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Car Forum / Toyota / Camry / October 2005Catalytic Converter for 01 Camry
Hello. I have a 2001 Camry. I am needing to replace the catalytic converter. I have a California emissions vehicle. Imagine that, and I live in Texas! Anyway....what is your opinion on replacing just the cat? From what I have been told that the shop will cut out the old cat and weld in a new one. Now, I was also told that since Toyota's pipes are double layer, then if the cat is not welded properly the inner layer of the cat can collapse. I was told to go ahead and replace the whole thing. It bolts on to the manifold. Now, my car needs to be inspected next week and it is very difficult to find a direct fit for a California emissions vehicle. I don't want to drive too much longer with the cat starting to go bad as I know that can cause further damage. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. If you're going to keep the vehicle for some time use the Toyota part. I've had good results with: http://www.toyotadiscountparts.com/ Its rare for that new a car for it to go bad , how many miles on it, how do you know its bad. What test was done to prove its the cat. See camrygirl's last couple of posts. We went over it there. Yeah, welding just a cat into the manifold can be tricky. You really should consider a factory converter. In all my experience I have never come across an aftermarket converter that was really worth much. What kind of a saving are you looking at with the aftermarket weld-in vs. a new factory manifold? > Hello. > [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Wow.. I have 20 yeqar old cars with the original cats!!! But, that's aside from the point. Go with a Toyota on a car this new. If it were a '91 I'd say go to Carquest, but in this case, no. Or, if you CAN find a direct-fit, use that. Don't cob-job it; the car is worth too much! Thanks for the input. My Camry has about 116K miles on it. A few months ago my CEL Light came on with the following codes: P0171 System Lean Bank 1 P420 Catalytic Converter Operating Below Threshold P1135 Air/Fuel Ratio Performance I changed the Air/Fuel Ratio sensor first. The car did fine for about a month and the CEL light came on again...once again it was the P0420. So that is why I am replacing the cat. Unforturnately I drove it a little too long with a bad A/F Sensor and it damaged my cat. I know it is not good to drive with a cat that is going out. Mine has California emissions, and my car needs to be inspected since it runs out the end of this month. Let me tell you California cats are hard to find. It is going to take about 10 days for me to get a new one that is the direct fit type, being the pipe and all. I don't want to drive that long with a bad cat, so I am going to go ahead and replace just the it for now, and in January when I get my income tax $$ I am going to replace the whole thing. Since I know the guy that owns the shop, he only going to charge me $120 to replace the cat. I know I am repairing the same problem twice, but since my car needs to be inspected soon, and I don't want to drive the next 10 days and wait for the new one, with the potential to cause further damage, I think I am going to go that route for now. Spending the $120 now to fix it would be much less than what it would cost for engine repair. I had a cat go out in my other car, and I mean it completely stopped up. Well when they replaced the cat, I guess the computer couldn't re-calibrate itself and it dumped fuel into the engine and I had to replace the engine in my other car. I was told that if they had changed my oil after replacing the cat since it was clogged, that would not have happened. Now, I am by no means a mechanic, and it could have been a coincidence that it happened. In fact, it was recommended to change my oil before I replace my cat, since it isn't clogged, but since the cat isn't operating properly it isn't burning fuel properly either, and I don't want to take any chances. > I know it is not good to drive with a cat that is going out. It's not good from an environmental point of view. It's about the moral equivalent of riding a motorcycle that's not cat-equipped or running a two-stroke lawnmower. But I don't think you'll harm the engine in any way - the cat operates in the exhaust stream, after the air/fuel/nasties have already been through the engine. The worst that could happen (in case of a blockage) is that the engine would stall. Do you have any other symptom other than the P0420 light coming on? I had a similar but not same problem with my 2000corolla with 82K and it was cured with some throttle body cleaner. The CEL kept coming on setting a P0420 code and two different mechanics told me it was the O2 sensor; after replacing both sensors and the light still coming on I was going to replace the CAT because I was told that had to be the problem. I would reset the light and it would usually come back on within 20 -30 miles. Anyway, before replacing the CAT, I read that the catalyst normally doesn't go bad but gets covered with oil and other contaminats. I went to Autozone, bought a 2.49 can of throttle body cleaner, took off the brake booster line and emptied the entire can with the engine running about 1500 RPMs. Reset the CEL and it hasn't come back on yet. That was about 1400 miles ago. Might be worth a try for under three bucks. George > Thanks for the input. My Camry has about 116K miles on it. A few months > ago my CEL Light came on with the following codes: [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > isn't operating properly it isn't burning fuel properly either, and I > don't want to take any chances. George, Yes, I do have other symptoms....the rotten egg smell you get when you crank up your car. Also, it is making a humming noise. I was told that when they start to go out you can hear them. Also too, when my buddy checked my cat, he was able to touch it. I know you can't touch a cat if it is operating properly as they get very hot. Also too, he put his hand over the exhaust pipe, and my car should have died, and it didn't, and there was a little bit of fuel on his hand. He is telling me that it isn't burning the fuel properly. Ok...I have some good news!!! I took it to the shop and they actually took the time to run some tests on the cat(s). Yes I have 2. One on the manifold and one on the exhaust. In performing those tests the cats were operating properly. I do have an evap leak, and he checked all possibilities for that. Whatever he did stopped the humming sound I was getting, which I thought was my cat. He was even nice enough not to charge me for the tests. Well, he does inspections, and the car passed just fine. So, he told me to drive it and see if the CEL light came on again. The P0441 and P0446 codes that I was getting before that I was told was in relation to the cat, was not it at all but an evap leak. So instead of being out $200 I was only out $40. I am so thankful that I got someone who was trustworthy and honest enough not to take my $$$ and that was not even my problem at all. I did ask him why I was getting that rotten egg smell sometimes, and he said that I could have gotten bad gas. You know with these hurricanes down here lately that is possible. So he told me to drive it for now and see if the CEL light comes on again. If it is the cat it would likely throw a P0420 code. So keep your fingers crossed for me. And thanks for all of the advice and input! |
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