A catalytic converter is an important part of recent cars, as it purifies your vehicle’s exhaust fumes and thus fulfills modern pollution specifications. However, it is possible that it may turned out to be clogged or breakdown, in which circumstance a replace or cleaning is fundamental. Today we are going to check out how to clean a catalytic converter on Volkswagen Polo 5? To achieve this, to begin with, we will show you the situations in which it may be interesting to clean the catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5, then, how to accomplish this cleaning to retrieve the performance of the catalytic converter of your car.

clean-catalytic-convertervolkswagen-polo-5

Why would you want to clean up the catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5?

In this first part we will describe why it may be important to clean the catalyst of your Volkswagen Polo 5 . Obviously for some of you it might seem logical but most of you do not understand how it functions and the results dirty catalytic converter .

Purpose and functioning of the catalytic converter of a Volkswagen Polo 5

.
The catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5 has the function to get rid of harmful exhaust fumes associated with the operation of your engine unit. Obviously, it is one of the main components that fight against the pollution discharged by your Volkswagen Polo 5. It will transform these harmful gases into water or nonpolluting fumes. In order to transform these gases, the catalyst of your Volkswagen Polo 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 only work from 400°, it is consequently important to avoid clogging the catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5. If you are considering making sufficiently long travels to heat it up regularly (count more than 10 kilometres for the catalyst to reach the right temperature), this will enable you to optimize the life of this component and keep best engine unit overall performance.

Consequences of a dirty or faulty catalytic converter on Volkswagen Polo 5

We will now discover what can be the results of a dirty or failing catalytic converter on Volkswagen Polo 5 . This will enable you to discover the signs of illness that should inform you to a malfunction of your catalytic converter, here is the list of signs of illness of a faulty catalytic converter:

  • The catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5 is clogged: As we said above, if you make too short journeys like 50% of people, it will not have the time to start working and the catalytic converter will clog up with exhaust fumes.
  • Switching on the engine light: : Following a clogged catalytic converter, engine light of your Volkswagen Polo 5 may come on, do not hesitate to seek advice from our article to find out 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 also have problems.
  • A metallic noise originating from 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 Volkswagen Polo 5

Before we accomplish with the step you are most likely most enthusiastic about, how to clean the catalytic converter of a Volkswagen Polo 5? We will describe why it may be relevant for you to conduct this cleaning. Obviously, a catalytic converter is a very expensive part (about 500 euros with the installation, 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 . Finally, the last interest is that cleaning a catalytic converter is not that expensive and doing it regularly will save you quite a lot of money.

How do you clean the catalytic converter from its Volkswagen Polo 5?

Finally here is the step that you are likely most enthusiastic about in this content, how to clean the catalytic converter of your Volkswagen Polo 5? Know that this procedure is very very easy, and that there are two approaches to accomplish:

  • Scrubbing the catalytic converter from your Volkswagen Polo 5 on a regular basis: This strategy is specifically beneficial for people who principally do short trips . To do so, nothing could be less complicated, from time to time, make a long trip (about 30 minutes to enhance 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 discover some in a car center for about 20 euros. All you have to do is add it to your fuel directly 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 regularly at high rpm . If you can before and later on 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.

.

In the event that you have any additional questions about the Volkswagen Polo 5, do not hesitate to consult our Volkswagen Polo 5 category.