Rep Power: 0

a rattling metallic noise started coming a few days.When i took it to the mechanic he took out the Heat shield .. didnt solve the problem ... he then said i need a new cat converter , so fixed a new one , after that ... just a few miles from the garage noise started coming again but was very low ... also , the very same day 'check engine' light came on. Called the mechanic and he said because its a new cat converter,its more efficient than the last one thats why the light came on ,and about the noise still coming he said it shouldnt come as its a ne cat converter, he suggested somethig is wrong with the silencer,but its exactly the same noise as the first time,if previuosly it was cat converter how come this time it is silencer ?. it will go away automatically after some time. Today i noticed that the noise is getting louder , so i am back to square one with money spent on a new cat along with the 'check engine light' and the same noise as i was getting before.
BTW i have a 1999 Civic 5dr hatchback 1.4i (I live in UK)

Any help would be appreciated.

 
Rep Power: 315

I wouldnt worry about the noise find out what code your throwing first

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks , ill let you know why CEL is coming

 
Rep Power: 0

Sounds like your mechanic is ripping you off. If you lived near P'boro I'd offer to take a look at it for you. Is there any way you can jack the car up and have a look at it? Perhaps have someone start it and rev the engine whilst you're under there to see where the noise is coming from?

 
Rep Power: 0

Thanks for the offer , P.boro is a bit far from me. And abour the mechanic, well he only charged £20 for installing the cat, and i bought the car from 'allparts' for aorund £76. Before that he charged only £5 for taking away the heat shield, so that sounds about right .. but he doesnt seem very competent.
Ill try to check it out over the weekend where the sound is coming from, it comes at the front, where gears are.

 
Rep Power: 0

I checked the CEL code and it is

P0420 - Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1)

I have reset it , hope it doesnt come again

Are you supposed to reset the ECU after installing the cat ?

 
Rep Power: 0

Yes, if you have CEL before you start on it, otherwise it just takes time to go away. P0420 is reading on the secondary O2 sensor, downstream of the cat. You may want to just make sure everything is tightened up properly. Although cats are fairly delicate and the element can get knocked loose inside from too much banging around.

 
Rep Power: 233

Had a similar problem, didn't take it to a mechanic. Sounds like your mechanic is pretty much garbage anyways. It turned out to be my heatshield, me and a buddy backed the car onto a curb and ripped it off, bolts were rusted tight. There are pieces of that heatshield on the car to this day, no more rattling though.

I heard that it could be one of the exhaust latches that's loose? I wouldn't think it to be the cat itself, or the silencer. Definately something more then that.

 
Rep Power: 315

how many miles on the car?

 
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56,000 miles

 
Rep Power: 315

Honda has a 8year 80,000 miles warrantee on all there emission parts... (cat)

But a cat should be fine at 56k

 
Rep Power: 227

everything SHOULD be fine at 56k on a HONDA but yeah check about the warranty

 
Rep Power: 0

Well, my car is a 1999 model which means that its already 8 years, doesnt 8yrs 80K mean either 8 years ir 80k which ever comes first, also , i have already replased the honda cat with an afer market one.
BTW is this warranty applicable worldwide ? i live in UK

 
Rep Power: 0

Contacted Honda UK and this is what they said :

"Unfortunately, we do not have an 8 year warranty on Emissions Systems, and we believe that this may be getting confused with the 5 year Exhaust Parts warranty, although this only covers the actual exhaust pipes etc, and not the emissions themselves. We would recommend that you contact your nearest Honda dealership, as they are fully trained to check over your vehicle and rectify any faults."

 
Rep Power: 315

Thats not what my local dealership told me^

weird!

they told me if my cat was bad (wich i thought it was, and it wasnt) they would replace it free of charge.

 
Rep Power: 0

Guys, thank you all for your help, noise problem is fixed. but the CEL is still there, ill open up a new thread just for that issue.

Thanks