Hi, I have a 97 blazer ls 4door. I just had to have the transmission rebuilt. Well now the trans is fine however, I am burning out the catalytic converter. I am on my second one and it needs to be replaced after just one week of driving. Before I go crazy replacing everything maybe someone that has had this same problem could offer some tips?

 

sounds like your mixture is wayyy off ..... thats usually the main cause of premature cat failure. now if you don't have a check engine light it could be a little tricky to find but it could be the MAF, O2 Sensors or a number of other things ...

 

When I saw the title gruesome thoughts came to mind!

When you say "burned out" do you mean to say it is plugged? Or do you mean it is blowing/burning a hole right through the catalyst? Is it getting cherry red when driving? I find it hard to believe that a cat only lasted you a week... there must have been a defect. Return it for a new one.

Be careful driving it with a plugged cat, I have seen a few cars catch on fire while driving down the road from a plugged cat overheating.

 

Yes I should have been more clear. I mean the cat is getting plugged.

 

Take it back to where you got it from and exchange it. If the truck is truly plugging it in a week, I would think that you would be able to see your exhaust exiting the tailpipe as it would need to be pretty dirty to plug that fast. Any other issues you've noticed other than the cat?

 

the truck smells of fuel when it sits for a while. and yes I could see exhaust coming out pretty heavy last night. It was fifty degrees ambient temp outside, so I know it wasn't water vapor.

 

Excess fuel not burned in the cylinder is burned in the catalytic converter. You definitely need to have a looksee at your mixtures.. or take a look to see of you've got a cylinder that is flooding with fuel. (that happened with my '95 when I had a leak in my fuel pressure regulator. I replaced the spider, FPR, and nut-kit - and all was well again with the mixture.)

G'Luck!

 

What exactly leads you to believe your converter is plugged again ( running issues, etc.)? Have you done an exhaust pressure test before and after the converter to be sure that it is the problem?

 

I believe I have found a solution to my problem.
http://www.theautoshop.net/VortecMPFI.htm

 

That's expensive. I purchased the whole kit from the dealer for $250.