Catalytic Converter's on Rock Auto

480$ is pretty good for what your getting. You know it will fit good and work just as long as the original one.

Just be wary of misfires, make sure your plugs and coils are working good. Converters dont like raw fuel

 

Not the same make or model, but I have a 29 yr. old German gas car running the original catalytic converter.

 

try this product before investing in new cats, if needed I would stick with OEM Toyota cats cause aftermarket units don't work well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ok1Dwrxcyg

 

https://www.cataclean.com/

 

Not surprised at the results of this cataclean test. Watch the entire video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAOUtd5cWEE

 

It's bounced around from the 1st gen and 2nd gen.
I lost track but it's one of the two, borla or bosal

 

Well I replaced the driver's side cat today. The catalyst material itself still looked OK from both ends, but when you shake the cat around you can see white sandy stuff coming out of it. Ive seen this happen with cats that fail prematurely, tiny specs start coming off and it looks like white sand. Glad I went with the OEM replacement, replacing was a breeze especially for anyone who has done exhaust work before. Should take care of the P0430 code, now ill just wait for the P0420 and do the other side when it dies eventually

 

Nice, how did you get the manifold off so easy? I have a 2005 with 130,000 miles and everything looks pretty rusty to come off "easy" Thanks

 

Mine is the same year with 211,000 miles. The key for exhaust systems is using some kind of rust penetrate. I used a can of BG In Force, it was given to me for free by a BG rep that comes by our shop from time to time. PB Blaster works great as well and you can get it at Autozone. Spray every bolt on the manfiold, the y-pipes, the O2 sensors, let it soak and keep spraying. The longer you soak the easier it will be. I did have one nut that twisted off with one of the cat studs, but i was replacing the cat anyway so it didnt matter. As far as clearance goes, you dont have to take off any cross beams underneath or anything up top, except some of the fuel vapor hoses and vacuum lines just move those out of the way.

 

Which toyota parts website did you find this on?

 

4 1/2 years later and the P0420 code pops up, time to do the other side! Driver side is still holding up, I knew this day would come haha. I've had zero problems with my truck in that span, its at 285k miles now. Glad i went with OEM before, I just hope i can find the passenger side cat for a reasonable price.

 

OP, good info. I’m about to pass 1/2 million miles on my original cats with out any codes but I know someday it will happen.

 

Kevin Please post link to the "Toyota parts website, the driver side is only $480.50" Thanks.

 

That post was from December of 2018. I have a feeling they will be a bit more in 2023.

 

Thanks - I have to stop watching the video .

 

I just did the cat on my 08 4cyl (it's just one on that one) and got the RockAuto Walker replacement at about $375 - I did a lot of research trying to find an OEM at anything close to affordable but the consistent result was roughly $1200... I'd have paid 600 if I could have got OEM, but 1200 was just a bit too far on a truck I paid $5500 for that needed an inspection sticker immediately. (Old one was different state, so there was no acting like I didn't realize it was due sort of thing...)

The previous one had a dent in it, rattled when I shook it and the substrate came out, but otherwise things looked normal (meaning, no sign of engine problem related concerns).

It eliminated the P0420 code for me and the description notes the aftermarket is stainless steel. We'll see how it goes as far as longevity, but I did notice that the paperwork stated that even the aftermarket cats must meet the OEM standards for at least 25K miles as far as emissions/code generation and like 50K/5y on the "structural integrity"... aka rusting out...

If this one doesn't last the life of the truck, hopefully it will get me long enough to where I can comfortably figure out a better path forward.

 

Yeah the price has increased since then, i believe they are close to $600 now when you look it up on any Toyota OEM parts site. Whats weird is the driver side is noticeably cheaper than the passenger side, but they look exactly the same. I cleared my code over a week ago and it hasnt come back yet, so im hoping to stretch it as far as i can before i spend 700+ for a passenger side one.

 

I wonder how a smog shop knows what cats you have.
For example if the truck has skids (engine, trans, tcase, anti-theft cat shields) as is common

 

Good question. I've had at least one vehicle where it was replaced (secondary on my wife's 2005 Rav4) and it got inspected 2-3 times with that and no issues, I'm sure it wasn't a OEM since the job cost about $250. Or if they even cared to look if should have

 

I suspect they're looking for sort of glaring things like a hacked exhaust job where the pipe is entirely straight. However, I also don't think they look all that closely at it. If your exhaust "looks like it's OEM" or close enough - they're probably going to pass the visual inspection. Much of this depends on the shop, I would think.

Federal law requires that if a vehicle was built with a catalytic converter, it must have a catalytic converter. Not necessarily in the same spot or anything like that - just present.

In MA, vehicles over 15y old do not have to pass any emissions test. So long as it's not pumping black smoke out the tailpipe - they're not hooking the machine up to it and telling you you're off by .005 on one number and therefore you fail.

However, you can't have a CEL/MIL. You need to have all codes cleared and some number of miles/time since the last reset to pass in MA.

Therefore, it occurred to me that while I would never do anything like this or advise anyone else to do anything like this... in theory... one could take a 15y old vehicle in MA - with a hollowed out catalytic converter (as I had after the substrate crumbled out) and get one of those racing mods to trick the computer. I came across a couple in my research.. a wiring splice thing as well as a neat idea from a place called "Big Daddy's" where race modders could put a mini cat plug-and-play device on their downstream sensor(s) for quite a bit cheaper than a new cat.

While I wouldn't ever do that since it's not legal... in theory.. a 15y vehicle in MA could pass inspection if the inspection shop didn't see the extra length on the downstream O2 sensors.