I have to change my catalytic converter(check engine light has been confirmed) but i am in a dilemma.

should i go for the original audi or the oem catalytic converter? price does matter!

BUUUT one thing i dont know is if the catalytic converter is welded on?
does anyone know ? it would help since one shop is saying yes and the another sayin its a bolt on?

whats the deal???

help...?

 

I'm interested in knowing this too. 2002 Audi A4 1.8t FWD here.

-Chris

 

Please specify what type of car you have, (model, engine, tranny or other related pertinent information) when asking about your car. Also, a check engine light could indicate, but certainly does not mean, the cat is bad. Why are they saying the cat is bad? Sure its not the rear o2 sensor?

On a 1.8t you can see for yourself (i'm sure you can on a v6 as well but I don't own one so...) whether or not it's welded on. Follow it back. Its bolted directly to the turbo and then bolts up to the downpipe. I think on the V6 it is one piece with the down pipe, so you would have to either replace the cat/downpipe combo or replace the cat alone which would require some form of modification such as welding.

When it comes to choosing between aftermarket or OEM depends. Is your car modified? Are you going to modify it? If not buy a used one, you can try www.shokan.com or check our classifieds for people selling theirs. Quite a few go custom exhaust and sometimes sell the OEM cat which is in perfectly good condition.

By the way, O.E.M. = Original Equipment Manufacturer = Audi.

 

its 1.8t quattro and its stock as can be engine wise other than a upgraded aluminum purge valve? i think thats what the previous owner told me. i just got it recently

for the error code. i dont know wut it is, the dealership wrote
"catalyst will not pass readyness valves and stored fault codes for low efficiency"
they didnt say anything about the o2 sensor.

they also showed me a test where i will fail my smog since its at all zeros instead of all ones.
(i dont know what the test is called but some of u might)

for upgrades- i want to chip it first but i want to get a new timing belt before any
upgrade. they are known to f up and destroy engines

 

forgot: 2002

 

They used some generic code reader to pull out that code. That's not how Vag-Com or V.A.S. 5052 display's DTC's. If they do not use either the Audi diagnostic equipment (VAS 5052) or Ross-Tech Vag-Com diagnostic equipment then they lack the proper tools to diagnose your car. Before I brought it to someone qualified to work on the car I would first be sure your car does not have a testpipe instead of the cat. It's a pretty common mod done to these cars and on my car it triggers these codes;

17522 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor; B1 S2: Internal Resistance too High
P1114 - 008 - Implausible Signal
16524 - Oxygen (Lambda) Sensor B1 S2: No Activity
P0140 - 004 - No Signal/Communication - Intermittent
16804 - Catalyst System; Bank 1: Efficiency Below Threshold
P0420 - 002 - Lower Limit Exceeded.

It's also a little bit of a pain in the *** to change the cat out. Maybe whoever owned the car prior to you did not put the cat back in. This is just something to consider. And something your definitely going to want to do is become intimately familiar with your car. Learn about it every component you can. Even if you do not plan on maintaining and repairing the car yourself, lacking knowledge about what makes these cars tick will set you up to be taken advantage of at repair facilities. The cat is a good job for them. It's alot of $ for very little work.
Once again, I'm not attempting to diagnose whether or not your cat is bad, I'm just saying that you've got one shop saying it's welded another saying it's not. Do some investigating. Look online to see what a Catalytic Converter for these cars looks like and cross-reference it to the one on your car. At the least you'll know whether or not its bolted on. And from the factory it is.

P.S. At the very least take it to a reputable shop that specializes in Audi's. If there is none like that around take it to the dealer. Both can get to be fairly expensive but hey, you bought an Audi.

 

OOOPS!! ^ Reread your post and saw you already have it at the Dealership. Well, I guess your at there mercy then.

Good luck.

 

If it's got less than 80k miles, the pollution control/exhaust system is covered by the dealer and should be free to replace. When my cat goes, I'm getting a cheapo aftermarket high flow cat.

 

I have a 2003 1.8T with 72K miles and a cat that needs replacing... the dealer told me it'd be around $1700. It's covered under warranty???

 

I'm pretty sure that's all covered up to 80k. Search here and audizine.