Re: Red-glowing cat!

["jtrealtywebspannet" <jtrealty@xxxx>]

This post is "dead on" about how your converter started glowing. If 
you didn't drive it too much and distort the converter it should be 
OK. What causes them to go bad is that the bed of platinum inside gets 
so distorted that the gases leak around it. The other problem is that 
if too much raw hydocarbons get into the converter, especially when 
cold, they don't burn completly and "soot up" the converter plugging 
it up. Replace the ignition wires immediatly and you should be 
alright. If that doesn't work you may also have to replace the 
distributer cap and rotor. A bad fuel injector can also cause this but 
since you say it happened right after having the car washed it is more 
likely to be an ignition problem.
David Teitelbaum
vin 10757



--- In dmcnews@xxxx, "therealdmcvegas" <DMCVegas@xxxx> wrote:
> You said the magic word: "wash"! Don't worry, you've just got a bit 
of water 
> down in the sparkplug wells. Water creates electrical path, so the 
spark is 
> weak because most of the charge never reaches the plug, thus fuel is 
not 
> completely burned, and the Catalytic Converter overheats due to 
eating up 
> the raw hydrocarbons.
> 
> To fix, just pull the boots, and blow out the water with some 
compressed air, or 
> a straw. Just in case too, a hair dryer never hurts either. Daub a 
bit of that 
> spark plug conductive goop on, and replace the boots back onto the 
plugs. 
> But make sure that the boots themselves seat fully onto wells. If 
not, water 
> gets in, and will cause this exact problem. And of course, this is 
also why you 
> want to use wires meant for the PRV block. They're designed to keep 
water 
> out by having those boots installed. In anycase, all of this is in 
the archives of 
> anyone would like more details.
> 
> One thing I don't know about though is if you'll have to replace the 
cat. I don't 
> don't know just how much "damage" it can take. If not melted, it 
could just 
> simply get clogged. I've seen gas additives in the store that claim 
to clean out 
> cats of excess deposites, but I'm still scratching my head as to 
just how in the 
> world they work.... In any case, if you're concerned about it, 
perhaps it's time to 
> check up on local regulations, and see about replacing that cat w/a 
straight 
> pipe anyways...
> 
> -Robert
> vin 6585 "X"
> 
> 
>