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Anyone else had knocking noise from Auris with Catloc fitted?


Sharpiehousehold
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Toyota Auris Touring Sports 2015 

Hi, in January 2020 I had the catalytic converter stolen. I subsequently had a Catloc fitted by Jemca Reading when they replaced it. In August when going on holiday with a fairly loaded car I noticed knocking coming from the car especially when going over bumps but it also occurred when cornering. Concerned that there was a problem with the suspension I asked Jemca to look into it. They told me that it was a known problem with the Catlocs and Toyota were looking into a solution and they would contact me when there was one. No update was received. Recently the knocking got much worse. I took the car to Jemca Reading and they told me that the Catloc had been bent, which was causing the knocking and they couldn't repair it. They expected me to continue driving the car and put up with the noise. As far as I'm concerned the noise is unacceptable making the car undrivable. I had noticed that the ground clearance of the car had been impaired since fitting the Catloc. As I'm retired I'm really not a fast driver so clearance problems have involved very low speed driving. I spoke to the designer of the Catloc for the Auris at On Board Defence this morning and he assured me that there had not been any problems with the Catloc causing noise and that there was no design activity ongoing on the Catlocfor the Auris and no problems had been reported by Toyota. I'm clearly getting different stories from the garage and the manufacturer and I'm left with a vehicle that I don't believe is drivable in the long term. Since the garage could not offer a solution I have asked them to remove the Catloc to at least allow me to have a car that is usable. The problem is of course that it is now more vulnerable to theft of the Catalytic Converter. Has anyone else noticed this problem? 

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16 hours ago, Sharpiehousehold said:

noticed that the ground clearance of the car had been impaired since fitting the Catloc

I can sympathize with the ridiculous position you have been put in.

There has been at least one other poster who has mentioned, but not as the topic of their post, that their Auris with Catloc has a reduced road clearance that was obvious when going over speed bumps.  There was no mention of it getting worse.

I would expect that any groundings of the Catloc would leave really obvious 'witness' marks on the Catloc metalwork.  Also, any knocks that come with suspension movement should leave behind clear evidence of rubbing or contact on the car or the Catloc.  

Part of the problem of any investigation/remedial work is that the Catloc is attached to the car via single-use fasteners, whose heads intentionally shear off to make removal much harder.  So to remove the Catloc, these security fasteners will need to be removed (I don't know how, exactly) and eventually replaced with new ones (readily available?).  I think that the uncertainty as to 'what to do next' with this would push some dealers to be reluctant to undertake this job, if they can get away with it.

I would definitely escalate this problem to Toyota GB customer services.  Hopefully, they can apply pressure on your chosen dealer to take the matter more seriously!

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On a slightly different angle, Toyota have developed some anti-tamper covers that fit over the two manifold bolts.  These are the ones that are invariably unscrewed by the filth who are stealing these catalysts.  These offer some degree of security, are only £15 fitted (I believe), and can be fitted in literally a few minutes.  This is not related to the Catloc device, although ultimately trying to achieve the same result.

Strangely, dealers don't seem to promote these caps very much at all, or even know much about them.  Well worth a look at these, a great idea!

[Note to moderators: the latest site update seems to have removed the 'Edit' function.  Any particular reason why???]

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@Sharpiehousehold, see my thread over here: https://www.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/topic/196601-strange-noises-and-where-to-find-them/

In a nutshell, mine developed a knocking noise, I tried wiggling the Catloc and it didn't seem obviously loose (but then I was reaching under the car without much clearance), but I took it into the dealership and they found that it had in fact come loose and was knocking against the exhaust. They didn't let on whether this is a known problem or not, but they identified and resolved it very quickly (and with no charge - same dealership that fitted the Catloc in the first place). I have had a problem with the Catloc once or twice going over a particularly chunky speed hump, but that was a good while before the noise developed, and there was no visible damage to the Catloc at the time. I've never been particularly happy with the Catloc as a solution (nor the bill for it) - it seems a pretty crude approach, but then it was presumably developed as a quick emergency response at a time when cat thefts were skyrocketing, so perhaps not surprising. Hadn't heard about the anti-tamper covers Gerg mentions, but they do sound like a good idea.

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The problem was resolved by the mechanics @ National Tyres and Exhausts. They put the car up on a lift, three of them looked very hard at it then one of them did a chin up using the CatLoc to pull himself up. Problem solved. The Catloc had hit something and been bent very slightly up causing the knocking noise. They pulled it out. No longer any noises and no charge. I insisted they take some cash for a drink. You can guess how impressed I was by Jemca telling me that it was impossible to bend it out when I'd asked them. When I asked the customer service person at Jemca why they had been unable to do that, he told me that they had no repair instructions for the Catloc........ I think I'll be looking for another garage to service the car.

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😄 Glad you got it sorted (and painlessly... eventually).

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11 hours ago, Sharpiehousehold said:

The problem was resolved by the mechanics @ National Tyres and Exhausts. They put the car up on a lift, three of them looked very hard at it then one of them did a chin up using the CatLoc to pull himself up. Problem solved. The Catloc had hit something and been bent very slightly up causing the knocking noise. They pulled it out. No longer any noises and no charge. I insisted they take some cash for a drink. You can guess how impressed I was by Jemca telling me that it was impossible to bend it out when I'd asked them. When I asked the customer service person at Jemca why they had been unable to do that, he told me that they had no repair instructions for the Catloc........ I think I'll be looking for another garage to service the car.

Glad you found a resolution in the end, no thanks to the dealer! They don't seem to show any out of the box think, like the National tyre mechanic. I wonder if a rubber bump stop that can withstand heat, be located on the body, in case a bump knock the CatLoc close again? This is why good garages are sort after.   

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  • 3 months later...

I had similar problem for my Auris 2014 Estate Hybrid in October 2020. In November 2020, I had a recall booked at Romford Toyota. Explained that issue to them, they checked it at the same appointment and found that the Cat Lock was bent, they fixed it for no cost. However for last 3 weeks, having the same issue. When the car is full or accelerating, it making loud metal noise. Going to call them this week and will update. 

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