# Need HELP info on a CatCon Fire



## shovelhead84 (Nov 27, 2010)

I am usually on the VW side of the forums, but a friend of mine is having some issues with her A6. I have done some searches and read several googled articles but need some advice from the community. Here is the run down.

Car: 2002 A6 3.0 Quattro
Mileage: 124,000
Recent Services: Spark plugs, Coil-packs, Valve gasket replaced,
Not so recent: 3rd party oem replacement cat-back (stock/non performance)
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What happened:*
The car had been out of the shop for 3 weeks since the listed recent services. It had been running much better and was very smooth. She (the driver) was very happy with the results of the recently performed maintenance and stated that the car felt much more responsive and powerful. however the Check Engine light had come on about a week after the new cat was installed about 8 months ago. After leaving work last week she was driving the car for almost an hour. When stopped at a traffic light there was noticeable smoke coming from under the car. She pulled over to the side and looked under the car. The catalytic converter was on fire. She called the fire department but the flames had subsided before they got to the scene. She had the car towed to a local "Euro Specialist" shop to be checked out.

*The Service Shop:*
The technician has told her that the timing belt was not working correctly and the car was misfiring. because of the misfires, excess fuel and oil drained into the catalytic converter and ignited. The technicians says that half the engine is not firing correctly and he needs to continue looking into the issue to see what else could be wrong. According to the tech the catalytic converter and timing belt are now bad. It's going to be $900 to replace the timing belt plus the cost of a new catalytic converter.
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My Concern:*
This seems strange as the car had been running much better since the service. It had a significant gain in performance and was obviously running better physically and audibly. It seems more likely to me that it was just a bad catalytic converter or related issue rather than a timing belt and misfire problem. Feels like the technicians is digging in her wallet.


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## AndyTR32 (Jun 4, 2003)

When was the timing belt replaced (if ever)?

Also, does she have to frequently top off her oil? When the cam chain tensioners leak, they drip oil right on the cats. She would likely notice smoke occaisionally and get a burning smell in the cabin.

Resealing a cam chain tensioner is a lot less work that a timing belt but you need to take it somewhere that knows what they are doing.


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