I am told I need a new Catalytic Converter. I would definitely like you guys' opinion before I cough out those hundreds of dollars.

I get this loud rattling sound (metalic noise) coming from somewhere near the engine block. When I rev up the engine in neutral and step out of the gas, I hear this. Also hear it while changing gears from 1 to 2, or 2 to 3 (less on 3 to 4 or 4 to 5). Also when I am in the process of slowing down and I take my feet off the gas.

 

Who told you you need a new cat?
1st of all, is your Check Engine Light on? If the cat was faulty, you would have one on (probably with code P0420.)
That rattling could be as simple as a loose or broken exhaust hanger.

 

More likely the heat shield on the cat if it hasn't been looked at. If so, clip it off with some snips. A broken element would sound like a metal maracca. Not really metal to metal. also, if you do need a cat, if it's a couple hundred dollars, I'd go with the Random Technology performance cat. An OEM should be in the $100 - $175 range. Deserthonda could provide more accurate prices though since he is a dealer.

 

I am definatelly NOT a dealer,, we have an independent shop , we specialize on Hondas and Acuras , been active for the past 11 years .

 

I'm sorry des! I stand corrected. I thought that you were from your name.

 

There are no engine lights. I did have doubts about the cat replacement, since its not a moving part. The only reason I kind of got bought into this idea was that, on one instant after the onset of the noise problem, I noticed some white fumes coming off from the exhaust during startup (but only for a few seconds).

I will get underneath the car today to see how the heat shield/ exhaust pipe looks like.

 

A white puff when the car is cold is water evaporating from the inside of the exhaust system. This is normal. As the pipes cool, they can condense water from the air and when you start the car this boils off.

 

No need to be sorry,,,,,,,deserthonda =
I reside i the desert ,, i work on hondas

 

Hi, the heat shield didn't seem to be loose. But when I banged on the exhaust pipe, I did hear some noise from inside the shield. So I decided to take the shield off anyways, and see how that works.

But in the process, I rounded off the two front bolts. I'll take another crack at it today, weather permitting.

By the way,I guess I need to take offthe top part of the shield too, right? If so, there is a sensor going into the cat through the top half. Can I simply pull it right off and put it back again when I'm done? Is it that simple?

 

HUH!! The Check Engine Light came up suddenly this afternoon.

And now I'm wondering if the cat was faulty to begin with. Or is it that I've somehow damaged the cat while trying to remove the heat shield. I've been driving today with 2bolts of the shield removed and 2 still attached to the shield (I rounded them off).

Anyways, I will get back with the code for the check engine light. Thanks.