Fuel Bladder Q

1) I would net use any of those unless my car had a problem I was solving.
2) I would not take Scotty Kilmer's advice on any topic.
3) No, it shouldn't. But WHY?

 

There's a sniffer that regularly checks for leaks from the rubber bladder and in all my years of being on here I can't say I've ever read a post of someone dealing with a rubber bladder leak. The main problem with that part of the car is the bladder not fully expanding as well as sometimes the gas gauge being inaccurate.

And as Jimbo above says, fuel additives sometimes can help fix stuff, but in general aren't wise. Acetone is highly volatile and risk of engine damaging pre-ignition is possible. Also anyone out and about who gets a strong inhale of your car exhaust with all that extra poison added to it might get sick.

 

I'm not sure that any of us here would really know. Anybody have a kid looking for a science fair project? Could pick up a boneyard tank, cut little squares of the bladder, soak them in different solvents....

 

You can remove the cat and soak it in hot soap and water as a last effort if you want, but you're fighting a losing battle that you won't win. Just buy an aftermarket cat on ebay for $130 and it takes an hour or two to install you can sell the clogged cat to a rare metal scrapper for $1K. More info here: Prius Cat Theft Tracking | PriusChat

 

I purchased my Prius almost a year ago. I looked over what was done at the dealership. At about 50k miles the previous owner complained about loss of mpg. They could not find anything wrong but added BG Cleaner. I do not know how it got resolved. When I got the car it had a avg of 48 or 49 and that was what I got until it got bitterly cold.

I also have a 05 Sienna. About 5 years ago It was throwing the 320 code. I tried cataclean, seaform, lucas, and something else numerous times. The code kept coming back right away. I did see Scott's video on the acetone and saw videos disclaiming it. I got a oem cat on ebay for $300 (yes 300) the dealership was going out of business. Mechanic charged me 70 to put it in.
2 years ago, it through the 420 code. Took it to a exhaust specialist to see if there was a hare line crack. ( nope) . I had one more year for it to pass emissions . After that I only have to do safety checks (after 15 years emissions not required) Problem was the second cat.

I ended up doing the non fouler trick. Buy a plug at auto zone for $6.00 drill it out so a o2 sensor fits. put the fouler where the sensor goes and the sensor goes into the fouler. Code has been off for 2 years. video on you tube on how to do it. At the time it had 300k the cat was around 1200.00 Did not know how much longer I was going to keep the car.

Based on my experience:
No more cataclean. Beyond cleaning
take it to a exhaust specialist
either change the cat or do the fouler trick
Clear the code and then take it to get inspected then it doesn't matter if the light is on for a whole year.

hope this helps and let up know what happens.

Linda

 

here is a video. Basically it creates a bigger distance between the o2 sensor and cat so things don't create too much heat.

How To Fix A Catalytic Converter Check Engine Code With Spark Plug Non Foulers! - YouTube

 

It a work around. You still are polluting the environment
Your tricking the system.

In my situation I could not justify the cost of the repair. I did not know how much longer the van was going to last.

 

I actually think replacing the cat and selling the old one is your best solution.