I am not a smog expert but it is my understanding that the heat of combustion is high enough to make the cat reaction work. I think your mechanic is wrong in his explanation but he could be right about replacing the part or he could just be desperate. There are two types of cat failure I am certain about. One is the obvious sound that it makes when the ceramics get busted up and it sounds like bees buzzing in the basket. The other is the silent death of two much hydrocarbon because you unplugged your o2 sensor, have a crack in your exhaust or have crapped it up with too much lead. If your mechanic knows these things perhaps he has made a good choice. On the other hand if you have in excess of 100k, you plan on keeping the van and you want to spare the air, even if you do not need a new cat it is a good investment, but you may want to continue to look elseware for the problem. gary Date: Fri, 23 Aug 2002 08:23:27 -0700 From: van man <vannman99@YAHOO.COM> Subject: Bad Cat = No Smog? Hi, My mechanic thinks my van wont pass smog because the cat isnt getting hot enough(meow, purr), therefore I need a new cat. These numbers dont mean much to me: IDLE 0.17% CO 135PPM HC 2500 0.35 90PPM Before CAT at IDLE 3.65% CO 290PPM HC. I have already order the new cat and will replace it tomorrow, but was wondering what you smog pros thought about this diagnosis. I guess they used some kind of infared something or other to tell if the cat was getting hot enough... Thanks, Jeff
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