90% of our AirCare repairs produce these huge results.

Some folks think that AirCare is a scam or at least a waste of time and I’m here to say that those thoughts could not be further from the truth.

We fix several cars and trucks per month and from experience I can say that the results speak for themselves. Check out the latest AirCare repair that we did on a 1995 Jeep Cherokee: the results are profound and just by fixing this one vehicle, less toxins are being released into our air.

AirCare before and after readings. The failed gas is circled. Note the huge reductions after repairs.

Most modern cars, especially the new models are very clean and release mostly CO2 into the air. This is a global warming substance and of great concern.

However, the most toxic pollutants are carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons and oxides of nitrogen emissions and properly running modern cars minimize those pollutants.

Air Care’s purpose is to keep these toxic pollutants to a minimum and it does a great job of doing so by identifying vehicles which put out excessive emissions. If you care to know more about the hazards of these pollutants there are many websites with detailed information.

Lets look at the details of this particular inspection and what the results really mean.

Before repairs this vehicle emitted the following amounts of pollution in 100 kilometers:
• 40 grams of hydrocarbons
• 664 grams of carbon monoxide
• 168 grams of oxides of nitrogen

After repairs this vehicle will now be able to drive:
• 5.7 times farther (571 kilometers) and emit the same level hydrocarbons
• 19 times farther (1900 kilometers) and emit the same level of carbon monoxide
• A whopping 83 times farther (8300 kilometers) for the same oxides of nitrogen pollutants.

These are big numbers that mean much cleaner air for all of us. Next time that you think that AirCare is a waste of time, please take time to reflect on these numbers.

This is not unique. 90% of our repairs produce these huge results.

Certified AirCare Repairs

Pawlik Automotive is a licenced AirCare Repair Center, and we have year after year maintained a 100% (or near) pass rating on our AirCare repairs including in the most recent 12 months.

We are Certified AirCare technicians which means that we have passed the required extra exams to get the certification. Not all AirCare repairs are created equal… call (604) 327-7112 to set your appointment with the Pawlik Automotive service team.

Catalytic converters fail for many reasons and the consequence of failure can cause several things to occur including a failed AirCare emission test, a check engine lamp warning, rattles under your car and poor engine performance.

A replacement catalytic converter

Let’s look at what your catalytic converter is, what it does and what causes it to fail.

Catalytic converters use a catalyst to transform harmful carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emissions in your engine’s exhaust into carbon dioxide and water. The catalyst consists of a combination of precious metals: platinum, palladium and rhodium. When the hot exhaust passes these elements a chemical transformation occurs.

The precious metal catalyst is bonded onto a very fine ‘honeycomb’ grid which sits inside the converter housing. It is a simple structure with no moving parts and only requires the heat of the exhaust and the right exhaust gas mixture to operate.

Inside the catalytic converter: the "honeycomb" substrate

Catalytic converter failures occur in several ways: First, impact failures which can occur if the unit is hit, often involving running over something. Second, thermal shocks which can occur if the unit is suddenly cooled. A likely cause would be going over a puddle in cold winter weather and the hot converter receiving an intense dousing of cold water. Third cause of failure is poisoning of the catalyst which can come from several sources: use of leaded gasoline (very rare these days); antifreeze entering the unit likely through a blown head gasket or other internal engine coolant leak; use of improper silicone gasket sealers; and use of oil additives which contain zinc. Fourth, is coating of the substrate: this is the honeycomb structure with the catalyst. This can occur from excessive carbon deposits and/or excessive engine oil consumption. Fifth and final cause of failure is overheating of the catalyst and this usually occurs from too rich a fuel mixture and/or engine misfire.

Do Catalytic Converters Simply Wear Out?

While all manufacturers seem to claim that they don’t and that they last the life of the car, it simply isn’t true. Many cars experience early failure due to a substandard size or quality of converter. Aftermarket replacements, always much cheaper than the original manufacturer’s part, are usually inferior in quality.

There are various grades of aftermarket converters. Here, you truly get what you pay for as the cheap ones often fail quickly whereas the good quality aftermarket units usually give years of great service. This is why we always recommend high quality units.

Catalytic Converter Maintenance

As a conscientious car owner looking to maximize catalytic converter life the best thing that you can do is to maintain your car meticulously and always address any check engine lamp concerns, correct rough running and misfiring engines or any performance issues. Failure to do so will result in you buying new catalytic converter(s) sooner than necessary and these are, by the way, normally very expensive to replace!

For more on repairing Catalytic Converters here’s an article at AirCare

I am pleased to announce that our shop has won an AirCare Quality Repair Award. Very few technicians receive these awards and I am honoured to have met the criteria. To win this award a technician must perform a set number of repairs per year and have a passing average of 95%.

Our shop average over the past 12 months is 100%!

When you bring your vehicle to Pawlik Automotive you can count on receiving the finest AirCare repairs and service in Vancouver with a commitment to fixing your car properly: doing so not only keeps your vehicle running at its best, but also keeps our air clean.

Bernie Pawlik's AirCare Quality Repair Award, received July 4, 2011

Beware when buying a car maintained by a do it yourselfer!

We recently diagnosed an interesting AirCare failure on a 1993 BMW 320i that inspired me to reflect on the work that some do it yourselfers do. The vehicle failed for very high carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emissions and while performing diagnosis and road testing I noted on our diagnostic computer that the engine’s coolant temperature was only reading 30 degrees Celsius with the engine hot. It should be at least 80 to 100 degrees!

The engine’s computer was getting the signal that the engine was cold and enrichening the fuel mixture and very likely causing the elevated emissions. Testing the coolant temp sensor and wiring was the next step. What I found here was amazing: the coolant temperature sensor was not connected and after an exhaustive search for the wiring connector I finally found it, buried under the intake manifold with another coolant temperature sensor connected to it sitting out exposed to the air! The sensor was reading the air temperature in the engine compartment. Why someone would go to such an effort to do something clearly so stupid is beyond me. Reconnecting the sensor correctly restored all concerns and the vehicle passed AirCare with great readings.

While there is nothing wrong with do it yourselfer work beware when you buy a car from such a person. Clearly this person had an idea of what they were doing but it made no sense and clearly showed that he had no understanding of what was required to keep a car running properly. This crazy repair not only created excessive pollution, it was also wasting gas in a big way.

If there is a lesson here to be learned, always ask who has maintained the car that you plan to buy: if the answer is “I did “or “my friend is a mechanic” be wary. You might just end up with this sort of horror story.

This book may be too advanced for the do it yourselfer who repaired this BMW