Everybody lost me I have an aftermarket exhaust on my car.. what is CAT and OEM mean?

 

Cat= catalytic converter.
OEM = Original Equipment Manufacture, aka stuff made by AM.

 

Hey, help is no problem. All business aside we're all car guys (and gals) so always glad to discuss!

We've never dynoed a set of cats on a Vantage by themselves so I don't have absolute discrete data, but rmdrmd1956 can confirm that aftermarket cats are worth an extra 20rwhp(25bhp) on his supercharged car, and that ours don't throw CEL. Unless I'm mistaken, he had some on from another manufacturer which did. If you apply the same percentage gains to a normally aspirated unmodified 4.3, you should get 20BHP from a set of cats.

You will also notice a couple of other things. The volume of the exhaust note will increase, and will also sound different - a little more raw and aggressive. Weight gains are fairly insignificant, maybe 4 or 5 kilos I'd guess. I also feel (and we have similar feedback from customers) that the throttle response is improved as well.

As far as the O2 stuff - It's just an educated guess but I suspect for a couple of reasons that our cats would be easier on the O2 sensors as the produce less heat in that immediate area.

 

When I did the last oxygen sensor fix at the dealership, I was told the other one is on its way out as well. Sure enough today while doing a bit of hard acceleration (7k RPM), pop came the warning light again.

I don't know what to think of this, but it's certainly frustrating. At least I have one year before my car inspection makes this an absolute necessity to fix. However I'll probably try to get it fixed with my cousin, save a bit of money and headache of dropping the car off.

I recall people were buying the part pretty cheap online, time for me to search the forums.

 

I'm amazed that they didn't just replace the other one while they were at it. Then again I think the labor wasn't so bad when they changed mine..

so it's probably not that bad of a job

sorry to hear but good luck! I think any shop can do this for you - just have to buy the O2 sensor from somewhere.

 

$200 for the part, $200+ for labor. Not "too" bad, but then again a lot for the amount of work. I certainly was not happy with the mark-up for the part.

Also wasn't thrilled that they put the car back together before telling me the other one's failing.

Anyways, going to fix the other one locally.

 

http://www.car-stuff.com/store/?N=91...&md=V8+Vantage

I think $28 is the right price.

Actualy the one that cost $32 sounds better.
they also have lots of reviews.

 

Just need to know how many wires does the O2 sensors have???
(the oem)

 

I'm curious about that part too, does anyone have experience with that? How many wires is the OE Aston Martin O2 sensor?

I'm buying a OBD reader to check which sensor is faulty, then I'm going to buy my own parts and have it installed locally.

 

So did anybody change their o2 sensor themselves?

 

These cheapo 02 sensors are generic and require you to cut the existing wires and splice in with wire connectors to make it work. normal 02 sensors cost around $200. most of the work is feeding the factory oem part wired into the chassis to connect to the computer, probably near the fuse panel like other cars. still researching.

 

I have an 07 DB9 Sport with 27k on it. I have the typical AM battery issues. In fact it just happened to me last week. Battery went dead and "Emission Service" light went on. It has done it before.

IGNORE IT. Make sure your gas cap seal is clean and cap is tight. Drive it for a few hundred miles and it will go out on its own.

WORSE CASE is go into AM and have them reset the code. If it immediately comes back on you may have an issue but I'll bet you 3 beers it doesn't.

With respect to battery tenders, you can buy a fully electronic 2A smart charger for $40 at Canadian Tire... if your patient they go on sale every once in a while for $25. It has a cigarette lighter adapter and I plug it right into the cigarette lighter interface thing in the trunk... works like a jet!!!

http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/mo...l#.U1hBFF6_fVk

 

I have high flow cats and the emission light comes on in cold weather when engaging in non-spirited driving, i.e. driving like an octogenerian. It will go out on its own but I usually reset with obd. I have been told the high performance cats don't heat up quickly or enough to meet the efficiency threshold.