What is a Catalytic Converter

Under the normal process, your engine emits harmful pollutants at time of combustion. In easy term, it is a converter’s job to alter these pollutants in the gas that is not very harmful to our environment. It can be achieved through the chemical reaction between an exhaust gas having the metals in a catalytic converter. Suppose your car isn’t running rightly and is taking more fuel than normal (running rich), unburned fuel may damage the converter and in certain cases create the rotten egg smell. It is what the cleaner aims in eliminating, all along with normal cleaning of the car components that it comes in touch with.

What Causes Problems in Catalytic Converter?

With time your converter will get clogged with the carbon buildup –it is the common problems of catalytic converters that we see on the regular basis. The buildup on inside of a catalytic converter stops the catalyst from taking out any harmful emissions from an exhaust. When performance of catalytic converters starts to suffer, diagnostic system in the car can make you know just by turning on “Service Engine” light. Many times this warning light has the special code like P0430 or P0420 that indicates that performance of catalytic converters is below minimum emission threshold.

catalytic convert cleanerWhat causes this carbon buildup?

The excessive carbon buildup in your converter is the sign that the car is going rich. “Going rich” means ratio of air and fuel is less than the optimal and engine isn’t burning all the fuel that it’s using. Whereas there are a lot of reasons that can cause your vehicle to run rich, the first step that you must take is replacing the spark plugs. Suppose you do not remember when you last changed the spark plugs, this must be at a top of your list.

Does Converter Cleaner Really Work?

The common question that we get is “does the catalytic converter cleaner work or is this snake oil?” The catalytic convert cleaner will remove all carbon buildup in your car engine or exhaust system. Thus, answer is, yes, the catalytic cleaner works whenever you use this to break down the carbon deposits. For this reason, products like Cataclean must be used four times in a year. Using this regularly can help to clear out the stubborn deposits as well as prevent any new carbon buildup from forming.  Buying cleaner bottles will be expensive. But, it is a lot cheaper than to buy the new catalytic converter that will cost some hundreds of dollars and not including cost of the labor for installing it! The catalytic converter cleaner makes use of acetone and solvents to keep your exhaust system clean. When the ingredients get added in your tank and used up when you drive, byproduct is:

  • Active peroxy compounds
  • Aldehydes
  • Carboxylic acids