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Catalytic Converter Stolen..Safe to Drive??

Louhound88

Louhound88

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So I'm out of town for a work even and woke up to the obvious sounds of a stolen catalytic converter on my truck..

They stole the driver side only, and ripped off the O2 sensor that mounts directly into the cat itself. The o2 sensor before it is still there. Guess they're pretty experienced at this..

Anyways, anyone ever deal with this? If so, is it safe to drive until I can get the whole cat system replaced? Dealers here are quoting $8900 as they know it'll be insurance. That seems outrageous and I'd prefer to get back home before trying to give anything to a shady dealer.

But I'm hours from home and don't want to cause problems driving like this. Obviously will be loud but I'm only worried about it being unsafe or causing more harm.

Any help appreciated.
 
If you do drive it, you’ll have the check engine light on from the lack of input from the downstream o2 input missing, but the ecu doesn’t know that a sensor didn’t just go bad. You will have some loss of backpressure in the engine. I’m not making any recommendations or predictions on harm though.
 
I can't imagine it will do any damage, but like djevox, I'm not a mechanic so no guarantees.
My only concern (besides the noise) would be the potential for exhaust gases to enter the passenger compartment when stopped. Keep a window or two down and you should be fine.

As for the price. Yes they're expensive but those dealers are price gouging. Turn it into the insurance, take the check and then buy a performance cat (or full exhaust) from Summit Racing. You'll get a better cat, and have money left over. Obviously part of that cost is the sensor so you'll need one of those too.
FWIW Summit has Mopar replacement cats for $2K - $4K. Aftermarket are pretty wide range of prices.
 
Make sure the exhaust gas isn't going to directly hit and cook anything under the truck like a transfer case or any wiring.
 
Appreciate the responses. Driving it I do have the check engine light but it doesn't seem to affect anything. Feel the backpressure issue but overall it's just noisy and smell of exhaust from outside.

As of right now insurance is covering it, but there are none in stock and a minimum of a week delivery..

I'm waiting to talk to insurance but at this point I may have no choice but to drive it home, 180 miles away..

Tempted to find a decent muffler shop around here and just have them delete the whole cat system up to my exhaust flange. This is ridiculous.
 
Shots said:
I can't imagine it will do any damage, but like djevox, I'm not a mechanic so no guarantees.
My only concern (besides the noise) would be the potential for exhaust gases to enter the passenger compartment when stopped. Keep a window or two down and you should be fine.

As for the price. Yes they're expensive but those dealers are price gouging. Turn it into the insurance, take the check and then buy a performance cat (or full exhaust) from Summit Racing. You'll get a better cat, and have money left over. Obviously part of that cost is the sensor so you'll need one of those too.
FWIW Summit has Mopar replacement cats for $2K - $4K. Aftermarket are pretty wide range of prices.
Click to expand...
Hm yeah that isn't a bad idea. I have a Borla S Type now but I hate to just buy and install more cats if they'll just get cut again. The mopar cat assembly alone is $6800 they're saying, and that doesn't include the lack of core despot from the one cat missing..
 
Drove my Titan for thousands of miles with headers and upstream O2 sensors only and the CEL turned off with a tuner. The truck was tuned to handle the exhaust, but had no issues. I know it's not the same, not a Hemi, not with just 1 cat, but the engine gets most of the AFR data from the upstream O2 sensors.
 
Louhound88 said:
Appreciate the responses. Driving it I do have the check engine light but it doesn't seem to affect anything. Feel the backpressure issue but overall it's just noisy and smell of exhaust from outside.

As of right now insurance is covering it, but there are none in stock and a minimum of a week delivery..

I'm waiting to talk to insurance but at this point I may have no choice but to drive it home, 180 miles away..

Tempted to find a decent muffler shop around here and just have them delete the whole cat system up to my exhaust flange. This is ridiculous.
Click to expand...
They could just as easily weld in a universal cat, like Walker brand.
 
I saw in a post that some folks engrave their cats. Do you think this would actually be a true theft deterrent?
 
Louhound88 said:
So I'm out of town for a work even and woke up to the obvious sounds of a stolen catalytic converter on my truck..

They stole the driver side only, and ripped off the O2 sensor that mounts directly into the cat itself. The o2 sensor before it is still there. Guess they're pretty experienced at this..

Anyways, anyone ever deal with this? If so, is it safe to drive until I can get the whole cat system replaced? Dealers here are quoting $8900 as they know it'll be insurance. That seems outrageous and I'd prefer to get back home before trying to give anything to a shady dealer.

But I'm hours from home and don't want to cause problems driving like this. Obviously will be loud but I'm only worried about it being unsafe or causing more harm.

Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...
yea oem's are pretty expensive. Hope dealing with the insurance goes smooth. A member here really had to battle to get an oem install. Progressive only wanted to cover an aftermarket for like 1k I think it was. And then also battle with the dealer and ins. over the labor hours
 
My catalytic converter on 2019 Ram was stolen today in Houston in broad daylight at hotel. Once I get it replaced, what’s the best way to prevent this from happening again.
 
RaginCajun said:
My catalytic converter on 2019 Ram was stolen today in Houston in broad daylight at hotel. Once I get it replaced, what’s the best way to prevent this from happening again.
Click to expand...
this place told me they are working on something, but nothing yet
maybe pressure on them will help
catshield.com

Catalytic Converter Protection | Cat Shield™ by Miller CAT

Protect your catalytic converter against theft with Cat Shield™ by Miller CAT. Designed and built in the USA with free shipping to the lower 48 states. Shop now!
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RaginCajun said:
My catalytic converter on 2019 Ram was stolen today in Houston in broad daylight at hotel. Once I get it replaced, what’s the best way to prevent this from happening again.
Click to expand...
Best way to prevent it happening is not parking in shady areas. Park in high traffic areas close to security cameras.
 
jl13 said:
yea oem's are pretty expensive. Hope dealing with the insurance goes smooth. A member here really had to battle to get an oem install. Progressive only wanted to cover an aftermarket for like 1k I think it was. And then also battle with the dealer and ins. over the labor hours
Click to expand...
My friend had hers stolen in broad daylight in a walmart parking lot while she worked, wasn't a ram though. The police caught a guy, turns out it was a local converter theft ring. Long story short, her insurance didn't cover replacements because it was a part theft, not damaged from an accident. 🤷‍♂️
 
jmt8706 said:
My friend had hers stolen in broad daylight in a walmart parking lot while she worked, wasn't a ram though. The police caught a guy, turns out it was a local converter theft ring. Long story short, her insurance didn't cover replacements because it was a part theft, not damaged from an accident. 🤷‍♂️
Click to expand...

I can't imagine not having comprehensive coverage. An expensive lesson for her.
 
I have seen several videos of parts of vehicles or entire vehicles stolen right from the owner’s front yards, and to make things worse s that a lot of them are in front of their garages, I keep my vehicles locked up in my garage, summer and winter. Best theft protection.
 
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