Rep Power: 0

My check engine light came on today and I had the code read at autozone. The code came back (catalyst system effiiciency below threshold) orignal im thinking that i have some water in my catalyst but how oculd that be, but i bought some ocatne booster and put it in with high ocatane gas. Did not work. So im thinking it is my o2 sensors but could they go bad on a 01 civic by now. So im out of ideas my lst hope is to take it to a shop where they charge like 90 buck and im sitting there all day.

If u guys have an idea on whats up thx and ill have a lil insite on whats up .

 
Rep Power: 452

that code is for your cat converter. Most likely it is dead and will need to be replaced. And also you will probably have a code for the secondary o2 sensor. Your secondary o2 sensor is getting a bad reading of air coming out of the cat, and it will pop up a code too. It doesnt mean the sensor is bad, it is just getting a bad reading. If your car is under warranty, then get it fixed, but if not, you wont pass emissions inspection and a new cat is about $500 of www.hondaautomotiveparts.com

 
Rep Power: 0

Water in your catalytic converter is unlikely unless you got a hole in it. Once your car gets warmed up, the catalytic converter is hot enough to turn everything into gas. Octane boosters and high octane gas will not help you one bit in eliminating any water if that was what you were thinking. It is not your O2 sensor because it did not report a secondary O2 sensor failure in the codes. The catalyst system efficency is determined by the secondary (downstream of the catalytic converter) oxygen sensor, so this MUST be working along with your upstream O2 sensor. The secondary O2 sensor is expecting to see an decrease of a certain factor of oxygen in the exhaust stream relative to the primary (upstream of the catalytic converter). If it sees no significant change from the primary and secondary, it generates a catalyst efficiency error code. Your catalytic converter is toast due to contamination by some additive in your fuel system or was due to a manufacturing defect. See if you can get this covered by warranty as this is a very expensive item and usually has a longer warranty than most other components in your vehicle.

 
Rep Power: 0

thx guys for the help. i was seriously thinking about that this problem. Its going to be awhile before i replace it. But hey, atleast in St. Pete we dont have to do emissions test anymore. LOL lucky me at this time. Ill have to check with honda and find out about my warranty and see whats up.