Honda Car Forum

Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
party.

However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
about $800. Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
it's out of any warranty that might apply.

I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
aftermarket converters for this car. I found some performance kits
but don't know if I want to go that route - I live in Ohio in a county
that does emission testing.

Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
converters available?

The party I'm dealing with has offered to have it fixed before the
sale or deduct the amount from the price that we agreed on. I'm just
wondering if I can save a few bucks by having it fixed myself.

<RSSHM@hotmail.com> wrote
> Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
> party.
>
> However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
> Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
> about $800.

Got this in writing? This is really pretty much all that's wrong?

I think I'd consider getting a second opinion by another mechanic. E.g. I'd be
curious about whether the oxygen sensors were okay.

> Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
> it's out of any warranty that might apply.
>
> I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
> aftermarket converters for this car. I found some performance kits
> but don't know if I want to go that route - I live in Ohio in a county
> that does emission testing.
>
> Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
> converters available?

Dunno about aftermarket converters, but based on other exhaust system experience
I have had, I'd say that the various online Honda parts dealers may beat most
any local shop's price for the cost of the converter by itself. (Labor then has
to be added on.)

If I were you, I'd consider making the deal based on what the dealer would
charge for the repair, then finding a local shop that would be willing to
install a converter I provided them, then buying the converter itself online,
etc.

E.g.
http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/home.htm sells a converter for a 1996 2-door
DX Civic for $471 (shipping may be extra). Add a bit more for gaskets and
covers that probably need replacement. The shop you use may have these and you
could leave these parts up to them.

For the middle exhaust pipe of my 1991 Civic, I found the best price at
http://catalog.honda-auto-parts-wholesale.com/ . I searched for converters and
couldn't locate them at this site, but maybe I missed something. I'd give them a
call at 1-800-279-6698.

Others may come forth to suggest other online sites that sell this car's
converter.

> The party I'm dealing with has offered to have it fixed before the
> sale or deduct the amount from the price that we agreed on. I'm just
> wondering if I can save a few bucks by having it fixed myself.

Where I live (out West), one could save at least a hundred bucks by having a
non-dealer independent shop do the work. Shopping around tends to pay off, and
muffler shops seem willing to give an estimate for something like this over the
phone.

Good luck.

I could be wrong, but I thought the the Oxygen sensor was part of the
catalytic converter.

Pars

Caroline wrote:
>
> <RSSHM@hotmail.com> wrote
> > Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
> > party.
> >
> > However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
> > Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
> > about $800.
>
> Got this in writing? This is really pretty much all that's wrong?
>
> I think I'd consider getting a second opinion by another mechanic. E.g. I'd be
> curious about whether the oxygen sensors were okay.
>
> > Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
> > it's out of any warranty that might apply.
> >
> > I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
> > aftermarket converters for this car. I found some performance kits
> > but don't know if I want to go that route - I live in Ohio in a county
> > that does emission testing.
> >
> > Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
> > converters available?
>
> Dunno about aftermarket converters, but based on other exhaust system experience
> I have had, I'd say that the various online Honda parts dealers may beat most
> any local shop's price for the cost of the converter by itself. (Labor then has
> to be added on.)
>
> If I were you, I'd consider making the deal based on what the dealer would
> charge for the repair, then finding a local shop that would be willing to
> install a converter I provided them, then buying the converter itself online,
> etc.
>
> E.g.
> http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/home.htm sells a converter for a 1996 2-door
> DX Civic for $471 (shipping may be extra). Add a bit more for gaskets and
> covers that probably need replacement. The shop you use may have these and you
> could leave these parts up to them.
>
> For the middle exhaust pipe of my 1991 Civic, I found the best price at
> http://catalog.honda-auto-parts-wholesale.com/ . I searched for converters and
> couldn't locate them at this site, but maybe I missed something. I'd give them a
> call at 1-800-279-6698.
>
> Others may come forth to suggest other online sites that sell this car's
> converter.
>
> > The party I'm dealing with has offered to have it fixed before the
> > sale or deduct the amount from the price that we agreed on. I'm just
> > wondering if I can save a few bucks by having it fixed myself.
>
> Where I live (out West), one could save at least a hundred bucks by having a
> non-dealer independent shop do the work. Shopping around tends to pay off, and
> muffler shops seem willing to give an estimate for something like this over the
> phone.
>
> Good luck.

pars <"sdaro(remove)"@hotmail.com> spake unto the masses in
news:3FE0F714.33B89A2B@hotmail.com:

> I could be wrong, but I thought the the Oxygen sensor was part of the
> catalytic converter.


The oxygen sensor looks sort of like a spark plug and is installed in the
exhaust piping. A '96 may have two: One before the cat and one after.

Older (bead type) catalytic conveters had a temperature sensor that
inserted directly into the cat. Modern monolithic cats do not have these.

