went to dealer for cel. cel code p0420 = "catalytic converter efficiency below thereshold due to reduced pulley. recommend new cat." not under warranty. estimated cost $1400. according to the dealer i should have been using super unleaded (in cali is 91 octane) and this may have contributed to the prob.

didn't notice anything when the light came on a few thousand miles ago (3 months) and been driving with it. any correlation between the two? bs? should i worry about it?

the car has . . .

17% pulley, cai and chip from mini madness, borla sport exhaust.

thanks all for your input.

Allan

 

Wrong forum, btw.

These guys/gals only know bov's and downpipes...JK

But anyways, in my opinion you don't need to change the cat unless you know it's fried. Is it? Or is it just a code?

 

don't think it is fried. dealer just said "recommend new cat". i've been driving with it for awhile and didn't notice anything different.

sorry if it is in wrong forum. where should i post it to get more input. can the moderator re-direct it. thanks.

~Allan

 

Mod should redirect to 1st Gen, just trying to help you get more feedback.

I would get a second opinion. For $1,400 you can get a decent aftremarket full header (including new cat) and exhaust.

Edit: OOPs you already have a catback, even better. You can get a GOOD aftermarket header with a new cat for that price.

 

for denying your claim. Lots have the same part without the failure....

Your choices are...

1) Buy new from Mini (Ack!)
2) Find a used header with cat in the marketplace or eBay or the like
3) Weld in a new aftermarket cat (get a good race cat that's good for high temps, our cars run hot exhaust)
4) get an aftermarket header with cat

2 & 3 are cheapest, then 4 then 1....

If the cat is poisened, it's just not working. If it started to melt, then it can be starting to plug your exhaust. If this is gradual, you may not notice it at all, even though it gets pretty bad.... Either way, it's not a big deal to drive this way. If you're in a smog testing state, you'll need to get it fixed before your next inspection. Won't pass with the code.....

Matt

 

hey matt,

i'm right next door in foster city. any good place around here you recommend for a second opinion or possibly pursue your ideas.

~Allan

 

Have you tried clearing the code and running super unleaded? Not sure why you wouldn't run super unleaded on a modified Mini.

 

Lupe Garcia (owns Meineke Muffler on Middlefield in Redwood City). He does lots of stuff for the Mustang crowd that got me into cars..... But he doesn't have anything other than a standard OBD-II scanner for the code stuff. I don't know if he has a gas analyzer to really see what the cat's doing.

You want to run 91 all the time. For some real fun, go by the 76 on Woodside Road (between El Camino and 280) and get half a tank of 100! That will supress all timing pull, and the car will really respond...

Matt

 

Ok WAIT! Before this gets moved.

Couple things to check. The P0420 code is well known as a catalyst failure code. So if it is on, then yes it very likely the catalyst is bad. My concern is if it is, and or it is melted etc. continuing to run the car (especially with high octane fuel) is REALLY going to make things worse. So verify that the cataylst is bad. As mentioned above someone other that the dealer. If it is bad (not a shameless plug) look at our header seriously. It does use a metalatic catalyst that will be resitant to heat damage, will put up with higher grade fuels, more boost etc. Added bonus it meets the EPA (not CARB) requirements as an OEM replacement. So in most states this will be 100% legal replacement. PLUS the header design will make more HP and TRQ.

Now coming back to the catalyst having gone bad. The mods you have in terms of hard parts, the intake and pulley (I don't care what brand at this point.) DO NOT cause this problem. What does cause this problem is mis-fires, over fueling, timing issues etc. SO we know the intake and pulley CAN't do that. The last thing to check is the "chip" you mentioned. If that has a problem with the programming or isn't sending the proper signals it is THE MOST LIKELY cause of the problem period hands down. So if you have to replace the cat/header, then replace that too at the same time. You do not want to get this happening again.

Hope my two cents helped. If not my apologies. If it did, or if I can help in the future PLEASE let me know!

Thanks and good luck!

 

adam,

thanks. unfortunately, i'm in cali.

~Allan

 

as far as exhaust options go.... The stealthy step is to use a stock cat on a header and bury everything under the heatshields so nothing is seen from up top, and "MINI/BMW" is seen from the bottom! Get in touch with the guys at Helix, as I think they sell and OBX with the stock cat for pretty cheap. Or just say "eff it" and hope the visible isn't an issue (heat shields make it less likely to get scoped) and go with a header/cat combo like Altas....

Matt

ps, I have an OBX/Stock combo that's Lupe did that's soon to be replaced with the Stahl/Random Tech cat combo...

 

how many miles on the car? if you want them to cover it you can push the issue, or lawyer it, unless your car has more than 8 years/80,000 miles on the catalytic converter, because that's the warentee

 

Not with the mod.

What kind of EGTs were you pulling before you had this problem?

Another thing to check is the 02 sensor. Remember it could very well have gone bad. If it were a failure due to heat though my money is on the cat dying before the sensor.

 

I would suggest getting a "Motorvac" fuel injection cleaning. The chemical used in the injector cleaning is very caustic and also will clean your cat. If your P0420 code is caused by build up on the core itself. this will cause a "Low cat effeciancy" code to show. the service should run between 100.00 and 150.00. This is much cheaper than a cat repalcement and your injectors need cleaning by now anyways. This code is very common on Subarus and this fix has about a 25% fix rate. Just my two cents. Keep the change.

 

is Sea-Foam.. Same type stuff, different delivery method. It's worth a try..... Thanks for the recovery rate, dirkinoff. I'd thought most degradations were due to catalyst poisening that is irreversable. Learn something new every day!

Matt

ps, I don't know if it's in the Mini ECU, but my lowly old ford with an ECU from a 92 ford can do a diagnostic of the 02 sensor where it runs the car really, really rich and normally to see the response of the 02 vs planned A/F ratios. This is a diagnostic that obviously can only be run with the car at rest, but it's a good one. I've never heard of any user accessable diagnostic routing in the Mini that can do this, but it may be worth asking the dealer if this is how they determined the fault of if that's just what "usually" is the cause of the code....

 

stopped in at the bay bridge motors in oakland last week. jacque confirmed it was p0420 code and cleared it. it went away for a few days but it came back. will try cleaning as suggested above.

jacque also confirmed that the car has madness header w/cat. he suspects it was installed as part of the madness stage 2 kit. didn't know it since the same dealer did the ppi a year ago and didn't mention aftermarket header and cat. they failed to mention it again a few weeks ago when i went in for the check up. they simply said the cat is bad (inefficient) and recommend replacing it. if they had said i had an aftermarket unit, i would have understood why warranty is void.

anyway, i think i may just go oem. anyone changing out their oem header/cat for the aftermarket unit or have one laying around in good condition, please drop me a PM with a price. thanks to all responded.

btw, jacque is a standup guy. he did it w/o charging me. i was in the neighborhood and stopped in. no appointment. he will be getting my future business for sure.

~Allan

 

Sounds good, to bad he dosen't do smogs .