2002 Honda Accord check engine light on

DJKASH

MEMBER
2002 HONDA ACCORD
4 CYL
2WD
AUTOMATIC
111,000 MILES

Hello,
My name is Kawsar. I just bought a 2002 Honda accord. It has a check engine light on. I went to six different local mechanics. Three of them told me I need to replace the catalytic converter and the other three told me I need to change the Oxygen Sensor. The code was retrieve was P0420 (Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold (Bank 1). At this point I really don't know what should I do like if I spend money on cat or oxygen sensor. If I need to replace the oxygen sensor, should I replace front one (upstream) or should I replace the rear one (downstream) or should I replace both. The car engine gets really hot and even the dash board.

Also, I failed the inspection due to OBD System- Readiness
Status are:
CATALYTIC CONVERTERS - NOT READY.
EVAPORATIVE SYSTEM - NOT READY.
Any good advice or suggestion will be really appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Respectfully submitted,
Kawsar

1 Reply

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,815 POSTS

Hi Kawsar,

P0420 = catalyst below efficiency and is usually due to a bad catalytic converter. However if there are any leakages in the exhaust system, the same code would be triggerred.

If the computer has been reset, the computer has to relearn and that would cause the readiness codes. To perform computer relearn procedures, try running the truck for 10 min on freeway and in town for a mile or two and back on the freeway for 10min.

But if the P0420 code is coming up, the smog test would fail as well.