--
TeGGeR®

No. The O2 sensor is located upstream of the catalytic converter,
usually in the exhaust manifold. Oftentimes newer cars have an
additional O2 sensor downstream of the converter. The job of this second
sensor is to assess the health of the converter.

pars wrote:
>
> I could be wrong, but I thought the the Oxygen sensor was part of the
> catalytic converter.
>
> Pars
>
> Caroline wrote:
> >
> > <RSSHM@hotmail.com> wrote
> > > Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
> > > party.
> > >
> > > However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
> > > Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
> > > about $800.
> >
> > Got this in writing? This is really pretty much all that's wrong?
> >
> > I think I'd consider getting a second opinion by another mechanic. E.g. I'd be
> > curious about whether the oxygen sensors were okay.
> >
> > > Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
> > > it's out of any warranty that might apply.
> > >
> > > I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
> > > aftermarket converters for this car. I found some performance kits
> > > but don't know if I want to go that route - I live in Ohio in a county
> > > that does emission testing.
> > >
> > > Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
> > > converters available?
> >
> > Dunno about aftermarket converters, but based on other exhaust system experience
> > I have had, I'd say that the various online Honda parts dealers may beat most
> > any local shop's price for the cost of the converter by itself. (Labor then has
> > to be added on.)
> >
> > If I were you, I'd consider making the deal based on what the dealer would
> > charge for the repair, then finding a local shop that would be willing to
> > install a converter I provided them, then buying the converter itself online,
> > etc.
> >
> > E.g.
> > http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/home.htm sells a converter for a 1996 2-door
> > DX Civic for $471 (shipping may be extra). Add a bit more for gaskets and
> > covers that probably need replacement. The shop you use may have these and you
> > could leave these parts up to them.
> >
> > For the middle exhaust pipe of my 1991 Civic, I found the best price at
> > http://catalog.honda-auto-parts-wholesale.com/ . I searched for converters and
> > couldn't locate them at this site, but maybe I missed something. I'd give them a
> > call at 1-800-279-6698.
> >
> > Others may come forth to suggest other online sites that sell this car's
> > converter.
> >
> > > The party I'm dealing with has offered to have it fixed before the
> > > sale or deduct the amount from the price that we agreed on. I'm just
> > > wondering if I can save a few bucks by having it fixed myself.
> >
> > Where I live (out West), one could save at least a hundred bucks by having a
> > non-dealer independent shop do the work. Shopping around tends to pay off, and
> > muffler shops seem willing to give an estimate for something like this over the
> > phone.
> >
> > Good luck.

RSSHM@hotmail.com spake unto the masses in
news:e21f340e.0312171005.5378f72f@posting.google.c om:

> Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
> party.
>
> However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
> Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
> about $800. Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
> it's out of any warranty that might apply.


I'm curious to know the emissions numbers. Please post them. Sometimes it's
just an insufficiently warmed-up cat, dirty injectors or plugged EGR that
gets misdiagnosed as an old cat. 160K seems awfully young to have a cat go
bad.

Does your state use MTBE as an octane enhancer in its gas?


>
> I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
> aftermarket converters for this car.


Depends on your regulatory regime. I can get a universal-fit aftermarket
cat for $100, but then I'm in Canada, which is a bit laxer for emissions
laws than your Nazi-EPA.

Some states do not permit aftermarket cats at all, but only OEM ones
regardless of who sells it. Your state may be one of those.


>
> Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
> converters available?


Call any muffler shop or NAPA store you find in your phone book. That's the
only way. If your state regs permit aftermarket, you will discover this
here; there will be a _substantial_ difference in price. Remember my $100
universal-fit cat? Dealer price for an OEM cat up here is...$1,100. That's
one thousand, one hundred dollars. Canadian. So about $800 US.

--
TeGGeR®

What county are you in???? Hamilton Co. here.

What was the check engine light (CEL) code????


<RSSHM@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e21f340e.0312171005.5378f72f@posting.google.c om...
> Thinking about buying a '96 Civic DX Coupe from a trusted private
> party.
>
> However, within the past week, the check engine light has come on. The
> Honda dealer says it needs a new catalytic converter to the tune of
> about $800. Midas quoted $750. The car has 160,000 miles on it so
> it's out of any warranty that might apply.
>
> I did a little web research and can't seem to find good information on
> aftermarket converters for this car. I found some performance kits
> but don't know if I want to go that route - I live in Ohio in a county
> that does emission testing.
>
> Anyone have any experience on this matter? Are there aftermarket
> converters available?
>
> The party I'm dealing with has offered to have it fixed before the
> sale or deduct the amount from the price that we agreed on. I'm just
> wondering if I can save a few bucks by having it fixed myself.

First, thanks to those of you who replied.

After some more research, I have learned the following:

- The converter in this car is attached directly to the exhaust
manifold.
- There are two oxygen sensors; one in the exhaust manifold before the
converter and one downstream after the converter.
- The signals from both oxygen sensors are compared to determine the
health of the catalytic converter.

Because of these facts, a universal converter is not an option.

I have come to the conclusion (righ or wrong) that this job is best
left to the Dealer. The $150 savings I COULD realize by finding a
converter myself and having someone else do it are not worth the
trouble and risk involved.

The seller is willing to reduce the price by the amount of a dealer
repaire anyway so I'm not really losing in the deal.

Thanks again for the replies.

p.s. to Tegger - I don't know if MTBE is used in my state (Ohio). And
I may post back with the emission figures when I get them.

<RSSHM@hotmail.com> wrote
snip
> I have come to the conclusion (righ or wrong) that this job is best
> left to the Dealer. The $150 savings I COULD realize by finding a
> converter myself and having someone else do it are not worth the
> trouble and risk involved.

> The seller is willing to reduce the price by the amount of a dealer
> repaire anyway so I'm not really losing in the deal.

Sounds wise.

I hope you plan to ask the dealer to determine why the catalytic converter died,
and then also confirm that they corrected the 'cause of death.' Updates here
are welcome. :-) Of course, it could be just age that did the converter in...

"Mista Bone" <mistab0ne@nospam.net> wrote in message news:<oPeEb.912$ms2.722@fe2.columbus.rr.com>...
> What county are you in???? Hamilton Co. here.
>
> What was the check engine light (CEL) code????
>
>
Lake county (NE of Cleveland)

Don't know what the exact code was - the seller spoke with the Dealer
that diagnosed the problem. I don't think they gave her the code.