Fix It

Catalytic converters chemically change toxic car emissions into relatively harmless substances like water vapor and carbon dioxide. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency required the devices on all new cars in the United States in 1975. Since then, the converters have prevented millions of tons of harmful carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides from turning into air pollution, according to an industry group, CatalyticConverter.org.

Catalysts

A catalyst is a material that starts or speeds up a chemical reaction. Catalytic converters use combinations of precious metals as catalysts to transform toxic gases in engine exhaust. Platinum and rhodium cause nitrogen oxides to separate into harmless oxygen and nitrogen. Platinum and palladium help oxidize carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons. The metals used as catalysts are valuable. About half of all converters are recycled to reclaim their catalyst metals.

Housing and Core

Converters usually have a stainless steel outer shell coated with a thin layer of aluminum. The inner core is often made of a ceramic honeycomb coated with an extremely thin layer of the catalyst material. A honeycomb structure is used to maximize the catalyst surface area that the exhaust gases contact.

Emission Control

Sensors monitor exhaust emissions before and after they go through the converter and relay the information to an emission-control system. The control system uses data on oxygen levels to adjust the vehicles fuel injection, maintaining the air-to-fuel mix needed for the converter to operate at maximum efficiency.

The catalytic converter is an emissions device that prevents unburned fuel in the exhaust from escaping the vehicle and entering the atmosphere. Catalytic converters first hit the market in the early-1970s, but the U.S. Government made them mandatory on all cars starting in 1976. When a catalytic converter goes bad, it is not only bad for the environment, but it can also lead to you vehicle running very poorly. Fortunately, it is relatively easy to replace the catalytic converter on the 1988 Dodge Daytona.

Instructions

1

Raise the front of the Daytona, using the floor jack. Support the vehicle by placing the jack stands beneath it, perably under the sub-frame or another secure part of the vehicle. Slowly lower the Daytona until its weight is held only by the jack stands.

2

Crawl beneath the Daytona until you reach the exhaust system. Locate the heat shield, the metal cover over the exhaust, near the underside of the front seats. Loosen and remove the four bolts holding the heat shield in place, using the ratchet and socket. Pull the heat shield from the underside of the vehicle, exposing the catalytic converter beneath it.

3

Trace the catalytic converter toward the front of the vehicle until you locate the flange where it bolts to the front exhaust pipe. Loosen and remove the two nuts holding the catalytic converter to the front pipe, using a ratchet and socket. Pull the converter towards the rear of the vehicle, until it is clear of the studs on the front pipe, and pull the front of the converter down.

4

Trace the converter toward the rear of the exhaust until you locate where it is clamped to the rear exhaust pipe. The clamp is a basic U-shaped clamp. Loosen and remove the nuts at the bottom of the exhaust clamp, using a ratchet and a socket, and pull the clamp off. Pull the catalytic converter toward the front of the vehicle until it is free from the pipe. A light tapping on the pipe with the rubber mallet may help the removal.

5

Trace the catalytic converter until you locate the rubber hanger on the passenger side of the converter. While holding the converter, pull the rubber hanger from the converter. Once removed, lower the catalytic converter to the ground.

6

Place the new converter under the vehicle and place the rubber hanger on the passenger side of the converter, just as it was on the old catalytic converter.

7

Place the exhaust flange gasket on the end of the front pipe of the catalytic converter. Push the converter into the front exhaust pipe and hand-tighten the nuts on the studs.

8

Insert the rear pipe on the catalytic converter into the rear exhaust pipe, place the new exhaust clamp over the rear exhaust pipe and hand-tighten the nuts.

9

Tighten the front pipe nuts with a ratchet and socket, until the flange gasket is slightly crushed between the catalytic converter pipe and the exhaust pipe.

10

Tighten the exhaust clamps nuts until the rear catalytic converter pipe and the rear exhaust pipe are held together.

11

Place the heat shield back in place and tighten the bolts, using the ratchet and socket.

Installing catalytic converters on vehicles does a great service to the environment, as they are responsible for cleaning the pollution that comes from your vehicles combustion engine. Reducing auto emissions takes place when a catalytic converter is working properly, while damaged converters may require cheap fixes or replacement.

Fix vs. Replace

Simply replacing a catalytic converter is often just a temporary fix. When a converter goes bad, other things are often to blame such as bad spark plugs. If these go unfixed, a new converter will go bad due to these underlying issues.

Sensor Fix

Damaging the oxygen sensor results when silicone is allowed to come into contact with a catalytic converter. A smoking exhaust pipe letting out white fumes is a sign that this is occurring. You can fix this problem cheaply by sealing the source of entry for the silicone, which is often through a leak in the head gasket. Products are available that you can pour into the radiator to seal the leak.

Phosphorus Fix

Failing an emissions test will likely result from heavy phosphorus contamination to your catalytic converter. Smoking blue fumes coming from your exhaust pipe will often indicate if this is indeed happening. You can fix or contain this issue by switching to an "SJ"-type motor oil as opposed to the "SH"-rated type, which contains higher levels of phosphorus.