Hello and Thank You All for any advice anyone may have to offer. I've
owned a 1998 Acura Integra LS w/ an automatic transmission. The car
Acura Certified Pre-Owned when I purchased it from the dealer. The car
is COMPLETELY STOCK with no modifications. The car has about 75K miles
on it now and I've had the timing belt and water pump replaced (this
week), the oil changes done on time, all new tires, and had a major
tune up (w/a tranny flush) and all brakes replaced when I had my
alignment done within the last year. My Integra has been very good to
me so far and I'd like to keep it that way.

Lately, I have been hearing and feelings things on my integra that
have me a little concerned. I'll do my best to describe the list of
things my Integra has been doing : I hear a rattling underneath the
car when it's 1st started and when driving between 2500RPM - 4000RPM
on the tach till the speed is over 30mph, when I turn the steering
makes a groaning sound, and finally my Integra has been getting some
of the worst mileage I have ever experienced since owning my car. I
took my car to get the coolant flushed and oil changed to my local
mechanic, and had him take a look at it. He said the catalytic
converter was damaged ( the honeycomb inside had broken down and was
rattling inside is what he said). Now this seems unusual to me with a
car with 75K on it. The car's performance and idling has seemed lagged
over the last 2 months and I had a slight hesistation while
accelerating. I think it is important to point out that the exhaust
tip has stained black on the bottom portion of the tip, like blackened
soot. The mechanic says that the Oxygen sensor is probably still good
since the CHECK ENGINE LIGHT isn't on and just needs a new catalytic
converter replaced. Funny thing is after the mechanic looked at it the
rattling and shaking stopped.

I would greatly appreciate any assistant or experience may have with
what I've described above. A catalytic converter on a 1998 is
extremely expensive and my exhuast is still under warranty so I'd like
to not pay over $700 for something that is still covered. My dealer
said if the cat is truly broken it will be replaced FREE OF CHARGE,
but if that is not I'll have to pay $92 PER HOUR for them just to look
at it ! How can I tell it's definitely the catalytic converter that is
broken and not something else . Thank you very much for all your help
with this issue and saving me from a $92 p/hour labor charge from the
dealer...

 

Not that weird. And when I asked if your sluggishness started after the
timing belt job, I was concerned it was done wrong. I imagine the car would
run if the belt was off by a tooth but I think it could cause hesitation and
a rough idle. Somebody correct me if I'm wrong. Just something you might
want to verify before you go chasing shadows.

"Integra LS" <ramzi_tamimi@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:3d8082aa.0402131514.10fdade6@posting.google.c om...
> Ok Andrew,
>
> Did the rocking test by hand like you suggested and great news I saved
> 15% on my car insurance with Geico. Actually, I rocked it and it
> seemed perfectly fine, the engine mounts seemed rock solid. But the
> car does idle exactly @ 750 - 800 rpms. I didn't do the neutral test
> tho.
>
> 1. I do believe the idle and timing are set properly because I had the
> timing belt replaced last week and the engine seems perfectly fine
> driving.
>
> 2. Yup the vibrations stop when I start accelerating.
>
> Funny thing I changed out my PVC Valve and the car seemed to run alot
> smoother. Weird huh ?
>
> Anyhow let me know what you think. Thanks !
>
>
>
>
> The Good Bohemian <neex@redbull.nu> wrote in message
news:<130220040047102193%neex@redbull.nu>...
> > In article <3d8082aa.0402121210.3ad09c0e@posting.google.com >, Integra
> > LS <ramzi_tamimi@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > I'm going with you on the exhaust - that
> > > makes total sense. Now as for idling and motor mounts - how can you
> > > tell it's bad or not ? The idling is not so severe that it appears to
> > > be damaging the car, but I'd like my car to idle smooth as butter when
> > > I first got it. My car has 75K and been pretty well take care of
> > > maintenance wise and is completely stock. Could it possibly be a bad
> > > motor mount ? Seens a little early for that. I want my car is idling I
> > > can see my front license plate shaking along with it. So I'd like to
> > > get the car to at least idle better and get a little better throttle
> > > response. Hope you can solve this one ! Thanks for all your help
> > > everyone !
> >
> > It's a little easier to check on a manual because there's a 'rocking in
> > gear' trick you can use (you could maybe do the same thing in 'P'ark in
> > an auto but I would advise you to unless something goes wrong. Anyway,
> > it's a good bet that if your idle is within spec 750+/- as I recall
> > (with no access or lights on after the fan has kicked on indicated car
> > is at operating temp) and your lic. plates/dash/etc are shaking, your
> > front lower mount is likely gone or on it's way. If you park and then
> > go under the hood and physically **pull** and **push** on the
> > head/valve cover, you will feel and see movemement if the mounts are
> > bad. Also, if you have someone rev the motor in neutral a little while
> > you look under the hood, you will see the motor **tilt** a fair bit
> > when it's under load.
> >
> > A few questions for you:
> >
> > Is the idle and timing set properly??
> >
> > Does the shaking stop when you give the motor a little gas to get the
> > revs up?
> >
> > Do cars beside you watch your hood in awe at stop lights because it
> > shakes so bad?
> >
> > It isn't uncommon for mounts to go bad at 75k - especially if the car
> > is driven in a snowbelt area or if it has seen some 'spirited' driving.
> >
> > Some folks will tell you just to either play with the air trim screw on
> > the throttle body or tighten the throttle cable. These are not the
> > first places to go mucking about. You can cause more problems than you
> > will solve doing this (especially because your ECU uses 'rationality').
> > Without getting too far ahead of ourselves, your on board diagnostics
> > will campare results from several inputs to make sense of the situation
> > (i.e. the fuel injectors are pulsing very fast... but the motor isn't
> > under load and it's at full operating temperature... I must have a bad
> > or failing coolant temp sensor...).
> >
> > What does this have to do with anything?? Nothing except that many of
> > your 'fears' of a poorly running or problematic vehicle may be
> > unfounded because they would have been picked up by your ECU because of
> > how "smart" it is... kind of like Decartes... "I think therefore I
> > am"... Older ECUs just report based on a preset value comparison...
> > they didn't compare results using "rationality".
> >
> > Anyway... let us know what you turn up...
> >
> >
> >
> > Andrew.