worn out catalytic converter value | FerrariChat

worn out catalytic converter value

Discussion in 'Ferrari Discussion (not model specific)' started by doxviper, Dec 5, 2019.

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  1. doxviper

    doxviper Rookie

    Aug 14, 2011
    7
    Colorado
    Full Name:
    Bill Schreiber
    Is a worn out catalytic converter worth anything or should I trash it?
     
  2. INRange

    INRange F1 World Champ
    Silver Subscribed

    Jan 27, 2014
    10,013
    Virginia/Florida/Caymans
    Full Name:
    JD
    Completely depends what it came off of. I sold a set on Ebay stating they needed to be rebuilt.
     
  3. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 29, 2004
    33,736
    Austin TX
    Full Name:
    Brian Crall
    If the core is still there they have about a $75 scrap value for the precious metals.
     
    Wade likes this.
  4. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Mar 31, 2006
    32,793
    East Central, FL
    Full Name:
    Wade O.
    In the past, it was an EPA violation to install a used Cat, unless it was tested and certified appropriately. I'm pretty sure it still holds true today. In other words, be careful as to your whereabouts.

    This is from page 3 of the linked document.

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  5. Wade

    Wade Three Time F1 World Champ
    Owner

    Mar 31, 2006
    32,793
    East Central, FL
    Full Name:
    Wade O.
  6. Rifledriver

    Rifledriver Three Time F1 World Champ

    Apr 29, 2004
    33,736
    Austin TX
    Full Name:
    Brian Crall
  7. tbakowsky

    tbakowsky F1 World Champ
    Consultant Professional Ferrari Technician

    Sep 18, 2002
    19,349
    The Cold North
    Full Name:
    Tom
    All depends what the cat contains for precious metals and how much of it is in there. Converters from higher end cars with large engines will have higher precious metal content. DPF's from the diesels are also worth some pretty good coin. The platinum, iridium etc is worth money. Dont trash it.
     
  8. I'm 360 Canuck

    I'm 360 Canuck Formula 3

    Nov 21, 2015
    1,911
    Ontario, The Real One in Canada
    Full Name:
    Lars!
    Might even be worth something to someone who wants to hollow it out for use in a “visual inspection only” region.
     
  9. 335s

    335s Formula Junior

    Jan 17, 2007
    870
    SF Bay Area
    Full Name:
    T. Monma
    Substrate loading ratios changed as the upper end limits(gram/mile or gram/ 24hr SHED test, as is determined in a CVS testing cycle. Up through the revisions-meaning declining upper end limit thresholds-ALL were based upon this method utilizing the “LA-55”/505 testing cycle(505 seconds from a dead stop start following a 24 hr cold soak cycle in a laboratory controlled environment and which simulates “rush hour, stop and go traffic, on the 405 at “rush hour”

    As years went by the numbers required to obtain a “small volume certificate of manufacture” for passenger car/light duty trucks not exceeding GVW of 7500lbs, AND: with a limit of 15,000 units manufactured per ENGINE FAMILY( this is the test Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini and ALZl”small volume manufactures must pass in order to be able to sell product in the US /NA marketplace), the requisite technology in both the monitoring AND the processing feedback side of the equation was and did improve dramatically from analog to today’s digital CAN low and high voltage, multiplexed systems. The “other side of the equation “: the gas conversion-nee catalysis -necessarily also had to change ALONG with the sensor/processing side since: catalysts will only convert the noxious input efficiently and to a statistically high degree so long as the stream is kept stoichiometric(strictly speaking in technically accurate nomenclature: it must be to the lean side of stoichiometric, as determined for THAT specific engine family being “ vetted”-as each engine has its own quirks with respect to intake resonances, standing waves, thermal shear issues with respect to the temp gradients along the walls of BOTH the intake and exhaust walls as it affects laminar air flow. This is a wildly unpredictable field vis a vis the math: empirical data is really the only reliable Rosetta Stone in my experiences. The use of stochastic calculus to obtain domain boundary limits has just that: limits.... it gets you in the stadium, but not necessarily onto the playing field, it turns out....
    I digress: with each limits reduction, the targeting of quite specific result profiles were able to be targeted much mire precisely, principally due to such astronomical advances in the SPEED of the closed loop systems combined with the ability for the fuel map to “predict” which most likely will be happening “next” again: based on the hundreds on sensors and actuators now existent in modern CAN networked cars....
    There is an “old days” loading of the monoliths/substrates which was approximately a 4/4/5 grams per cubic ft(mix and match units of measure: hard to believe, but it’s how it was done in late 1969s to about 1990.
    With the advent of OBD2 in 1996 clearly on the horizon, the push in the research side, all moved quite quickly as now ALL vehicles operated under a standardized methodology of operation in both functional operation as well as diagnostics(self-cached memory, as well as hard).

    Here is where the technology in catalysis for Otto cycles really advanced. The chemistry gets quite exotic technically speaking, as the first last and principle obstacle has ALWYS been: “The cold bag”
    The test is won and lost in the first 45 seconds of the test cycle! I have tested, quite literally-thousands of test vehicles, and it became so routine for me that I could tell if a car was going to “average out a pass”(once cats has lit off) within the first 25-35 seconds. By 1985 it was down to 20 seconds.
    The test was updated some years ago, with some minor changes having to do with the drive trace and duration, but overall it is what it is( fully described in the CFR-FYI!)
    What’s interesting is that the limits which I had to obtain to get a “certificate”, compared to the numbers TODAY, are mind numbingly low, compared to the 1980-1990 time frame of reference to which I am referring....
    By the turn of the century, the lodgings had changed DRAMATICALLY, from the 4/4/5 to a 1-2/14/2-3 sort of range: again tailored to individual quirks/characteristics of the specific family of engine being tested.

    The actual catalysts: back “then”, substrates were 99% plus ceramic honeycomb variety-there were two principle manufacturing firms: Corning and NGK( I’m getting really old and senile, so I’m not 100% certain about this one!), and what readers don’t understand is this: ALL substrates undergo a processing step PRIOR to application of the catalytic sol and subsequent “baking cycle: the substrates are all coated and the baked in ovens for a specific time period. Why? The aluminum oxide wash coat increase the topical “surface AREA” to which the catalytic sol adheres/binds to by w hopping 600%!

    More later: gotta run for now...
     

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