To weld or replace?

CliffyBiro · 17 Aug 2010 at 11:48

MOT on Thursday, list for sale on Friday. That was the plan for my 02 Saxo.

That is until last night...

Heading to football, I'm doing 60 down the road and a car infront of me is turning off so I slow down. As he turns in, I put my foot on the accelerator again and there's some loss of power and a lot of noise. Pull in and check under the bonnet to see the Cat Converter sensor cable dangling underneath the car. It has broken free, leaving a hole.

Took it to get looked at today and was given two options. £150 for a new converter including fitting, or he would attempt to weld it to put it through the MOT for £30 but he said it won't be a good job and it could result in cutting out.

Which would you go for? Would you be happy finding it has been welded after buying the car? I certainly wouldn't.

EDIT: Not mine, but an example.

It has broken away around the red ring.

MikeHiow · 17 Aug 2010 at 11:54

Depends what your selling it for? If its £1k or less, I'd just be inclined to weld it and get on with it.

CliffyBiro · 17 Aug 2010 at 11:58

MikeHiow said:
Depends what your selling it for? If its £1k or less, I'd just be inclined to weld it and get on with it.

£900

And that was my thinking but I don't want someone coming back to me a week later looking their money back.

"andy" · 17 Aug 2010 at 11:59

skippi90 said:
but he said it won't be a good job and it could result in cutting out.

get it welded by someone who will do a good job. ie a welder

DM · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:01

Yea you got to bodge that on a 900 quid car really.

CliffyBiro · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:02

"andy" said:
get it welded by someone who will do a good job. ie a welder

There is very little there to weld. He said that the sensor will most probably be damaged in some way by the heat?

Janesy B · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:03

DiamondMark said:
Yea you got to bodge that on a 900 quid car really.

It's a the law

Could always get a cheapy cat and get the garage to fit it - an hours labour tops.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/CITROEN-SAXO-...68499909?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM

skippi90 said:
There is very little there to weld. He said that the sensor will most probably be damaged in some way by the heat?

Can't he take the sensor out of the union, weld it and screw it back in after it's been welded?

Jonnycoupe · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:07

skippi90 said:
There is very little there to weld. He said that the sensor will most probably be damaged in some way by the heat?

Right, so which of the repair options means you wouldn't need a sensor?

Get a M18x1.5 Boss and get that welded to the pipe. Anything else is overkill.

Dogbreath · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:35

That is properly fixable by welding, i.e. a good and permanent repair, absolutely no need to bodge it with pigeon poo welding unless completely inept.

Most difficult bit will be removing the boss from the sensor, welding it in with the sensor in place will probably damage the sensor. If it proves very tight then carefully cut it off with a hacksaw and weld in an after market boss as JC suggests.

CliffyBiro · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:36

There really is very very little to weld, but the boss idea of Jonnycoupe's sounds good...

MikeHiow · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:46

Oh, I had assumed the cat had split or something.

If its just the lambda boss, plug up the hole, weld it, make a new hole and weld a new nut on. (Or weld new nut/boss in existing location if possible).

This doesn't seem like a bodge to me.

BigglesPiP · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:50

There's no reason that can't be a good job with a MIG welder, just remove the boss from the sensor 1st. Unless the mechanic can't MIG, and if the mechanic can't MIG, he's in the wrong job. Even I can do a half decent job on on a MIG welder.

CliffyBiro · 17 Aug 2010 at 12:50

MikeHiow said:
Oh, I had assumed the cat had split or something.

If its just the lambda boss, plug up the hole, weld it, make a new hole and weld a new nut on. (Or weld new nut/boss in existing location if possible).

This doesn't seem like a bodge to me.

I have no idea tbh. I'm just going off what two mechanics I know personally have told me.

Westyfield2 · 17 Aug 2010 at 14:08

MikeHiow said:
Oh, I had assumed the cat had split or something.

If its just the lambda boss, plug up the hole, weld it, make a new hole and weld a new nut on. (Or weld new nut/boss in existing location if possible).

This doesn't seem like a bodge to me.

That's what I'd do.

Shut-up the existing hole and weld in a new boss.

Hawk Tuah · 17 Aug 2010 at 14:47

By the sounds of it, they're going to try to weld the sensor itself. In that case, no way.

If they're going to weld a new boss to screw the sensor in to, like in your picture, then definately go for it.

-westy- · 17 Aug 2010 at 15:23

skippi90 said:
£900

And that was my thinking but I don't want someone coming back to me a week later looking their money back.

"Sold as Seen" - not that I'm encouraging you to almost scam people, but if someone's buying a car privately they should always be given a receipt, signed by both parties (keep a copy yourself) that says "Sold as Seen", and the date of the sale.

mjt · 17 Aug 2010 at 16:28

skippi90 said:
£900

And that was my thinking but I don't want someone coming back to me a week later looking their money back.

They can do one. Buyer beware and whatnot..

Janesy B · 17 Aug 2010 at 16:32

It's par for the course with sub 1k cars, I wouldn't worry to be honest