A catalytic converter is a vital component of modern cars, as it purifies your vehicle’s exhaust fumes and thus suits modern pollution standards. However, it is possible that it may become clogged or breakdown, in which circumstance a change or cleaning is fundamental. Today we are going to look at how to clean a catalytic converter on Toyota Highlander? To get this done, first of all, we will show you the situations in which it may be interesting to clean the catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander, then, how to perform this cleaning to recover the efficiency of the catalytic converter of your car.
Why would you want to clean up the catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander?
In this first part we will describe why it may be valuable to clean the catalyst of your Toyota Highlander . In truth for some of you it might seem obvious but most of you do not understand how it works and the results dirty catalytic converter .
Function and functioning of the catalytic converter of a Toyota Highlander
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The catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander has the goal to eliminate harmful exhaust fumes associated with the procedure of your engine unit. In truth, it is one of the most important parts that fight against the pollution discharged by your Toyota Highlander. It will transform these harmful gases into water or non-polluting fumes. In order to transform these gases, the catalyst of your Toyota Highlander a mesh of precious metals which, when the gases pass at high temperature, will break them down by chemical reaction . A catalytic converter can only work from 400°, it is therefore necessary to avoid clogging the catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander. 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 optimize the life of this part and preserve ideal engine unit effectiveness.
Outcomes of a dirty or defective catalytic converter on Toyota Highlander
We will now find out what can be the results of a dirty or failing catalytic converter on Toyota Highlander . This will allow you to identify the symptoms that should warn you to a breakdown of your catalytic converter, here is the list of signs of illness of a defective catalytic converter:
- The catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander is blocked: As we said earlier, if you make too short travels 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 Toyota Highlander may come on, do not hesitate to consult our article to identify how to switch it off.
- A defective lambda sensor : The catalyst works in close connection with the lambda sensors downstream and upstream of it, they will review the air flowing inside it, if it is clogged the sensors will quite often as well have problems.
- A metallic noise caused by the exhaust: In the event that the catalyst is dead you should hear this noise which results in that the ceramic is damaged.
Why you should clean the catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander
Before we accomplish with the step you are likely most interested in, how to clean the catalytic converter of a Toyota Highlander? We will describe why it may be important for you to perform this cleaning. In truth, a catalytic converter is a very expensive component (about 500 euros with the set up, the price can fluctuate depending 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 a lot of money.
How do you clean the catalytic converter from its Toyota Highlander?
Finally here is the stage that you are almost certainly most keen on in this guideline, how to clean the catalytic converter of your Toyota Highlander? Know that this process is very basic, and that there are two methods to accomplish:
- Scrubbing the catalytic converter from your Toyota Highlander frequently: This technique is specifically useful for people who mainly do short trips . To do this, 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 later on do an exhaust gas analysis to examine that you have recovered healthier exhaust fumes after the procedure. You can perform this procedure every 15 000km.
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In the event that you have any further questions about the Toyota Highlander, do not hesitate to consult our Toyota Highlander category.
