CRV Engine Warning light exhaust hole?

Mystery solved.

Son in law followed advice and sent photos.

Cat converter has been stolen.

sure hope he's not in NY or Calif. They require _different_ cat's that are way, way, more expensive.

Oh wait, you're (apparently) in the UK. Well, hopefully he's not in a jurisdictionwith that monstrosity...

Oddly enough, there’s a reason that UK is in the group name… ;-)

Tim

Local FB group is full of such stories. About time the law clamped down on those scrap firms who buy them.

Indeed.

The silly thing is, the scrap value of the Cat is under £10 ( based on a Google search). I would think there are easier ways to make an illicit living. I’d cut their hands off.

I’m not sure how much other damage was done - certain the exhaust rear wards was cut and the wires. Eldest has looked on the net and thinks several hundred pounds to get it repaired.

I think it very much depends. I had the cat stolen from my Prius, removed with a hydraulic cutter in the middle of the night. They couldn't get at the second cat from underneath which was on the engine manifold, but I had to scrap that part too. I got £100 scrap value for it. A replacement exhaust with two-piece cat from ebay was £120, plus £80 for bloke-in-a-shed to fit it. So I only lost £100.

Seems like the Toyota ones are in high demand for thieves, but I'm a bit surprised an aftermarket one is that cheap. Possibly they get away with less platinum that the original, but whichever way it works fine.

Presumably new lambda sensor(s) as well, which makes it more pricey.

(although I just checked the Prius ones again, and a new double-cat including lambda is £150. CRV ones start about £50 for older models, although looks more like £200-300 for a full exhaust)

Theo

She is getting rough estimates of £700 with labour at the moment but I don’t know exactly what that includes.

It includes making insurance companies richer and the rest of us poorer.

Tim

Sorry, shoulda said garages richer and us poorer.

Tim

I followed a very early Prius the other day. Very much a rarity, considering how popular they are as mini-cabs. Exhaust pipe hanging down underneath - I'd guess a DIY bodge after a cat. theft. And it stank to high heaven. Bit like a veteran car with the choke left on. I assume because the lambda sensors had gone too and been bodged in some way.

I think you might be right first time. I'm sure the premiums will rise to claw back the cost. At the insurance company's chosen garage the final price will be heavily discounted for the insurance company too.

Another alternative is to buy the parts and get a garage to fit them. That might well save more than a couple of hundred.

You'll be lucky to find a garage that will fit bits you supply.

Two reasons. They lose the profit on the parts. If it goes wrong, there will be (more of) an argument as to why.

Perhaps garages in your parts can afford to be choosy but the ones around here will happily fit your supplied parts.

Of course if they go wrong you're on your own. But for a cat, I would say the risk is pretty low.

An alterative is a mobile mechanic.

That's a good thought. Are they usually happy for customers to source parts, in general?

I've had this argument with garages before, even underneath-the-arches ones. I know they make a markup on the parts, that's fine, just add the markup on my bill. But:

1. the car was sufficiently old that you can't get the parts through the usual autofactors
2. because of #1, it saves them a lot of ringing around trying to source them
3. because there weren't many cars left the parts were dirt cheap on ebay, since there was no other use for them.
4. I'm happy to pay for their time if the parts turn out not to fit (which was a big headache for a model made in a transition year)

and still they were difficult about it.

I eventually found a bloke-inna-shed who was happy to do this, but he's semi-retired and quite busy. So it's always good to have alternatives.

Theo

I noticed the handbrake on the old Rover was poorer than usual (not much needed as it's an auto) but had to obviously fix it for the MOT. Reason was obvious - a weeping cylinder. Replaced them both and the shoes. And the pipe which linked them. So decided to replace the rather rusty looking handbrake cable too - I had a new sealed spare.

Decided to get a garage to do it as you need plenty room under the car. Went to my local family owned one. They told be they would only fit parts they supply. OK. They then phoned and said they couldn't get a new one. They obviously didn't know any specialists. So said they would fit mine. Then got a load of BS from them. The rear brakes were adjusted too tight so it wouldn't fit. (they are self adjusting) So they'd had to strip and free them off. Something I'd done (and cleaned fully) days before. They had given it the MOT though. Although the handbrake worse than when it went in. It also came back with the alternator (quite recent) not charging. Had to buy a new regulator for it. Coincidence - or had they used a fast charger or whatever?

A final follow up:

Car is now repaired. Bill was about £800, covered by insurance.

Eldest enquired about some kind of security strap but was advised the scrots just cut through them.