both my cats failed what are my options on a very tight budget

**rickiwithani** · 10-05-2010 04:41 PM

I just moved from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City Utah and during the long trip my clutch went and the check engine light came on. which turned out to be my catalytic converter. So right now I'm looking for the cheapest option that will turn off and keep my check engine light off. the car is in the shop in salt lake now getting a new clutch and flywheel. Its a 2003 a4 3.0 quattro and both cats are shot whats my cheapest option to get rid of the Check engine light and keep it off? i would love to gain the hp by using a cat delete pipe but how do you keep the check engine light off.

any links showing me where i can buy the piece would be helpful.

also i have never done any exaust work on any car how hard is this going to be to do on my own?

**android3000** · 10-05-2010 05:00 PM

How many miles does the car have? If it's under 80,000 it's under warranty

**rickiwithani** · 10-05-2010 05:49 PM

like 105000 so thats no good

**spector** · 10-05-2010 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by rickiwithani

I just moved from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City Utah and during the long trip my clutch went and the check engine light came on. which turned out to be my catalytic converter. So right now I'm looking for the cheapest option that will turn off and keep my check engine light off. the car is in the shop in salt lake now getting a new clutch and flywheel. Its a 2003 a4 3.0 quattro and both cats are shot whats my cheapest option to get rid of the Check engine light and keep it off? i would love to gain the hp by using a cat delete pipe but how do you keep the check engine light off.

any links showing me where i can buy the piece would be helpful.

also i have never done any exaust work on any car how hard is this going to be to do on my own?

Look at 034's website for their HFC. I'm not sure if that works for a 3.0 though. You will need software to prevent a CEL from a TP/HFC, and I'm not sure who would make that for a 3.0.

Good luck.

**walky_talky20** · 10-05-2010 06:18 PM

Is the cat clogging up or is it just throwing the code?

If the only problem is the efficiency code, just use 02 sensor spacers on both rear O2's and be done. That is the same solution that people with test pipes or High Flow Cat's use to keep the CEL off. It's a cheap fix, so it's worth a shot. You can get the things on ebay real cheap, or use the non-foulers with some modification.

**jonan** · 10-05-2010 06:21 PM

isn't the federal warranty like unlimited miles for 7 years? you just have to pay a $75 ded to audi to have them reset the light, if the CEL pops again you get a free cat, at least that's how the process worked for me...

**imnuts** · 10-05-2010 07:30 PM

Federal warranty is 8yrs/80000mi, so he's past that. The cheapest solution would be the O2 spacer that someone mentioned above. After it's installed, clear the CEL and it should hopefully go away. Other options would be getting new cats, which would likely be a few hundred dollars at the least, up to $2000 or so for OEM replacements (if you're doing both).

**SEATONE** · 10-05-2010 07:34 PM

Gut them itches,,, I did... FREEEEEE!!!!! but lots of work.

**onlyaudis** · 10-05-2010 07:57 PM

http://www.walkerexhaust.com/product..._catalytic.asp

call them and see what they offer for your car. they are a better quality aftermarket converter.

**5-TWENTY-3** · 10-05-2010 08:28 PM

I live in salt lake our towards the Larry h miller track. Just cut your cats if there the problem we don't have emissions out in tooele county.

**JeffM03** · 10-06-2010 07:31 AM

O2 spacers work wonders. Got them on both my cats and haven't seen a CEL about them since.

It's a pretty simple install, it's just a pain getting your hand down behind the engine.
-Have couple extensions,pivots, and also an O2 Lambda socket
-For the driver side O2 your gonna need to move the coolant tank out of the way.
-For the passenger side O2 you'll need to remove the MAF.

**widgget** · 10-06-2010 07:55 AM

could just be the sensor, what was the exact error? mine was reporting an open circuit i believe.

**Matt@EuropaParts** · 10-06-2010 08:01 AM

Cheapest way will be O2 sensors. If the cat actually crapped out, it would be b/t $800-1000/per side to fix (at least that's what a friend of mine paid to have his replaced)

**rickiwithani** · 10-06-2010 11:14 AM

Originally Posted by walky_talky20

Is the cat clogging up or is it just throwing the code?

If the only problem is the efficiency code, just use 02 sensor spacers on both rear O2's and be done. That is the same solution that people with test pipes or High Flow Cat's use to keep the CEL off. It's a cheap fix, so it's worth a shot. You can get the things on ebay real cheap, or use the non-foulers with some modification.

that seems to be the play i don't think they are clogged so all i need to do is take out the o2 sensors and replace them with sensor spacers. is there any thing else i need to do to keep the cel off