ModernDayThorns

Okay, so my mom's 2004 Mazda Tribute (3.0 24v Automatic 2wd) had a meltdown. The Idle Air Control Valve went bad causing the engine to run at higher temperatures. They had it replaced, and thought it was fine. I'm told the catalytic converter overheated and turned cherry red due to the bad IACV. The Cat ended up going bad and getting clogged. This caused the EGR valve to burst. Pic below.
So, my problem is, the catalytic converter is bad. There are three of them on this vehicle. one coming off each exhaust manifold and one right after the y where they meet. They called the dealer, it's a $1,200 part. If it were mine I'd gut the 2 cats coming off the manifolds or run headers on it or something. But it's not, it's my mom's. What do you guys suggest? Does anyone know of a way around this $1,200 "Dealer only" part? I think that's sorta on the crazy side. Any help is appreciated!



Never seen anything like that before. I'm glad it blew the EGR instead of raising the compression..

TurboEG8

if your serious about helping your mom FIX the problem then you need to take it to a trust worthy shop.

i can give advise but the car needs a 100% check to determine anything/everything damaged in the process of overheating

ModernDayThorns

They've got it at a trustworthy shop. They just can't get the parts for cheaper than $1,200 because it's from the dealer. They said if we get a used manifold with the cats they'll install them.

To0C0oL

You say you're at a trustworthy shop but I'm confused. They said the IAC valved was causing the car to over heat? The only thing a bad IAC should do is cause the car's idle to fluctuate or not run at all at Idle. This is the same 3.0 that is in Rangers, Taurus, Sable, Escape and I've never seen anything like that. Completely confused as to how a bad IAC to do that.

And it is only a 2004. I highly doubt it is a dealer only part.

nftuatn

your trust worthy shop is trusting that your mom will pay that bill...

you can get any exhaust shop to install aftermarket cats on it...

and im with toocool...i doubt there is anything wrong with the cats...have the iac replaced and see how it runs...you can look at the cats and see them glowing red...

ModernDayThorns

The IAC caused it to run at high idle. My mom drove it for a while with it idling really high. Finally it started idling at 4k RPM and they took it in to the shop. They replaced the IAC valve, and a vacuum line that went bad from the heat of the engine due to the high idle.

So the car started running badly one night. Didn't accelerate well and had a bad miss. *Ping* it started running better. The EGR blew the chunk off.

The bad IAC caused the engine to run at high RPM's which raised the temperatures which, caused the Cat on one of the exhaust manifolds to go bad. The bad Cat caused the EGR Valve to blow because the cat was clogged or messed up.

There are catalytic converters built into the exhaust manifolds. They have only been able to find this exhaust manifold/catalytic converter combo at the stealership.
So, with that said. I can't source the part. I'm not a Mazda enthusiast, Mazda's aren't my thing. I was hoping someone knows of a solution for this. The shop seems like they're doing their job well.

I should've taken a picture when they had it on the lift to give you guys an idea what I'm talking about.

Hmmm, Taurus ehh? There are tons of those things.
Maybe a Taurus manifold is the same, maybe mini vans use the same exhaust manifold also. That's helpful.

NoTorque

yeah there are over 4 million of those engines on the road.....

www.car-parts.com

i found over a 1000 exhaust manifolds for your engine all between 100-300 bucks.

go there and you will find everything you could ever need for any car.

i had 11k in parts needing to be replaced by the dealership...by going to this site i got that cost down to a little over 2500

HatefulMechanic

1. A used catalytic converter cannot be legally installed or purchased in the US per Federal regulations.

2. Even the aftermarket units from Eastern have issues with illuminating a CEL for catalyst efficiency codes, BTDT. Ford's programming in the PCM is pretty tight, and the aftermarket catalysts are not heavily loaded to last a long time.



3. I highly doubt an IAC is the cause of this issue. I strongly doubt that is the only cause. I would definitely have someone who knows how to diagnose a car look at it, cause cat failure on these engines is generally related to an ignition problem.

4. That EGR valve is fucked, how fucking retarded is your mom? I mean seriously....if it had enough backpressure in it to break the EGR housing, it was ran like that for a LONG fucking time.

nissanfixer

tributes are famous for the cats clogging up. same with the mpv vans. usually its only one bank cat thats clogged. determine which bank and you can just replace that cat

ModernDayThorns

Yeah, I was reading on a Mazda forum where the MPV's had similar issues.
The shop my parents are dealing with is fine. I don't have time, or need to explain.
The problem has been solved. Thanks!
On to bigger things.. =)