So I'm sure I need to replace the cat (hopefully not the sensors along with it).

I reviewed the service manual and it seemed straightforward, so I decided to tackle it this morning full of confidence and caffeine...

and got whooped!

So I had to retreat and reinstall the cowl panel the wiper motor, the wipers, the air box, the battery.....

is there any advice anyone that may have done this can give me? better to remove from the top, bottom? tricks of the trade?

I have a replacement cat and an AF ration sensor only....should I get all the bolts and gaskets just in case?

I called honda and they would want $300 for labor. I figure consulting you all and at least trying again might be worth it.

car has been feeling weird lately and I think it has to do with this.

Thanks!

btw, I sprayed some wd-40 on some of the bolts before i gave up later I had to move the car and it smelled like it was going to be set on fire....what a pain in the ass.

 

bueller???

 

What is the milage on the car? and why are you replacing it? IIRC, certain emissions parts including the cat are covered against defects and failure for 80,000 miles (by federal law)...though presumably that doesn't cover damage caused by accident or modifications of the car from stock or so forth.

I'm afraid I don't have any suggestions for how to go about replacement. Exhaust work is one thing that I decided some time ago was aggravating enough that money spent paying someone else to do it was money well spent. I don't mind doing plenty of other maintenance and repair work, but crawling underneath the car and busting knuckles and getting rusty bits of exhaust pipe in my eyes while trying to unbolt old bolts without shearing them off got old pretty quickly.

Hmmm...$300 is what, 2-3 hours of dealership labor? That sounds more like going in from underneath than removing all the bits and pieces from on top as a first rough guess.

 

First off: thanks for replying...


car has 126k on the odometer and I've gotten p0420 codes enough to feel it is the catalytic converter.

See I drove about 40k with plugs that were loose....brought it in to honda several times and it wasnt loose enough to send out a misfire CEL but my fuel trims were horrible, and there was a strong fuel smell throughout and around the car.....Service Advisor said to drive with recirculate

so eventually i took the car in for a valve adjustment and the smell got worse...I demanded they check into it and found plugs that were hand loose....I'm sure I dumped fuel throughout the cat over 2 years and messed it up.

So now I am gathering all the gaskets and parts and did a preliminary teardown to see how to go about it.

It will be a pain in the ass as there is no room underneath the car to loosen bolts and to get behind the engine to get to the bolts and to remove the A/F sensor will require removal of the wiper blades, cowl, wiper motor, cowl panel, the air box and the battery (easier to remove stock airbox, almost wish I kept my PRM )

So 2-3 hrs sounds about right....

I came here for advice about removal because I know those bolts will be a pain and am wondering if I can use wd-40 or penetrating lubricant on the cat area? I sprayed a bit to test some bolts and later when I started the car, the fumes were enough to have me concerned about how flammable wd-40 is.

I was tempted to try laquer thinner in my fuel tank to see if it helps but am worried about damaging the injectors and fuel lines. I've heard storied of acetone destroying rubber...

My issue is that the placement of the cat making it hard to get to the bolts that are holding everything in place....maybe it's worth $300 to have honda do it....

 

just intstalled my t1r header. it should be the same to replace the primary cat. i removed the cowl/wipers w motor and all that along with the plastic half of the intake manifold (i was doing a valve adjustment also).

i removed the 4 heat shield bolts, 2 nuts/2 bolts for the header, and 2 nuts/2 bolts for the egr tube all from the top. then underneath the car i removed the 2 spring bolts and the bracket bolt.

 

I am a bit embarrassed admitting I spent 8 hours putting my WR "header"on, but every single bolt in this project requires special attention. A lift and a good assortment of extensions might have sped things up a bit too.

 

Thanks Jibberjabs for the info....


Could you let me know what issues you came across when removing the stock one?

Can I use WD-40 for the bolts? dont have a lift but will throw it on jackstands...

Guess I'll follow your lead and remove the plastic plenum....guess I'll need a small torque wrench and some spark plug replacement

 

WD-40 is OK if things are cool and will stay cool (i.e. you won't be driving). It probably won't do a whole lot to help, though; it's not really that great as a penetrating oil.

Maybe you can just cut off the bolts with a die grinder or dremel tool? When you're replacing the cat, it doesn't really matter if the flanges and such get mangled a bit on the one you're taking out. Alternately, if there's clearance enough (which sounds unlikely), a breaker bar is a low-tech way to work wonders on stuck fasteners.