Stolen Catalytic Convertor.

Plutonium? Shit, I didn't know there was nuclear fuel inside our cats. I think you mean *platinum* lol.

OP, I've been there before. Went to see a movie around 9pm and it was gone. Same loud noise WTF moment. That was on my old prerunner. Now that I have budbuilt skids/belly pan combo, theives probably decide it's not worth the hassle of unbolting heavy ass plates of metal just to get to it.

Would be funny to see them trying to cut on those skids though. They'd need to have lots of spare blades and batteries

 

There's really only one way to stop them:

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/01/06/columbus-officer-involved-man-killed.html

Police kill catalytic converter thief

 

It makes you wonder why scrap yards can even accept a catalytic convertor for recycling from a walk-in customer.

Around here, copper is the big thing. People will open HVAC units on commercial buildings and gut them. Or steal the copper out of street lights. Some exceptionally dumb MoFos have tried to steal copper from the light rail system. Yet no one bats an eye when someone recycles the stuff yet everyone is outraged when it's stolen-go figure.

 

They won't accept them at all here in NC. And I've never heard of anyone getting theirs stolen around here.

When I replaced mine recently (catalyst was all broken up inside, restricting flow) I had to send it to Texas to scrap it. They gave me $100 for it.

 

I worked at a dealer and we lost 50+ on one evening. Brand new cars. Yikes!

 

Dang, I hate thieves. Too bad it wasn't like the case that happened in this area a few years ago. They found a guy crushed underneath a car that fell off blocks inside a barn in an isolated area. And he had been there for a week or two.

Tools lying beside him and yep, he had been in the process of stealing the cat.

 

Yea I'm driving the Camry to work now...

It was the rear cat... we have three as well like the Tundra. The muffler is still there hanging on by O2 sensor wires.

I work in Mission Viejo at the Infiniti dealership just off Avery pkwy.

Well since there was a cat there already, there's already a factory heat shield there.

This is a great point. There's no way scrapyards should accept them. Especially if its obvious they've been cut off...

Wow! that would suck. I heard that at my dealership once, a bunch of wheels/tires got stolen off brand new cars. Most Infiniti wheels are made by Enkei so they're pretty pricey.

 

Welcome to the club. Had mine sawzall'd off while at work in 2004 also. Fired mine up at 3AM to go home,,and set off every car alarm on my way home. Revved it up extra loud as I passed by my ex's place. A-holes sawed off my pass front mudflap so they could work easier. About a week later the Local hospital had a couple shady guys running around the parking garage. They chased them out into a waiting flatbed truck,,that was full of cat converters. They got away sadly.

Palladium in the cores,,that's were ALL of the money is when scrapping those.

Took the $800 Farmers Ins check(in 2004), slapped in a test pipe and called it a day.

 

Weld. Everything.

 

Pitiful. Cat theft was all the rage in Portland for a while, don't know if it still is. Meth heads will do anything for the next buzz.

 

Battery operated sawzall with rescue blades will cut thru just about anything. It's a struggle to cut off cement filled steel pipes with those, but it does happen faster than one would think.

Had some meth heads trying to hatchet/axe thru big copper feed wire to a local alum smelting plant that was being shut down. They were chased out. The Line was still hot with 440 volt.

 

I've been concerned about this issue also, anyone have experience with any of these?

http://www.********.com/ (for some reason this url won't stick cat clamp.com first two words together)
http://catstrap.net/
http://www.*********.com/ (for some reason this url won't stick cat lock.com first two words together)

 

Too bad they didn't succeed..natural selection..

 

Sorry to hear. that really sucks. We've had a rash of CC thefts in our neighborhood targeting Toyota trucks and SUVs. I park in the driveway and am just waiting for the day I come out to find it removed. Mine seems to have two set behind each front wheel well. This looks more like a single cat along the central exhaust. Was the arrangement changed at some point?

Also, what are the chances the vibrations from the saw would trigger the alarm?

 

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...talytic-converters-at-east-bay-bart-stations/

that sucks. heres a news story from last year in the bay area. 3 Toyotas were targeted. shit, im probably gonna have to throw an aftermarket alarm with prox sensors now

 

Bummer...I hate thieves and would love to catch one in the act of doing this. Recycling facilities should stop accepting theses things and maybe that would prevent these rat bastards from stealing them.

 

Our trucks have three cats... one after each manifold (On the V6) and one after the exhaust comes together. the third one is the one that was taken.

I'm considering the test pipe option... any problems with check engine lights? what do u do to pass smog?

 

No smog check here in this state.

A fix I found online,,for the exhaust sensor code. So far so good. No check engine light at all. I DO NOT know if you will pass smog with it bypassed. Easy enough to try I would think.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/1st-gen-tacomas/325297-rear-o2-sensor-bypass-cel-fix.html

 

If you are in CA, you'll fail the visual part of the smog inspection. Probably the emissions part too.

 

The last time I turned in scrap, I had to present a local driver's license AND have my picture taken, plus give the tag number to my truck. Here, scrappers go to JAIL.

Howard