'98 TJ 4.0L Manual
I've got an annoying rattle in my Cat converter at idle speed. Thought at first it might be the headers. But with engine off, I can go down under and bang on the Cat and clearly hear the rattle inside. Is the Cat toast? OBCII finds no codes. Just had emissions inspection 2 months ago so won't be rechecking for a while. Any recommendations?
The catalytic converter media has begun to break into pieces. That, however, does not necessarily hinder it from performing its duties.
It may continue to function properly for many more years until the pieces rattling around are small enough to escape the converter.
If the rattling bothers you there are replacement converters available at your corner auto-parts store or can be installed by your corner mom and pop muffler shop.
The converter on my K car rattled for probably 60-80 thousand miles while all the time passing the pollution tests. It did quiet down quite a bit when the heat shield finally 'fell' off with assistance..
The one on our 88 rattled when we first got it about 10 years ago. Then it stopped. The jeep has passed all the emissions to date. I just had to take the cat off due to a leak and it was a hollow can with nothing inside.
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >Take it off and shake out the loose pieces. If a piece is too big to shake out, use a screwdriver or chisel to break it. Wear a dust mask and googles because that crap gets everywhere.
Carl
It just goes to show that your jeep is tuned. Also, the 88 has some high limits. I'm sure you put the hollow can back on as planned. :-)
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