The catalytic converter in your Lexus prevents harmful chemicals from combustion from polluting the atmosphere. It converts chemicals like carbon monoxide into less harmful carbon dioxide. This process can eventually cause a blockage or failure in the converter. If you have a converter problem, your Lexus dealer has the technicians and parts to fix it for you. These are a few signs that your converter needs to be checked by our experts.
Noisy Converter
Rattling noise anywhere in your car is always a reason to worry. This type of noise suggests that something has broken and is moving around somewhere in your car. If you see black exhaust smoke or have reduced engine power, your converter may be damaged. If the converter is the cause of the problem, the internal honeycomb structure has likely been damaged.
The process of chemical conversion in the converter uses extreme heat and pressure. The chemicals that arrive in the converter could also include hot, unburnt fuel from failed combustion in one of the cylinders. The extra heat from the burnt fuel could be enough to crack part of the honeycomb. Once cracks appear in this structure, pieces can break off and move around in the converter.
Black Smoke
The black smoke mentioned above means that your exhaust is expelling quantities of unburnt fuel. You may even see sparks caused by unburnt fuel touching the hot exhaust pipe. Unburnt fuel is a problem for several reasons. Unburnt fuel means that your engine is using more fuel than it should, which means more trips to the pump. It also means that your converter could be damaged.
If your engine is running fuel-rich, that is, there is far more fuel than air in the intake manifold, much of this extra fuel won’t burn. The reason for this is that you need more air than fuel for combustion. Without enough air, the unburnt fuel will grow hot but will be dumped out of the cylinders. If your converter is damaged, this unburnt fuel won’t be converted into harmless chemicals and will leave your case as toxic black smoke.
Blocked Converter
The converter can be working correctly, but it can get blocked by a build of carbon and other combustion byproducts. This blockage will reduce the amount of exhaust smoke that can exit the exhaust. If your engine can’t expel all of the engine gases, your engine performance will start to suffer.
The excess engine gases create back pressure in your engine which interferes with combustion and reduces engine power and performance. Our technicians can clear out the blockage for you.
Converter problems are easy for our highly-trained technicians to fix. Call us at Lexus of Wilmington.
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