The exhaust pipe of a car consists of three main parts: the head, the middle, and the tail. Specifically, its starting section is the exhaust manifold, followed by a long pipe that spans the chassis, and the terminal section is adjacent to the rear bumper. In this entire system, a muffler is also installed to effectively reduce the noise generated during exhaust.
On the exhaust manifold, there is a three-way catalytic converter. The key function of this device is to reduce the content of harmful substances in the exhaust gas and contribute to environmental protection. When the hood is opened, it can be clearly seen that the exhaust manifold is located in the engine compartment. In addition, there are two oxygen sensors installed on the exhaust manifold, one before and the other after the three-way catalytic converter. These sensors can accurately detect the oxygen concentration in the exhaust gas and feed this data back to the vehicle's electronic control unit (ECU). Based on these feedback signals, the ECU can adjust the air-fuel mixture ratio accordingly.
It is worth mentioning that the oxygen sensor located after the three-way catalytic converter has the main responsibility of monitoring the working status of the catalytic converter. If the data sent by the two oxygen sensors to the ECU are consistent, this usually means that the three-way catalytic converter may have failed, and the fault indicator light on the vehicle dashboard will light up.
Once the three-way catalytic converter is found to be failed, it must be replaced in time, otherwise it may cause the vehicle to fail the annual inspection and affect the performance of the engine. Some car owners may choose to remove the three-way catalytic converter, but this practice will not only affect the engine performance, but also cause the exhaust gas to produce odor. In addition, the oxygen sensor also needs regular cleaning and maintenance to ensure its normal operation.
