Engine technology may have changed with all the addition of electronics and sensors, my father advice still holds true, No spark no fuel no run.Originally Posted by Scrappah
It's a good thought but the tool is useless without the knowledge of how to use it. That's why you put your car in the shop and pay the money. You're paying for the mechanic's "know how".
They're training the automotive techs differently these days. They're taught NOT to try and diagnose because that only leads to confusion. Instead ... they're taught to follow a step by step troubleshooting procedure from a book that was written by the engineers that designed the vehicle. What you do is download the trouble code. Next, you look it up in the book. Next, you follow the prescribed troubleshooting procedure for that particular code.
The main problem is that the fuel injection systems are so complicated your average mechanic can't wrap his head around how it all works. If he tries the old skool approach he's like a blind squirrel searching for an acorn. He might get lucky and find the source problem but the odds are against him.
It would be better not to hollow out the cat. It's hard to accept but the cat is every bit as important as the crank, alternator,or water pump. It's an integrated part of the engine & transmission. It's not something they just bolted on as an afterthought to meet emissions standards.
If you sabotage the cat it will throw off the readings that the O2 sensor is picking up. If the ECU isn't getting a reading that is within range from the 02 sensor it will go into default mode. That will cause the air/fuel mix in the fuel injection system to run either too rich -or- too lean.
Too rich .... you get balls to the wall power but terrible gas mileage.
Too lean .... you end up in "limp home mode" and can barely climb a hill.
It's so much easier (and cheaper) to do things the right way.
Of course there are a multitude of other problems that can cause an engine to run badly, not enough or to much fuel then to top it off the ECU unit originally desighned to control the engine is now tied into other components such as transmission, water, air intake and exhaust, sensors, door locks, GPS and probably even the AC.
The ECU being the central component also trouble shoots the system keep a record of codes, the code reader allows the mechanic or home enthusiast to retrieve these codes from the ECU you dont have to be a brain surgeon to decipher the codes returned to the reader, each auto manufacturer publishes the trouble codes. You can google for them
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