A catalytic converter is an important component of recent cars, as it purifies your vehicle’s exhaust fumes and thus suits modern pollution requirements. However, it is possible that it may turned out to be clogged or malfunction, in which case a replace or cleaning is essential. Today we are going to check out how to clean a catalytic converter on Opel Astra 5? To do this, first of all, we will show you the circumstances in which it may be interesting to clean the catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5, then, how to execute this cleaning to recover the efficiency of the catalytic converter of your car.

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Why would you want to clean up the catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5?

In this first section we will teach you why it may be beneficial to clean the catalyst of your Opel Astra 5 . Indeed for some of you it may seem logical but most of you do not know how it functions and the consequences dirty catalytic converter .

Purpose and functioning of the catalytic converter of a Opel Astra 5

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The catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5 has the objective to eliminate harmful exhaust fumes related to the operation of your engine unit. Indeed, it is one of the most important elements that fight against the pollution discharged by your Opel Astra 5. It will convert these harmful gases into water or nonpolluting fumes. In order to convert these gases, the catalyst of your Opel Astra 5 a mesh of precious metals which, when the gases pass at high temperature, will break them down by chemical reaction . A catalytic converter can just work from 400°, it is therefore important to avoid clogging the catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5. If you are considering making sufficiently long travels to heat it up frequently (count more than 10 kilometres for the catalyst to reach the right temperature), this will allow you to optimise the life of this component and keep best engine unit effectiveness.

Consequences of a dirty or faulty catalytic converter on Opel Astra 5

We will now see what can be the consequences of a dirty or failing catalytic converter on Opel Astra 5 . This will allow you to identify the symptoms that should inform you to a failure of your catalytic converter, here is the list of symptoms of a faulty catalytic converter:

  • The catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5 is blocked: As we stated above, if you make too short trips like 50% of people, it will not have the time to start functioning and the catalytic converter will clog up with exhaust fumes.
  • Switching on the engine light: : Following a clogged catalytic converter, engine light of your Opel Astra 5 may come on, do not hesitate to consult our content page to identify how to switch it off.
  • A faulty lambda sensor : The catalyst functions in close connection with the lambda sensors downstream and upstream of it, they will analyze the air flowing inside it, if it is clogged the sensors will more often than not as well have problems.
  • A metallic noise caused by the exhaust: In the event that the catalyst is dead you should notice this noise which means that the ceramic is damaged.

Why you should clean the catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5

Before we accomplish with the step you are probably most curious about, how to clean the catalytic converter of a Opel Astra 5? We will teach you why it may be important for you to conduct this cleaning. Indeed, a catalytic converter is a very expensive component (about 500 euros with the set up, the price can vary according to the engines). In addition to being no longer good for passing the technical control , you may be at risk of over-consumption of fuel . At last, the last interest is that cleaning a catalytic converter is not that expensive and doing it frequently will save you quite a lot of money.

How do you clean the catalytic converter from its Opel Astra 5?

Finally here is the step that you are probably most interested in in this content page, how to clean the catalytic converter of your Opel Astra 5? Know that this procedure is very basic, and that there are two approaches to accomplish:

  • Scrubbing the catalytic converter from your Opel Astra 5 on a regular basis: This strategy is especially valuable for persons who mainly do short trips . To do so, nothing could be simpler, from time to time, make a long trip (about 30 minutes to improve the efficiency of the process), thinking of making your engine go up in revs so that the temperature in the catalyst increases and it can be cleaned.
  • To use a catalyst cleaner: You can locate some in a car center for about 20 euros. All you have to do is add it to your fuel straight in your tank with about half a full tank. Afterwards you will have to drive on a long distance for at least 1 hour at mid-range by trying to go frequently at high rpm . If you can before and afterwards do an exhaust gas analysis to check that you have recovered healthier exhaust fumes after the procedure. You can conduct this procedure every 15 000km.

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If you have any additional questions about the Opel Astra 5, do not hesitate to consult our Opel Astra 5 category.