We here at Sellers Automotive hope we never have to repair the damage caused by a stolen catalytic converter. We hope you never become a victim of this type of theft. If you do, however, you should not worry. Once you have reported the theft, give us a call and we will inspect your exhaust system. We will repair any damage and install a new catalytic converter. If someone has taken your catalytic converter, your car will do the following things when you start it.
A Noisy Engine
The engine will be extremely loud after you fire up your automobile. In fact, you may think you are driving a race car. Unfortunately, you cannot silence the engine until you install a new catalytic converter. The reason why the engine is so noisy is that the converter muffles the sound of the exhaust being forced out of the exhaust manifold.
A CEL Warning
In addition to a loud engine, the check engine light is also going to turn on. As you can imagine, without the catalytic converter, your exhaust system will malfunction. Unfortunately, it will continue to malfunction until a new converter is added to the system. As such, the check engine light will remain illuminated steadily until we perform the work.
Acceleration Issues
When you press down on the accelerator, two things are going to happen. First, the engine will get even louder than it already is. Second, your car will jerk forward. Unfortunately, the days of smooth acceleration are gone until you replace the catalytic converter. As well as absorbing the noise, the converter also takes in the push of the exhaust.
Slow-Speed Lagging
As if the acceleration jerking were not enough, you will also discover that your car does not run well until you are driving fast. The engine will have a hard time producing power when you are driving slowly until the catalytic converter is replaced.
Strong Exhaust Odors
You probably should not drive your automobile anyway. In a normal exhaust system, the exhaust never leaves the system until it is pushed out of the tailpipe. Now, the exhaust is introduced into the outdoor environment when it is pushed out of the exhaust manifold. Consequently, the exhaust will surround your vehicle and waft into the passenger cabin.
Sellers Automotive in Sanford, NC, advises that this can make you extremely sick when you drive your automobile. It’s better to have your vehicle towed to our shop.