My 2003 honda crv had it’s cat stolen in 2022. I got it replaced and almost exactly a year later the new cat starts making rattling noises and the computer is running an emissions system code. I get the cat replaced at the same shop and now almost exactly a year later again my cat is rattling.
What could be disintegrating my cats? Is it because my car is burning oil? I’m sick of paying for a new one every year.
Probably cheap cats.
if you live in a state that offers direct tailpipe emissions testing you can glean a good amount of info from the results report by way of CarbonMonoxide output vs Hydrocarbon output, that sort of thing. Posting the results on here, with your personal info removed ofc, could help yield some better info. a free DIY kind of compression check can give you some indication on the wear of your piston rings, maybe you are burning oil. burning oil after pulling away from an intersection can mean bad valve seals
I’d be wondering about the quality of the cats you installed.
How can I check?
do you have a receipt/part number/etc from when the cat was installed?
Unfortunately, the shop is probably putting cheap aftermarket cats on. We regularly see aftermarket cats lasting about a year. The real fix to this would be to get a genuine honda part. They are typically so expensive that companies like geico will not cover replacement of factory parts, and will opt for brands like walker and magnaflow. They are all junk.
Oil burning will cause wear on catalytic converter. How much oil is it burning? How much are you driving in a year? But if they are cheap aftermarket ones they might just be bad too.
How much oil are you burning?
I’m going through about .75 quart a month but I’m not sure how much of that is being burnt vs just leaking out. There is a noticeable oil leak on the passenger side of the engine.
How much are you driving in a year?
About 17-18k miles
I’m pretty sure that it is a cheap aftermarket cat. The shop I’ve been going to charges about half what other shops have quoted me for the fix.
Are we really that shocked that cheap shitty aftermarket parts are in fact cheap and shitty?
The math says you are driving 1450 or so miles a month. That means you are using a quart every 2000 miles. Not good for the cat but not terrible oil consumption at all.
I’d agree it is cheap cats causing the problem IF your check engine light is not glowing 100% of the time. In that case, I’d say there is an additional problem not identifiable unless you post the codes.
Engine is running code p0420 and the light only turns on when the cat starts to go bad