W210 2597cc E240 estate - faulty cat

[bumblbee]

Hi everyone,

What initially I thought was an air mass sensor CEL, the Merc dealer has star tested it, and found that the o/s exhaust cat is faulty - not efficient and causing engine lamp on. Merc guesstimate is circa £1,000 fully fitted

Additionally, n/s/f road spring broke - 4 green dots. Merc want £250 fully fitted

Apart from that everything is fine!

The car is driving so well and is, in general, in fantastic condition.

I'm just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction for a good quality cat replacement without costing the earth!

Car cost me only £1500, so need to keep the costs down before my wife asks too many questions! Help is much appreciated.

 

[toby1]

You can save money on labour by having the springs fitted by a decent indy

Not heard of a cat go before - definitely not the sensor? I'd try internet search engines in the first instance for a cat

 

[television]

If it is a lower CAT then have it emptied out as it will still pass the test without it

 

[bumblbee]

Was diagnosed by one of the chief mechanics. Known to the family at the Merc dealer for at least 20 years. I'll ask him if there's a possibility it could be something else.

Is it possible that a sensor could be bad?

On some of the other forums these cats have been known to fail. Anyone had any experience of replacement brands?

 

[television]

Is the CAT rattling

 

[bumblbee]

Is the CAT rattling

Not that I can hear.

 

[WG M-B]

Unfortunately replacement cats are of a poor quality! I could advise you of a much more cost effective solution than fitting new cats. If you would like to give us a call in the morning

 

[initialbdriftracer]

as television says...just get rid of the insides of the cats.

I did mine and the middle box. sounds nice now.
they were both completely done...
though I wouldn't have thought a faulty cat would have put any lights on.
id try an o2 sensor. both of mine were burnt out
and they should be replaced every 80k,ish anyway.



as for the spring... if you can find another one , theyre really not too hard to fit.

 

[bumblbee]

Unfortunately replacement cats are of a poor quality! I could advise you of a much more cost effective solution than fitting new cats. If you would like to give us a call in the morning

Just spoke to Terry at WG Mercedes Servicing in Harrow, and he feels it probably is the primary cat. In which case it needs replacing.

However, the good news is that I have not sent my old W210 E240 Estate off to the scrapyard yet, and he has said that if I bring both cars in (only 20mins away) he can swap the cats over for a couple hours' labour. Massive saving on Merc OEM replacement, and the great thing is it's an original part too! So glad I went for the same car now!

Hopefully all will go well and I'll post back once everything has been done.

 

[bumblbee]

------UPDATE------

Ok, don't make the same mistake I just did and think you can swap cats/exhaust from a 2000 E240 T-Modell to a 2001 E240 T-Modell.

The earlier car does not have primary cats and so they would not be read properly by the ECU.

All credit to Terry and the guys, they're trying to source a replacement for me second hand. Just don't have the money to buy a new system. Hopefully they'll find one.