Life span of catalytic converter?

[frog]

Does anyone know the expected life span of the catalytic converter? Car is a 2.0 HDI, year 2003.

I've read between 100.000 and 160.000 km. Currently i'm on 600.000 km (350.000 driven myself). Is it time for a new one? Or are these things not subject to wear?

What i can see on replacement sites like these seems to be having a really small catalytic unit. I would be suprised if there is actually anything in it...

[Doggy]

I don't think it needs attention/replacement unless it blocks up with soot. (Unlikely unless you only used for urban driving).
All the 406 ones I've seen have been clear - you can see through the cat element, unlike the dpf fitted on 2.2 HDi's.

[frog]

Ok, good to know. So what is the thicker "bulb" shaped section meant to do? If as you say it is empty, does it do anything with the exhaust gasses / soot ?

[steve_earwig]

The what is meant to do what? Doggy said they've been clear - of soot. I'm sure the manufacturers would like you to replace your cat on a regular basis but how long they last will depend on many factors, how you drive it, how crap the fuel is, stuff like that. The emissions test in your country should give you an idea what sort of state it's in but it's not a service item

I've read...

that there's a B17 on the moon

[frog]

Doggy said they've been clear - of soot.

Ah, i misread, i was thinking clear as in "you can look right through". So there is some stuff in there that is meant to reduce the bad fumes so that the bunnies can keep on breathing.

So does the stuff inside the ticker part wear, rust, evaporate? And if so, after how many km's / years? Anyone with experience?

The emissions test in your country should give you an idea what sort of state it's in but it's not a service item

I think MOT in our country does not include an emissions test for diesel vehicles. On diesels dated before 2006, they do a "full throttle" test (which is ridiculous) to check for the soot that bellows out of the exhaust. If the MOT tester faints or dies on the premise, it is a MOT failure, if he lives to tell, the MOT is a pass

[steve_earwig]

I think they tried to introduce the full throttle test in the UK, then rapidly backed down when people complained about engines blowing up...

I don't think anyone on here has experience of cats dying on diesels (petrols yes, but that's another story), the only time they seem to be replaced is when the flexible joint breaks as they're all one expensive part. If your country doesn't do emissions tests on diesels (wow ) then you shouldn't worry about it, anyway HDis still pass the emissions tests in other countries without a cat fitted so they're probably not doing much to begin with.

[Welly]

There's no 'lifespan' of a cat, on petrol cars there's more chance of it being mechanically damaged by external factors like driving through deep water which can 'shock' the cat's honeycomb-like structure and cause it to fracture/shift and partially block exhaust flow.

Or, as happened to me in my Honda, the distributor failed and threw the timing out, petrol was pumped down the exhaust and literally burnt the cat out (it was glowing Orange when I stopped the car).

So as long as the engine it functioning properly the cat is there for life......

[frog]

Ok, thanks! Saves me another few bucks

By the way, I tweaked the "drivers wish map" in the engine ECU a bit so that "full throttle" at idle only gives about 50%, slowly increasing as the rpms rise. It is hardly noticable during driving, but it gives a nice gradual ramp up during the MOT testing

I also capped the rpms at 3500, with the plan of removing that limitation after the MOT pass. But in the end i never bothered to remove it. 3000 rpm is about 150 km/hour in 5-th gear, so 3500 is more than enough for my daily commute.

[Welly]

By the way, I tweaked the "drivers wish map" in the engine ECU a bit so that "full throttle" at idle only gives about 50%, slowly increasing as the rpms rise. It is hardly noticable during driving, but it gives a nice gradual ramp up during the MOT testing

You should work for VW

[WillNZ]

By the way, I tweaked the "drivers wish map" in the engine ECU a bit so that "full throttle" at idle only gives about 50%, slowly increasing as the rpms rise. It is hardly noticable during driving, but it gives a nice gradual ramp up during the MOT testing

I also capped the rpms at 3500, with the plan of removing that limitation after the MOT pass. But in the end i never bothered to remove it. 3000 rpm is about 150 km/hour in 5-th gear, so 3500 is more than enough for my daily commute.

What software/interface did you use to "tweak" the map? Cant find any info here on doing peugeots and want to fiddle with my fleet... just because..

[Doggy]

By the way, I tweaked the "drivers wish map" in the engine ECU a bit so that "full throttle" at idle only gives about 50%, slowly increasing as the rpms rise. It is hardly noticable during driving, but it gives a nice gradual ramp up during the MOT testing

You should work for VW

Bit late for Porsche apparently. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/busi ... 02921.html

[frog]

You should work for VW

If VW can do it, why can't we

Difference is that this is not a "defeat device". There is no special software that detects whether a MOT is going on, no "specific adjustments" that apply only during MOT testing. The ECU parameters are the same as during normal driving.

What software/interface did you use to "tweak" the map?

I use this cable to download the binary from the ECU. I use WinOLS to find and tweak the maps then upload again with the cable.

It requires a bit of study. And some nervous sweating the first time you upload your modified binary back into the ECU

[PeterN]

I have a C220 diesel with 231k miles and the original cat, but having said that it keeps going into limp mode and I pretty sure that its because the cat is clogged and causing back pressure. Mind you with the 6 speed manual box it will do 70 mph at 2000 rpm which is about as fast as I want to go, and what limp mode limits it to.

I have never had a cat fail on a 406 but I did have to replace one due to it going rusty where the pipe clamps on.

Peter

[jasper5]

It's very rare for a diesel cat to fail!
There is a smoke test for the diesel emissions on the mot, visible smoke is a fail.
Modern diesels are limited in their rev range so almost all pass the test as the engines will not rev when not moving....it's unusual to actually get a reading on the test machine.

If you replace a cat, diesel or petrol but especially diesel Peugeot or Citroen make sure you take the cat to a metal recyclers as they are worth more broken than it costs for a new one...I got £190 for my broken cat on my Expert van...it corroded, wasn't faulty!
Clean the outside of the cat and look for reference numbers...they pay out depending on the numbers engraved on the outside of the cat.

[frog]

Good info and advice, thanks Jasper!

Modern diesels are limited in their rev range

Mine's not modern, but it is limited in its rev range due to my tweaks