Does Cataclean actually work....?

[Petrol Pete]

No

Not in my experience, as I have mentioned on here before my mother in law has given up driving but her trusty little 2006 VVT-i Toyota Yaris (petrol) is staying in the family to be used as a run around.

It has had an EML on for over a year now, when it first came on it was read as the cat blocked, we cancelled the EML and it breezed through the MOT with very clean emissions.

I left it at that and at the next MOT a few weeks ago I cancelled the EML and it breezed through again.

But now that I am driving the car more the EML is bugging me - and could be masking other faults in the background - I read the codes regularly and cancel the EML only for it to (obviously) pop back up again.

I thought about fitting a post cat sensor spacer kit widely available on line but there is no room between the sensor and the engine sump for it to fit.

The next option was to remove and clean the cat manually but because the engine in this little hair dryer of a car is a bit like a Japanese motorcycle the cat and the exhaust manifold are one part (the cat is right in front of the engine when you open the bonnet) not too much of a pain to remove but I am not mad keen to start that job on the driveway.

So as an experiment I bought a bottle of Cataclean and followed the instructions to the letter and lo and behold the EML came back on and the fault is still there.

I have taken it to my mates garage where he used his Snap-On code reader and he came up with the same code. It looks like I will have to remove the cat (when I can be bothered) and clean it manually.

I would never try this type of additive on my C55 - unlikely to ever need it as the Yaris was driven short distances at low speed, my AMG...quite the opposite - anyone else used this type of product ? what were your findings ? Snake oil ?

P.S as I understand it this EML can be triggered even when a Catalytic converter is still 90% efficient , hence the reason the car passes emissions with flying colours..your thoughts ?

 

[Larkone]

Cleared the partially blocked cat on the wife's BMW by running a bottle of Cataclean through it and just before the tank needed refilling took it for a run up the motorway, got it nice and warm then ran for 15 minutes at around 3500-4000 rpm - aka as an Italian tune up. Once I hit the higher revs got huge clouds of brownish smoke out the back for a couple of miles then the smoke stopped. Repeated the run with no smoke evident, though there was quite a bit of black soot on the back of the car when I got home. Did the Cataclean work - dunno but would assume that a tankfull with it in might have helped to start breaking down the soot on the cat prior to the run.

Car sailed through its MOT and the emissions test was at near the minimum threshold for all readings, garage said it was the equivalent of a new car. Runs better now, no more hesitation on acceleration. Car has 60000 and is 11 years old. Spent most of its life crawling around London on short runs so the cat never got properly hot.

A lot depends on where they set the threshold for the cat, my previous Lexus, so also a Toyota at heart, used to have the same problem with EML but would still pass the test once the light was reset. I think Toyota/Lexus set the threshold quite high which is a great way of selling you a new cat even though it is not needed.

Try the high engine speed run, you have nothing to loose.

 

[merc85]

It worked on my Wifes Volvo c70 as above

 

[ivan1983]

I think the Italian tune up is the best place to start for most things this

 

[TitusD]

I've used it in my CLK. No idea if it made a difference or not.

 

[Petrol Pete]

^^^^ Are we talking diesel or petrol engines here guys ?

 

[TitusD]

Petrol in my case. It was recommended to me by a tuning specialist and at about £9 a bottle seemed worth it.

 

[markjay]

I don't know if Cataclean works or not, but just to say that possibly the issue causing the EML might be something else (I.e. not simply a partially-blocked car)?

E.g., the cat has a set service life, after which it needs to be replaced, or there's an issue with the sensor, or there's an issue with over-fuelling, etc.

And, one of the factors that can shorten the service life of a cat is when unburnt fuel runs through it, e.g. when the engine is running while still cold, backfires, or if push-starting a manual car etc.

None of the above will be cured by Cataclean.

I'm not a cat expert... but just to say that looking at your fault analisys process I am not convinced that your issue is necessarily a blocked cat (and hence the fact that Cataclean didn't cure it is neither here nor there in respect of the question whether Cataclean works or not).