New Cat on the HHR
10-06-2015, 05:56 PM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 04-01-2013
Location: Chula Vista CA
Posts: 182
New Cat on the HHR
Well I installed a new replacement Walker catalytic converter on my 2007 HHR 2.4L since it had been throwing the P0420 code and I tried replacement O2 sensors to no avail. The one I use is the cheapest one Rockauto.com sells and so far after a month, no more check engine lights and the self tests the computer runs have all shown completed.
I asked a friend of mine from my racing days with vintage Porsche's who runs a long time repair shop if the Walker model was close to the factory Chevy cat in the number of cells, efficiency, etc since it was about $700 cheaper and he said to give him a day or so. Seems he knows an engineer at Walker and he was told they are the same inside and the issue was Walker did not want to pay the huge testing fee CA CARB charges to test each model cat individually as to car model. Since my HHR and a couple other 4 cylinder Chevy's use the same cat, each still had to be tested! He told me what he sensor #1 and #2 readings should be and to keep an eye on them to make sure there is nothing else amiss with the engine and so far after a month all looks good.
So what about smog testing, well when the car was smog tested last time, the tester plugged in his reader and that was all, no inspection except for the air cleaner and tag or no rolling road so all should be fine? We'll see how well this works out over the next year or two and according to the Walker engineer, their cat should last as long as the factory one.
I asked a friend of mine from my racing days with vintage Porsche's who runs a long time repair shop if the Walker model was close to the factory Chevy cat in the number of cells, efficiency, etc since it was about $700 cheaper and he said to give him a day or so. Seems he knows an engineer at Walker and he was told they are the same inside and the issue was Walker did not want to pay the huge testing fee CA CARB charges to test each model cat individually as to car model. Since my HHR and a couple other 4 cylinder Chevy's use the same cat, each still had to be tested! He told me what he sensor #1 and #2 readings should be and to keep an eye on them to make sure there is nothing else amiss with the engine and so far after a month all looks good.
So what about smog testing, well when the car was smog tested last time, the tester plugged in his reader and that was all, no inspection except for the air cleaner and tag or no rolling road so all should be fine? We'll see how well this works out over the next year or two and according to the Walker engineer, their cat should last as long as the factory one.
10-06-2015, 08:15 PM
#3
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 04-01-2013
Location: Chula Vista CA
Posts: 182
Yes, way over that, 136K or so and it had 114 when I bought it. So far, the cat, set of injectors, two oil/filter changes, one trans oil/filter change and a set of Monroe quick struts had been the work I have had to do in 3 years. That little guy gets 34+ MPG at 70 on the highway and I only paid $7,000 for it so I am a happy boy!
10-06-2015, 08:33 PM
#4
Administrator
Join Date: 10-13-2011
Location: Welland,Ont Canada
Posts: 36,591
I just checked the receipt for the cat I bought back in April 2014 when in Florida and the flex pipe broke, it's a Walker cat they sent me from the EBay store , up here in Canada!
That's 50,000 miles ago and no issues with leaks or codes or the flex pipe!
That's 50,000 miles ago and no issues with leaks or codes or the flex pipe!
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