Here goes another help me thread. God must sincerely hate me. So following my 450 dollar fine to the DMV for 8 license points in one year and 300 dollars in tickets and 550 dollars for new tires, now I officially have 44 dollars to my name.

Oh I drive a 2000 Honda Accord SE 4 cyl F23 (I think) with 214k miles.

Anyway, complaints aside, my cat started making a rattle noise which I can only hear while idling because if I am driving I hear the motor over it I guess. When the guy was putting on new tires I told him to check it out and let me know what it was. Guy said it was the catalytic converter and that something must be broken inside. So eventually I need to get a new one. I didn't pay him, he said 400 plus tax and no warranty. Well, I don't know if they come with warranties to begin with but like I said I have 44 dollars to my name not 400. It rattles in gear or in park so I am guessing it isn't the heat shield and I am to believe that it is indeed the stupid cat.

What now?? Any suggestions, do I just go to the dealer and pay him some ridiculous amount to get a honda part so it doesn't break anytime in the near future?? Or are aftermarket parts better, btw I want no extra noise and as little cost as possible and last forever if possible. Any responses are greatly appreciated. You guys are the best..

 

I just replaced my cat with an aftermarket. The cat is $236.00 and I am in Cailfornia. It's direct fit bolt on part. If you are outside CA it's much cheaper. I got it from DiscountCatalyticConverter.com. It's easy, however, I have to struggle getting out the old bolts. Soak them with penetrating liquid. I have to use impact wrench to get them out. Good luck.

 

Just because it rattles in park, that doesn't rule out the heatshield. Don't guess, crawl under there & check it out.

I had a 1998 with a rattling heatshield. I hooked 2 hose clamps together (make a real long hoseclamp) & tightened that around the top & bottom halves of the heatshield. It was good for few years like that.

 

Yeah I'll pop it up one of these days and check it out before rushing into anything. I can't seem to trust anyone these days, every mechanic or shop wants to sell something..

I don't even know what a shield looks like but I'll check it out.. It only happens in park and in gear when stopped in gear.. I can't hear much when the motor is running.. there is definitely inconsistent power, some days it feels a bit more powerful some days a bit sluggish, barely but noticeable enough.. I'll let you know if I find something..

 

In the picture below, #5 & #6 fit around the cat & they typically corrode around their bolts. While you're under there, you can check the other heatshields like #22 & #23 which attach to the underside of the car's floorpan. Nothing rocket-science about it, just figure out how to fasten them.


Of course, it's always possible that the catalyst IS breaking up inside the converter. It's one big ceramic block with a zillion tiny holes thru it, so once you get the heatshields together it should not rattle internally.

 

Wow that's an elaborate diagram, that clarifies things a good bit. Hey, first off, thanks man for taking the time to respond so elaborately, real nice of you man.

Anyway, so I am going try to check out the situation with the heat shield and if it still rattles but the heatshield isn't loose, then i'll try to take apart the pipes and get the cat off so I can see if the inside looks disintegrated. Do I need power tools to take this thing apart because I don't really have any..

 

My heat shield was rattling and it wasn't immediately obvious by looking at the heat shield. There was a hairline crack with a little bit of rust where one of the four bolts went through and that was enough to cause a rattle.

I stopped by a Midas near my apt. They used two big hose clamps and tightened them as much as possible. I think they charged me $5 to do this for me and fixed the rattle.

 

Must have been a generous Midas place. I swear, you can't find a single honest garage or dealer around here without getting ripped off to ****.. most places won't even look at the car without saying diagnostic fee is like 80 to 150..

Anyway, I did get around to popping up the car and taking a look underneath and no it doesn't look like the heat shield(s) are loose, unless I missed one but so far they look pretty good. Tinging/rattling seems to have gotten worse and/or more, still can only hear it while idling or while going at like 5 mph, anything over, I can't hear it or it's not tinging/rattling. I feel like the gas mileage may have dropped on the car but can't measure it properly.. what happens if I drive around with a bad catalytic converter?? Still don't have the money to replace it, assuming it's that..

I'll run by a dealer for oil change early March, I'll probably get a diagnosis then, but in the meantime I still am driving it like 100 plus miles everyday..