Rattle When Accelerating: catalytic converter

lltradell said:

I have the same problem with the rattling. I check my shield and its good. I got a p020 code (cat low threshold= bad cat). I did the non fouler trick and the check light never came back on. But my car is still proforming like crap. slow acceleration, very bad MPG (19mpg), hard to drive up hill. I read that there might be stuff blocking the cat so i need to get take it off and unclog it. I plan to do it this week.

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lmk how it goes for you.. I'm super busy right now with school but plan to do the same this winter break

cirsurvive711 said:

lmk how it goes for you.. I'm super busy right now with school but plan to do the same this winter break

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I want to do it ASAP just so i can get my 25mpg back and get my power back. The only thing holding me back is trying to unbolt the dam thing. its on there tight. ima try wd40 and elbow grease probably tonight. I think this is the reason my cars been running like crap with bad mpg.
Any tips on how i can unbolt it easier? I dont have enough clearance for a breaker bar. You know any good "bolt loosener spray"?

lltradell said:

I want to do it ASAP just so i can get my 25mpg back and get my power back. The only thing holding me back is trying to unbolt the dam thing. its on there tight. ima try wd40 and elbow grease probably tonight. I think this is the reason my cars been running like crap with bad mpg.
Any tips on how i can unbolt it easier? I dont have enough clearance for a breaker bar. You know any good "bolt loosener spray"?

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Not off the top of my head.. My MPG has gotten ****tier too

So it has to be something clogging the cat. I will try my best to do it tonight. I been getting 19mpg for the last 5 months.

lltradell said:

So it has to be something clogging the cat. I will try my best to do it tonight. I been getting 19mpg for the last 5 months.

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Are you a 4cyl?

4cyl. automatic. everything stock under the hood. i use to get 380 on a tank. now im getting 300 if im lucky. Car is slow to accelerate. Hard to drive up hills.

have you tried pb blaster ?

ogliquidmetal said:

have you tried pb blaster ?

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PB blaster is the best lubricant that I have ever used. Try to leave it overnight if you can. You will be amazed.

JEER42 said:

PB blaster is the best lubricant that I have ever used. Try to leave it overnight if you can. You will be amazed.

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I only used it before i hammered on rusty bolts

Update-Just finished taking out my Cat. You have to use PB blaster, but they didnt have it so i used a generic one which still worked like a charm. If you plan to do this you are going to need a breaker bar, and socket extensions. And if you do it, start with the top bolt in the back, thats the hardest one. It took me a few hours total.
So the rattling was from a loose honeycomb in the Cat. So what i had to do was break that up with a screwdriver and take it all out. By doing this, it eliminated the rattling but now my o2 sensor will not be getting filtered air, but I did the nonfouler trick so hopefully that will not give me a p020 code which i had before. And hopefully I wont be getting 19 mpg. But i wont know until a week so Ill have to do another update.