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CATALYTIC CONVERTER or PROGRAMMER

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Old Dec 19, 2009 | 08:23 AM
  #1  
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From: Bethlehem, PA
CATALYTIC CONVERTER or PROGRAMMER

I have an X3 SCT tune installed in my '05 5.4. I have had it installed for about a year now. A couple of months ago Mike (from 5 Star Tuning) and I started changing somethings with my econo tune and everything was great. I was getting between 14.5 and 15.5 mpg. In the last month it slowly started dropping all the way down to 12 mpg. nothing has changed; warm up time, ethenol mix, drive situation, etc... I just noticed today when I got back from a short trip and pulled into the garage I smelled the catalytic converter smell pretty bad, which I have never smelled before. Truck only has 35,000 miles on it. QUESTION.....Is it normal for a converter to go this early in life, Or do you think the programmer has gone on the blink or caused damaged to the converter? I wanted to see what you guys think before I called Mike.
 
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Old Dec 19, 2009 | 10:20 AM
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The cats should last the life of the truck. They only go bad early if unburnt gas from misfire is causing them to melt. You should see if you have any codes. If they're going bad you should get a cat insufficiency code.

Either way, it could be bad plugs or stuck injectors.
 
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Old Dec 20, 2009 | 04:18 AM
  #3  
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if the cats are bad at that mileage, they should still be under warantee...
 
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Old Dec 20, 2009 | 10:09 AM
  #4  
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bridge
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From: League City, TX
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Originally Posted by 60DRB
if the cats are bad at that mileage, they should still be under warantee...
Only if it's a bad cat for idiopathic reasons. If they take the cat out and gas pours out of it they will say it's due to an upstream problem and won't cover them under the warrenty.

It's also worth noting the cats are on national back-order. Some on here have reported waiting several months for their dealers to get them in stock.
 
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Old Dec 20, 2009 | 12:21 PM
  #5  
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Originally Posted by magnet1
I have an X3 SCT tune installed in my '05 5.4. I have had it installed for about a year now. A couple of months ago Mike (from 5 Star Tuning) and I started changing somethings with my econo tune and everything was great. I was getting between 14.5 and 15.5 mpg. In the last month it slowly started dropping all the way down to 12 mpg. nothing has changed; warm up time, ethenol mix, drive situation, etc... I just noticed today when I got back from a short trip and pulled into the garage I smelled the catalytic converter smell pretty bad, which I have never smelled before. Truck only has 35,000 miles on it. QUESTION.....Is it normal for a converter to go this early in life, Or do you think the programmer has gone on the blink or caused damaged to the converter? I wanted to see what you guys think before I called Mike.
A: your cat isn't bad unless it broke apart inside & the programmer would not cause a cat failure. most likely the blend of gas has changed and your cat is working harder to remove the gas. also you might want to check the spark plugs and pvc for a clog and check the cats incase you ran over some plastic.
 
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Old Dec 20, 2009 | 12:28 PM
  #6  
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Are you really sure that you're not getting a winter blend of gas?
 
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Old Dec 20, 2009 | 01:28 PM
  #7  
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magnet1
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From: Bethlehem, PA
No, The winter blend around here is the same 10% ethanol mix that the stations serve in the summer, Unless there is something else I dont know about. I am just trying to figure out why my mileage dropped off over the past couple of months. I am going to contact Mike at 5 Star, But I dont know what he is going to tell me because I am running the same program.
 
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