb mesh inside a cat can sometimes break into pieces when damaged by heat, leaking fuel, or external jolts. When this happens, you might hear the loose pieces of mesh rattling around when you’re cornering or whenever you rev the engine.
How a Genesis Dealer Checks Your Car
Before detaching and opening up your converter, the technician needs to properly diagnose the source of the car’s problems. One way to test a cat is to use a pyrometer to take the temperature both upstream and downstream of the cat.
Ordinarily, the outlet end of the cat should be the hotter part. But if the cat is clogged, the backup of fumes tends to make the inlet end of the cat considerably hotter.
Visit Genesis Of Waipio today to have your converter repaired or replaced. We believe in providing an exceptional overall customer experience to match the high-end quality of the Genesis brand.
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