Catalytic Convertor woes

[okfoz]

It is not that I do not care, just did not ask... I did ask this last time and they used Delco O2 Sensors, and he said they use Cats by an aftermarket company called AE or something, AE is not right, I should have written it down. The reason he uses them is they have the best luck with that company over all other brands...

At any rate the Cats are an OE replacement style, not a Magneflow which would require a tune and other things to go with it. From all of my reading, there would have to be something else going on with the engine in order to have so many failures, Cats do not just fail randomly, and honestly I have never had one fail before with any of my cars 20+ cars... As I mentioned in a previous post the exhaust manifolds had a slight tick which could cause a cat failure...

From where I go from here, if it happens again, and they do not honor a warranty, I might just reset the light and probably sell or trade in the truck. I do not need the headache and I hate idiot lights being on. The biggest struggle I have with this is I do not know what I would replace it with, I like the added MPG of a newer Tahoe or Yukon, but honestly I hate the appearance of the 15+ Chevy, the front is hideous. I can deal with the GMC however, There is nothing out there that I say "I want that" except for the 2020 Corvette, which would not be practical for a winter vehicle...

 

[Geotrash]

It is not that I do not care, just did not ask... I did ask this last time and they used Delco O2 Sensors, and he said they use Cats by an aftermarket company called AE or something, AE is not right, I should have written it down. The reason he uses them is they have the best luck with that company over all other brands...

At any rate the Cats are an OE replacement style, not a Magneflow which would require a tune and other things to go with it. From all of my reading, there would have to be something else going on with the engine in order to have so many failures, Cats do not just fail randomly, and honestly I have never had one fail before with any of my cars 20+ cars... As I mentioned in a previous post the exhaust manifolds had a slight tick which could cause a cat failure...

From where I go from here, if it happens again, and they do not honor a warranty, I might just reset the light and probably sell or trade in the truck. I do not need the headache and I hate idiot lights being on. The biggest struggle I have with this is I do not know what I would replace it with, I like the added MPG of a newer Tahoe or Yukon, but honestly I hate the appearance of the 15+ Chevy, the front is hideous. I can deal with the GMC however, There is nothing out there that I say "I want that" except for the 2020 Corvette, which would not be practical for a winter vehicle...

Could "AE" mean OE if your memory is fuzzy? As for what's killing them, another possible culprit is an intermittent misfire, such as would be caused by a weak spark plug, ignition wire, or coil pack. It might be worth replacing them all to rule it out - I consider it normal maintenance on these LS engines anyway. If the cats are dying this way, you can tell by looking at the matrix inside the cats - misfires can overheat the media and melt a hole through it, leading to the reduced efficiency code.

Also, in my opinion, there is no reason why even inexpensive aftermarket cats should fail that quickly. I installed a Rockauto exhaust manifold-integrated cat on my Land Rover after a failing coil took out one of the OEM units, and 30K later it's still doing fine. My money is on a failing coil in your case, too - especially given the occasional idle burble.