'03 Pontiac with 240,800+ miles

[03StonesVibe]

Hi there! I am a proud owner of a 2003 Satellite Silver Vibe that has 240K+ miles on it. Original everything on it. This car has been AMAZING to me. I was trying to find out if anyone else has been having issues with their catalytic converters. My first one went out at 75K, have put 3 cats in already, and my check engine light has been on since 2011 its the cat converter once again. Anyone have any experience with this?

[Derf]

Going through a similar issue, do you know what error code the Vibe has, your issue may be related to something else. Does the Vibe use a bit of oil, could be adding deposits to catalytic convertor.

[Doug14]

The regular cat or the pre-cat? I know that a lot of MRS/MR2 guys with the 1zz-fe empty out the pre-cat in the exhaust manifold/extractors. Reason being that the valve overlap used in these engines to pull exhaust gasses back into the combustion chamber to further burn any leftover junk, sometimes the pre-cats can start to break up, and when the valves overlap,it can pull bits of catalyst back into the cylinders which is not good!

[joatmon]

My first 03 started throwing P0420's somewhere around 100K miles, and I replaced the cat somewhere around 110K, with an OEM cat from GM. THe second one started throwing P0420's at about 210K miles (or so, can't remember exactly) and I drove with my scan gauge constantly hooked up so I could clear the CEL, until 278K miles when I traded the whole car in for another 03.

The first one did lose oil, at first it was consumption, no leaks, but then it started leaking too. Could have been the oil consumption that fouled the cats. I've also heard that ethanol in fuel can dissolve oil additives from the cylinder walls and these additives can deposit a coating inside the a cat, rendering it ineffective.

My son has an 03 Matrix, and it started throwing a P0420 at about 120K miles. His doesn't seem to have an oil consumption issue, On his, I used the hack of a spark plug extender to partially shield the downstream O2 sensor. Doesn't fix the problem of incomplete exhaust recombustion, but keeps the CEL off, so at least he will know if something else occurs to trigger a CEL

[03StonesVibe]

Thanks for the replies! I wish I would've known this forum existed years ago...I would've joined back then!!

Each time my check engine light comes on, its the same code, the catalytic converter. Its not burning a lot of oil and there are no leaks (right now). I am not sure what "is it the regular cat or the pre cat"? means.

I have spoken with a few different mechanics as well as a dealer, and have heard that these particular toyota engines do burn thru cats, but they don't really know why or what to do about them. Thank goodness the first replacement was under my car warranty! But after making 2 more replacements since, think I am just going to go to the emissions station and get a waiver.

I am not ready to get rid of this car, all 240K+ miles are my miles! Any recommendations on what else I can do? How long has anyone driven without a cat and having the CEL on?

[vibenvy]

Welcome to GenVibe! That's great to hear that your Vibe has 240,000+ (relatively) trouble-free miles on it and it's still going strong! It must be because it's the best color ! Post some pictures of your Vibe when you get a chance and good luck getting the catalytic converter issue figured out .