Hello Carkiller Forum, I have some questions concerning my catalytic converter.
-My car make and model
>Chevrolet Impala, 2004
>3.4liter engine, V6
1.) Will it be detrimental to the engine of I keep running with a bad “CAT”?
2.)Can the engine run successfully long term without the “CAT”?
3.)Why is the price difference for the OEM vs aftermarket CCs so drastic? For my car specifically, i saw dozens of aftermarket Catalytic Converters (direct connect, not universal [those are even cheaper]) priced at or around 120-300$ vs. 800-1000$ I don’t want a piece of junk CC!
[Bonus Question]
How can Scotty be contacted for mechanic work? I probably live within an hour of Scotty’s new location in TN and there’s no one more I’d trust to work on my junker than the man himself. Thanks!
It's an emission control device, and should not affect the running or life span of the engine unless it gets sufficiently plugged up that the exhaust is too restricted. (Of course if you're in an area with emission testing you'll have a hard time passing with a bad cat.)
The OEM ones are no doubt better made than aftermarket but they're also marked up more. Given the difference in price even if the aftermarket cat lasts half as long as OEM you're still ahead of the game.
Scotty mentioned in some of his posts to send email to "scotty kilmer at gmail dot com" (as I recall) and put something like "APPOINTMENT REQUEST" in the subject line to make it stand out. He receives thousands of emails.
