'95 A6 - Catalytic converter

[John Larson]

You said, several hours and many replies ago:  "Hi,

My A6 has been running pretty well til now ~
 
My car had the "check engine" light on when I got to Phoenix Sunday 
for a tennis tournament.   I left it at Audi and Tues. they said the 
left cat was totally plugged.   We cannot afford to replace that at 
this time.   And, we cannot afford one of the alternative shops 
either.
 
My hubby suggested taking the "inards" out, but the Audi parts guy 
said it was difficult to do.
 
What do you all think?

First, if the cat has melted, and they do with annoying regularity, and if it's rattling badly, there's a 50/50 chance the pieces are caught farther down the line and the exhaust is plugged.  Not good.  Next, cats melt because raw fuel is getting in there, so the car shouldn't be running all that well.  That would have to be addressed before installing a new cat, or it'll die an early death, and the warranty will be void.  Still more next, you can pretty easily remedy the busted or plugged monolith using the methods we've seen earlier.  Not that I'm suggesting you do that.  If somehow it miraculously cleared, however, the honeycomb is worth something, but you'd have to find someone to buy it.  Even more next, your car DOESN'T HAVE after cat O2 sensors to monitor the performance of the cats.  Those didn't come into our cars until the advent of OBD2, mostly in 1997.  BTW, the right cat is usually the first to fail, and there was a recall for those on the 90s.  That was a long time ago.  

I hope this helps you.  John