HELP BAD catalytic convertor?

[bjorkmae]

OK I just got this 91 v6 camry a month ago. I bought it with 114k miles and it had a bad engine. The original engine had blown the head gasket and eventually through a rod. All of the antifreeze was gone and the oil was the worst I have ever seen as it drained like a milky sludge, thicker than eny other head gasket milky oil I have ever seen. So Anyway I bought the car this way for $140 and towed it home put a motor with 113k miles on it in. The new engine seams to run fine except it it guttless, don't get very good mileage about 22mpg last time, and it has an exhaust leak at the manifold I believe. The exhaust leak is not super noisy but noticeable. So my question is the catalytic converter ruined? I ask because I would think there would have been a lot of antifreeze blown out of the exhaust and won't this hurt a catalytic converter? Also it does have a fresh tune up, been timed, all new filters, and I did the valve cover gaskets, cold start switch, ect switch, and new distributor at the same time. Quick help would be great because tomorrow is my day off so I need to get thios taken care of asap.

[ShawnM]

I think your guess will be as good as anyone elses on here. Its quite possible the converters could be ruined. If the previous engine was just run into the ground than it stands to reason that who ever owned it didnt maintain the car at all. Coolant can damage a converter but more often its an excess of fuel or oil that damages converters. Coolant in the exhaust will absolutly destroy an oxygen sensor though. There is a chance that the converter is partially plugged which would cause excessive backpressure and a lack of preformance.

[bjorkmae]

Well thats what I thought but I thought I would see what other people think too. So off to the exhaust shop I go. They actually maintained the car well just a bad mechanic. Upon engine removal I found out the timing belt was off a few teeth and it was a new belt and it wasn't loose and I had receipts from it just being done 5k miles ago. After the timing belt installation the receipts show the mechanic hunting down an ignition problem and just randomly replacing parts such as distributor/ sensors ect for a total of $800. Well I just used the stuff on the new engine since they only had 5k miles on them.

[toyomoho]

Install a vacuum gauge on the intake manifold. If the CAT is plugged, at engine idle the reading will slowly start to drop towards zero.

[fredk]

take the pipe off the manifold and see if it runs stronger

[bjorkmae]

Did the vacuum gauge test and it had a hard time returning to vacuum so I bought a cat and had the cat replaced and a new muffler installed for a totla of $153. They did a really good job and were careful, rare for a muffler shop imo. Car definately has more power now and sounds better and is actually quieter than before. Still kinda guttless though. A stock taurus could beat me in a race.

[Sharkbite86]

The best way to test a catalytic converter is a temperature test. Get a thermometer that can stand 700+ degrees (the laser ones are best if you can borrow one). Then, just drive the car around for a little bit, get it hot, park it, and while the engine is still running measure the temp of the exhaust pipe before and after the cat. If the temp is ~100 deg hotter after the cat than it is working fine (the cat doing its magic). If the temp is the same or cooler than its bad. That simple, but you need the right tools...