Robinsaneyo

I'm new here and I'm very glad that I found these forums because I was starting to get pretty frustrated. I bought an '03 Lancer last October with 60,300 miles on it. It's now got around 109,000 miles on it. The SES light has been on for a while now for the upstream O2 sensor. I let it go until I had to get it inspected but now there seems to be something more wrong.

I had the light checked again by Auto Zone when I was about to order the part, and there were 2 codes, which both came up twice. It was both O2 sensors. After replacing them both, and having the computer reset, the light came back on after about 20-30 miles for the downstream O2 sensor and it's still on after about 200 miles. The guy at Auto Zone said the code meant 1 of 5 things; engine misfire, oil leakage, bad O2 sensor, bad catalytic converter performance, or a massive vacuum leak. I'm not losing any oil, the engine isn't misfiring, and I just replaced the O2 sensor. I also think I would notice a massive vacuum leak. The only thing I've really noticed over the past 10,000 miles was a slight dip in how much power the car had, but I figured it was due to a long overdue tune-up.

With all of that out of the way, I was wondering about the cats. Apparently my car has two, and I was quoted $427 for the back one and $830 for the pre-cat, labor included. I know I can get a high-flow cat for around $200 and I can just put it on myself, but I don't want to bolt on a new cat and have it fail again because the front one was the problem to start with.

I haven't really had the opportunity to get under the car and check things out because of the cold and all of the snow, but is it possible to install a straight pipe in place of the pre-cat without it throwing an 02 code? Is it possible that there is another issue to look into without replacing the cats? Do I just need to drive it more?

Sorry about the really long post, I just wanted to make sure I've got all my bases covered. Thanks in advance.

Robinsaneyo

No idea?

cfdfireman1

iTrader: (11)

Moral of the story is "fix it while it's still cheap".

Sounds like you took it to a dealer try a good muffler shop instead.

Dennis F

iTrader: (22)

Deleted.

Juan Martinez

iTrader: (1)

It sounds like the problem I'm having. There is a recall on something exhaust related with the pre cat on the header. I would take it or call down to your nearest Mitsubishi dealer, tell them your VIN and ask to see if the recall work has been done on it. They did it on mine and it didn't help. You could just be like me, as long as they don't hook up a computer to your car for inspection, just unplug the check engine light.

Robinsaneyo

That price was at a muffler shop. The dealer wanted around $600 for the rear cat, and over $1000 for the pre-cat.

I bought the car in October of last year. Yeah, I know I drove the hell out of it. Commuting to school and work every day plus a few trips to Boston, New Jersey, and other places in Massachusetts, it all adds up. Probably driving it to Florida this spring if it makes it. I'll post the codes later tonight, I don't have them with me at the moment.

I refuse going to my dealer anymore because they're really starting to **** me off. They're very rude, and frankly, they were never helpful. I already called and asked them about recalls for my car and they said that since I drove it off the lot, there weren't anymore recalls on it. He didn't mention any recalls about the pre-cat though. Something about reprogramming the PCM and doing something with the radiator fan. The heater knob isn't working right again and it's difficult to see sometimes when I need to defog the windows. Seems like a safety issue to me, but my dealer said there was nothing for it.

Thanks for all the replies so far.

cfdfireman1

iTrader: (11)

When you drive your car with the SES light on it can be like driving on a flat tire, if you fix it right away it will likely cost you very little maybe $10 and you're on your way or you can keep driving and ignore it, you will ruin the tire maybe $200 and if you just keep going say goodbye to your rim as well $200 plus another $300. Like the commercial say "You can pay me now or you can me later".

ph0en1xtk

im having an extremely similar problem. I purchased a 03 lancer in february of 08, and here it is february 09 and time for me to get my inspection. My check engine light has been on since about a week after i got the car, but the car came with no warranty and i had blown 5000 cash on the car, so i couldnt really do much about it. Now the light would go on and off and random times. It would be on for a month, then just turn off out of nowhere and stay off for a couple months only to come back on again.

Eventually i unplugged the battery and it turned off for about 3 months straight, but recently has popped back up

I bought the car with 81k miles on it, and now im at 110k. Just throwing that one out there. The car itself runs fine. The only problems ive ever had were some brake issues.

I went to get the car inspected and it failed. The readout was P0421. The place i went to was just a inspection shop, not a mechanic, but they told me to go get it fixed within 15 days and they would reinspect for free. Irritated, i went to a local mechanic and asked him if he could take a look, and showed him the readout, to prevent a charge for the diagnostic test that ive heard people getting charged for. He came back and said that the cats needed to be replaced and it would be about 640 plus tax

Now i cannot afford this at all, not even close to being able to afford it, and my inspection is due already.

Is there ANYTHING at all that i can do? Could it possibly not be the cats need replacing and he was trying to scam me out of some money, or am i screwed?

(in before the "take care of the problem early" i have an extremely low paying job, and i barely make enough to get by, i dont really have time or money to routinely get every little thing taken care of. Unfortunately that usually does lead to stuff like this happening)

03_Lancer_ES

iTrader: (11)

I had my dealership replace my cat for free under the mitsubishi 10 year 100,000 km emissions warranty. I don't know if the same warranty Stateside, but I had mine done a couple months ago.