If Your Engine Is Roaring Loudly, You’re a Victim of Catalytic Converter Theft

You head out to your automobile after a long day of work. You cause your briefcase on the passenger seat and turn the key in the ignition. Your engine fires up and you cannot believe the noise. It is roaring loudly. Unfortunately, Techway Automotive advises that you have just become the victim of catalytic converter theft. Once the converter is gone, the engine roars like a lion.

Poor Acceleration

If you decide to operate your vehicle, which we don’t recommend, you will also notice that the acceleration is poor. In fact, it is jerky. Every time you try to accelerate, the vehicle lurches and the engine roars even louder. What you are feeling and hearing is the force of the exhaust exiting the engine and having nowhere to go because the catalytic converter is missing.

Slow-Speed Sputtering

You will also discover that your automobile will have problems operating at slower speeds. This is because the engine will struggle to produce torque on the lower end. In other words, the engine needs low-end torque when you are driving slowly and high-end torque when you are driving fast. The missing catalytic converter causes problems with the low-end torque production.

Check Engine Warning

All of these things will be accompanied by an illuminated check engine light on your vehicle’s dashboard. Because the catalytic converter is no longer underneath your automobile, the engine control module will detect numerous malfunctions that it cannot correct. When this happens, it turns on the check engine light to let you know there is a problem with your engine.

Noticeable Exhaust Odors

We mentioned above that we do not recommend that you drive your automobile if the catalytic converter is stolen. The reason why is that the exhaust will exit the engine and then come into the passenger cabin, especially if you have the windows open. The exhaust no longer has the catalytic converter to go through before it exits out of the tailpipe.

Feeling Sick While Driving

Unfortunately, the exhaust is going to make you sick if you keep driving your vehicle. In fact, you will be inhaling carbon monoxide, and you don’t need us to tell you what can happen. As such, we recommend that after you have talked to the authorities and your insurance company, you call for a tow truck to have your automobile towed to our nearest shop.

Techway Automotive has three service shops for your automotive needs. Alabama residents can choose between our Dothan or Opp auto service shop. Georgia residents can head to our Blakely auto service shop.