so on a wonderful night home. my engine light pops on in my 98 sl2 uggg. i was having a great night to. car runs fine so i am thinking its probably the catalyst efficiency code AGAIN!! before anyone jumps the oil consumption bandwagon. it burns a quart every 2000 miles or so. its only 4months old and it hasn't had any additives or anything. i will check the code tomorrow when i can get to a scanner.
dreaded engine light.
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No help until you get the code checked. Anything anyone says will be pure guesses.
yea itll get done tomorrow morning. i posted now to vent more than anything. lol this will be the second replacement cat if its indeed the issue . what should i do ? let the shop re do it again or what?
Most muffler shops know the cheapest cat is going to leave the CEL on for low catalyst, a little more expensive one will usually take care of the CEL.They may warranty the one you have also.
i know its a universal cat and i know it has a 5yr warranty. so if it is bad theyll replace it. but i got sick of screwing with them last time. they tried to blame everything possible thing for the cat code they finally replaced it and it was fine until tonight. i have a feeling that is what it is. but i hope not. uggggg. gas cap is tight btw. ill report back with code tomorrow, maybe ill buy a cheap scanner.
Could have damaged an O2 sensor on intallation, or, if the cat was welded in, there could be an exhaust leak at the weld, causing the ecm to set a downstream O2 sensor code.
You could do something a lot of Saturn owners do, cover the check engine light. haha!
Yeah it works. Helped somebody with it the other day on here. But eventually the cat will fail the state emission smog test and have to be replaced. Excessive oil consumption is not ok long term, things like this crop up. Fix the oil consumption or continually fix the problems excessive oil consumption causes. There is no escape.
Originally Posted By: LeakySeals
Yeah it works. Helped somebody with it the other day on here. But eventually the cat will fail the state emission smog test and have to be replaced. Excessive oil consumption is not ok long term, things like this crop up. Fix the oil consumption or continually fix the problems excessive oil consumption causes. There is no escape.
I hear what you are saying but I've had cars that burned a heck of a lot more oil than his, and never once had CAT or CEL related codes. My 96 SL2 had about the same oil consumption if not a bit more than his, and never had any problems with O2 sensors, exhaust, CATs, CEL, etc.
Yeah it works. Helped somebody with it the other day on here. But eventually the cat will fail the state emission smog test and have to be replaced. Excessive oil consumption is not ok long term, things like this crop up. Fix the oil consumption or continually fix the problems excessive oil consumption causes. There is no escape.
I hear what you are saying but I've had cars that burned a heck of a lot more oil than his, and never once had CAT or CEL related codes. My 96 SL2 had about the same oil consumption if not a bit more than his, and never had any problems with O2 sensors, exhaust, CATs, CEL, etc.
There are other conditions that slow the effects. One of which is highway use. Keeps the cat burning hot. The other is being well tuned, burning most of the fuel. Another is the catalyst efficiency setting programmed into the ECU. The older the car, the lower the efficiency CEL settings were, less chance of the CEL going off. The good old days of lax EPA emissions regulations. So..it varies when it will appear.
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All this talk about replacing cats and burning oil, and we don't even know what the code is yet!
Because he's battled cat efficiency CEL issues before I selected the blue "Accept it" button.
Got to love cxranger06 and his common sense approach. So refreshing these days 
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)Cant except it because it wont pass emissions with the light on
Use the anti-fouler like I've suggested in the past.
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2702764&page=1
http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=2702764&page=1
I really dont want to do that. I shouldnt have to the shop should fix it and keep it fixed. I hate the idea of rigging it up when its not the cars fault its a junk cat thats the issue.
Originally Posted By: chevyboy14
i will check the code tomorrow when i can get to a scanner.
In all honesty, you should have started this thread AFTER you find the code. You've got two dozen replies on how you should fix (translation: throw money at) your car, including one or two that the EPA would frown on, and nobody exactly knows what the CEL warns us of. The irony of these posts is that these "cures" are from the same people who have posted that a person should not to be a parts replacer.
i will check the code tomorrow when i can get to a scanner.
In all honesty, you should have started this thread AFTER you find the code. You've got two dozen replies on how you should fix (translation: throw money at) your car, including one or two that the EPA would frown on, and nobody exactly knows what the CEL warns us of. The irony of these posts is that these "cures" are from the same people who have posted that a person should not to be a parts replacer.
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