I got a lot of questions on my last thread about how cats could ruin an engine. I stopped by the service center to pick up some paperwork I'd left in there (didn't expect things to take so long) so I took the opportunity to chat up the mechanics and see if I could get a more in depth explanation. Got my explanation, which I'll share with you in a sec .......... got a new chapter to the horror story too .....
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So how do cats ruin an engine? Like this (according to the tech) - the front driver side cat broke apart and clogged up creating a severe amount of backpressure. This somehow tricked the O2 sensor into thining the fuel mixture in the cylinders was very lean and responded by pumping more and more fuel into the cylinder to compensate. This then created an extremely rich fuel mixture which, in turn, burned up two of the pistons. End of story, end of engine.
Horror story - Chapter two
So when I was done getting informed of how it all went down, I inquired as to whether anyone knew when the new engine was coming and was brought to the parts guy. What an interesting conversation ensued. It seems I was misinformed when I was originally told that a new engine was on the way out and I'd be rolling again in about two weeks. What I'm being told now is that my engine is being shipped to DC for a rebuild that'll take about four weeks ........... plus shipping time ........... plus install time. Oh, and did I mention that they just sent it out last friday? Or that last friday was two full weeks from when I put it in their hands in the first place??? So, long story short, I was told that if I'm lucky I'll be getting it back the end of May ......... almost a full TWO MONTHS from when I dropped it off in the first place.
Needless to say I'll be on the phone with Chrysler tomorrow. I'm a little peeved at the whole situation, and the fact that I only had this car a week really doesn't help. The misinformation and runaround from th service center helps even less. You veterans have any advice for this poor kid before he goes completely insane????
..... So how do cats ruin an engine? Like this (according to the tech) - the front driver side cat broke apart and clogged up creating a severe amount of backpressure. This somehow tricked the O2 sensor into thining the fuel mixture in the cylinders was very lean and responded by pumping more and more fuel into the cylinder to compensate. This then created an extremely rich fuel mixture which, in turn, burned up two of the pistons. End of story, end of engine.
Horror story - Chapter two
So when I was done getting informed of how it all went down, I inquired as to whether anyone knew when the new engine was coming and was brought to the parts guy. What an interesting conversation ensued. It seems I was misinformed when I was originally told that a new engine was on the way out and I'd be rolling again in about two weeks. What I'm being told now is that my engine is being shipped to DC for a rebuild that'll take about four weeks ........... plus shipping time ........... plus install time. Oh, and did I mention that they just sent it out last friday? Or that last friday was two full weeks from when I put it in their hands in the first place??? So, long story short, I was told that if I'm lucky I'll be getting it back the end of May ......... almost a full TWO MONTHS from when I dropped it off in the first place.
Needless to say I'll be on the phone with Chrysler tomorrow. I'm a little peeved at the whole situation, and the fact that I only had this car a week really doesn't help. The misinformation and runaround from th service center helps even less. You veterans have any advice for this poor kid before he goes completely insane????
