2005 OBW - 2nd cat retired

My wife's 2005 OBW just had it's second catalytic converter go south. The first was shortly after 15k and this one went at 22.5k (conveniently enough at a service interval). The dealer service manager says it's the way California gas is formulated and the ECU settings required. Everything else on the car passes with flying colors.

Question: Has anybody else seen these kind of catalytic converter failures at close to this high of a rate with either newer Subies or any make/model of vehicle? Any recommendations (besides moving to a different state)?.

Just a quick tidbit for the few of you who may appreciate American vehicles - I just retired a '96 Ford truck which, aside from an alignment issue that was resolved and the inevitable oxygen sensor failure, only asked for regular maintenance through it's entire life, even the original battery latest 9 years.

Reply to
seasick
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The service manager has his head up his ass and is clueless. Converters usually fail early due to incomplete combustion ahead of them. ANYTHING that sends unburnt gases down the pipe will be burned/consumed/oxidized by the converter. Suspect a extremely rich/lean mixture for an extended time. Watch for extreme/elevated converter operating temps. You didn't say exactly HOW it failed. Was it due to clogging (overheating for sure) or other failure indication?

Reply to
Dennis Smith

I doubt the cat clogged since there is zero noticeable power loss and (since the "Check Engine" light is solid) I was told it is still drivable "just no big road trips". I'll have to ask exactly what's causing the cat to need replacement this time. My bad. Thanks for your feedback.

Reply to
seasick

Sounds like grade A bullshit. I live in Caifornia and I've put 124,000 miles on my '99 Outback and it's still on it's original cat. Not only that, as of it's February smog test, the cat is in very good shape.

The only combustion-related maintainance I've done in that time is one set of plugs, a fuel filter and three or four air filters.

Reply to
Jim Stewart

That's why I'm wondering if any newer vehicles (say a '05 or 06) are getting bogus cats or if newer ECU setting requirements for California really are creating higher cat temps or other kind of issues. My wifes '99 Accord has never had combustion-related issues either. (Yes, technically she has two cars I have zip.) Thanks for your input - I need to do more reasearch. The paper work gives no indication of anything occuring other than the 22.5k service.

Reply to
seasick

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