Catalytic Converters… Who knew!!!???

Note to Reader: I know I said earlier that I love to tinker, and I am pretty technically inclined. So please take this post for what it’s worth. I am a smart girl, I promise, but it must be said that I am a very literal thinker.

My most recent venture into the technical world of the AutoZOne Field (meaning the stores) brought me to a store that serves as an excellent resource for us “chair sitters” at the SSC (Store (Support Center). The purpose of the workshop I attended was to give me a little more technical knowledge so that when I am out in the field I feel a little more useful and can really get out there and HELP put Customers First!

Additional Note to Reader: I LOVE MY JOB!!! I’ve had some great jobs along the way that have shaped me into the “go getter” that I am today, but it must be said that I truly love where I am and the company I work for.

I returned to work the day after the workshop telling my team all about the wealth of knowledge that I had picked up.

1 - If your check engine light comes on, the first thing you should do is check your gas cap.

2 - Not every one that works on cars calls the parts they need by the correct name, but regardless, they expect you to know what they are talking about. (I still don’t know what a “dog bone” is, so if you do please let me know… hummm, could this be why dogs chase cars?)
One of the highest selling products on a rainy day are Duralast Gold wiper blades, and I now know how to install them! Yahoo!!!

3 - When you are standing all day in a store it really doesn’t matter how cute your shoes are. If you want to throw them out of the car window on the way down the interstate on your way home, you must at least consider the possibility of ugly, comfortable shoes.

4 - Working a cash register is really not as hard as some retail establishments make it look. If I can do it ANYONE can.

5 - Go Joe is AWESOME when trying to remove car nastiness from your hands arms, etc.

6 - And last but not least, when you upgrade your exhaust system to a “Flow Master” and they turn off your oxygen sensors that could be the reason your check engine light is on.

Our conversation turned to the fact that I learned how to use an ODB2 tester (see picture on right), which is the device you use to get the code that will then tell you the reason behind your check engine light being illuminated. I had tested a gentleman’s Cadillac Escalade and gotten both P14 and P17 codes, which are oxygen sensor and Catalytic Converter issues. Well after giving him a few of the listed suggestions and finding that he’d had an after market exhaust system installed (remember the above mentioned “flow master”). Using all the effort I could muster and trying not to laugh, I let him know that that was where the check engine light was more than likely originating. My whole team was proud and the conversation could have ended at that, but since this is a blog worthy story, you know it didn’t.

We started talking about Catalytic Converters in general and how they have become in recent months a VERY popular item to steel off of the under side of an SUV. Someone had herd that the thieves could roll under your truck snip a few wires and be out of there in less than 30 seconds. The motivation is that a Catalytic Converter is made from several precious mettles like platinum, gold, copper, and a few others. The bad guys are taking them and breaking them down and selling the mettle. I was flabbergasted to say the least. It is just beyond me why someone in general feels they are entitled to something that isn’t theirs. I made the comment that that was crazy and I wondered out loud how someone would even know to do that. Then I gave a big sigh and said that I was very glad that I didn’t have to worry about that with my car, because “it’s very low to the ground and also because it is a Ford.” All heads in the general vicinity turned to face me, but I wasn’t finished. I went on to say that I was also glad that we “decided on a Toyota for our SUV, one less thing to be worried about.”

“What do you mean Lili?” one of my co-workers asked.

I didn’t think it was a hard concept to grasp, but what the heck. “Well I mean that I was glad that we didn’t decide to buy a Cadillac so we don’t have to worry about a Cadillac Converter being stolen, that’s all”. Everyone laughed and I began to blush and my mind began to roll back the conversation. I had missed something and by the looks of it, it was big.

Without going into too much detail on my public humiliation it was explained that all cars have Catalytic Converters, not Cadillac Converters. This is a lesson I will never forget!

Till next time,
Bon Voyage!