E240 cat

[BrianM]

The nearside cat on my 2000 E240 is rattling. The car has 85,000 miles, full MBSH and passed it's MOT fine in Nov. The rattling can only be heard at ~ 1500 rpm. I'm told (by my local MB dealer) that I must change the cat as it will damage the engine. A replacement cat from MB is ~ £700!

Options would appear to be
1. Leave it and live with it (in the hope that no engine damage will occur). However this is an unlikely outcome as it's driving me crackers!
2. Bite the bullet and get a cat from MB
3. Buy a pattern cat at approc 1/3 - 1/2 the price of the Merc part. However I've heard mixed stories about pattern cats, some say they are great, others says they are nothing but trouble.
4. Buy a used cat from a reputable parts dealer (Dronsfield have one available)
5. Other?

Any help/advice appreciated, particulary on option 3. Any thoughts on how long the offside cat might last?

 

[television]

what do you do? I bought patten for my SL, it fitted like a dream, well made thick stainless steel.
How long do they last. hard question, I lost mine by reversing over some long grass, that cooled the steel, before the ceramic cat had cooled, crushing it.
they can also be damaged by shock.
re second hand depends on price and milage.

Malcolm

 

[BrianM]

Thanks for the advice Malcolm. I've seen an after-market cat for £300 at http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/ and it looks ok so I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

BTW, great forum!!

 

[television]

Thanks for the advice Malcolm. I've seen an after-market cat for £300 at http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/ and it looks ok so I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

BTW, great forum!!

Some replacement CAT's use a mesh rather than ceramic, I don't know what the life difference is, but you cant crush them, Mine are mesh.

Malcolm

 

[Tony]

I've seen an after-market cat for £300 at http://www.buypartsby.co.uk/ and it looks ok so I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

I bought a cat from them and it didn't work properly - engine threw a code that it was not efficient enough. In order to get the guarantee I have to take it off and return it and they'll decide if it's defective or not - some guarantee.

 

[television]

I will try and find the firm that I bought mine from. it was well made.

malcolm

 

[big x]

Perhaps cats direct..
http://www.cats-direct-shop.co.uk/m...pageNum_Recordset1=6&totalRows_Recordset1=185

You could contact www.eberspaecher.com an OE supplier

and ask for a German dealer list.

adam

 

[BrianM]

Well I've done it - after much research and consideration I've ordered a replacement cat from cats-4-less for £217! I'll post a response once it's been fitted.

 

[appledore]

I'm trying to post a query on this site about my ML 270 CDi how fo I do it, I have registered.

 

[television]

I'm trying to post a query on this site about my ML 270 CDi how fo I do it, I have registered.

you just open a new thread at the bottom of the section that you want to post in, say what you want to and wait for the thousands of replies that will come in.

malcolm

 

[BrianM]

Well, I've had the cats-4-less catalyst fitted and everything seems fine. Seems good quality and engine sounds just the same. Had the garage do an emmissions check and it's working fine. Let's see what the next 6 months brings but at this stage it appears as if I've saved £400+ without any problems.

Thanks for all the helpful advice!

Brian

 

[BrianM]

May have spoke to soon!

Today the 'engine diagnostic indicator lamp' warning light came on! A quick look in the handbook and it says causes of this may be a fault in the ignition system or exhaust sysyem. The emission limit values may have been exceeded.

I'll need to go and have a diagnostic run at the dealers but I'm very nervous that it could be my new pattern cat 'acting up'! Hopefully it hasn't failed but something's amiss - I'll keep you posted.

 

[BrianM]

Me again!

Took the car in for a diagnostic and they reported that there was a bad connection on the lambda sensor and everything is now OK. Not quite sure what the lambda sensor is (I think it's something to do with the emissions measurement - can anyone enlighten me?) but the warning light has gone out and the car is running well so "fingers-crossed" that problem solved.