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I think that the sensors in the Cat. or computer are set too strictly in that they do not allow enough variations in gas and the emissions there from.
I would be interested to hear if others have issues going from one type (area, I hear gas mixes vary by county here in Georgia) of gas mix to another, less "clean" mix. Is the programming to blame?
Fri. Jan 14, 2011 – My trusted mechanic is replacing the cat converter (part + labor = $765)
Needless to say, I haven’t had a good day today! Looking on the bright side, this car hasn’t had any major problems since purchased except for the routine oil changes, brake and tire replacements.
I own a Camry 2002, 4 Cylinder LE Automatic with 140 K miles. I am the first owner (from MA).
The check engine light has been on and off by itself for the last 6 years(Around 70K miles it started)
My car is due for the inspection this month and the light is on again.
I am afraid this message will be a long one but I would like to give you the past history of the vehicle. Before the light started turning on, a Toyota dealer had to replace one of the cylinders at 49K miles at no charge since engine constantly needed to add oil and oil would turn black in every 2 K miles. It took them two weeks to do the job. I don`t know if this is contributing to engine light problem or not.
When the first time the light came on it was around around 70 K miles, 6 years ago. I took it to a Toyota dealer. They were not able to find the exact reason but said it is due to a small gas leak from the muffler near the engine most likely. Car was taking already contaminated air and that could be the reason for misreading.
Light turned on mostly at winter months and while driving distances more than 100 miles. And it disappeared by itself in a few months.
Last year the light turned on one month before the inspection. I still went to inspection and failed.
I took the car to my mechanic. He changed the oil and the air filter. Light turned off and I tried again and my car passed the inspection.
Now I have 140K miles and the light came on two months ago. My car is due for inspection this month. I haven`t taken the car to the test yet. My mechanic scanned and the code P0420 came out. It says "Catalyst system efficiency below threshold-bank 1,
Probable cause 1- AF sensor error 2-Fuel system fault 3-Faulty catalytic converter.
Mechanic says it could cost up to $2000 `s. He suggests replacing the first cat. converter with an original one from Toyota. If this doesn`t solve the problem then change the evaporator and the second converter.
I am wondering if the main cause is some kind of disfunction of the replaced Cylinder. Is it possible that the repaired cylinder has been functioning less than perfect and this has been leading to too heavy input into the catalyst system?
Finally is it worth repairing this car or Should I sell it for parts?(I also feel I will need a new muffler very soon)
Thank you for your patiance. Sincerely
If the Code P0420 does not go out, you will need the 1st cat. con replaced by a Toyota Dealer, as per above posts, if a non Toyota Dealer says he can do it, Stay Away. It should cost no more than $1000.00. The cats are only rated to last for about 100,000 miles. I had to replace last year at $897.00
-Mike
anyways, the car had recently gotten much louder so i worried something was wrong with my muffler too so i took it to toyota to get a diagnostic. the verdict was both front and rear catalytic converters needed to be replaced and it would cost about $1900 to fix. they also confirmed there was a hole in my muffler which was causing it to run loud.
thankfully i have a friend who used to work at a dealership so i asked him to take a look at my diagnostic before i got the repairs. he gave me a possible explanation and but warned me that it was a long shot. he said that the hole in my muffler could cause the rear catalytic converter to misread since some of the exhaust would be leaking out of the system improperly. The dealership was just seeing the error code and telling me to replace it without really thinking about the problem. And since one converter was failing (that was 8 yrs old), they could tell me the other would need replacing too since it is also 8 yrs old and probably on its way out. anyways i took his advice and replaced my entire exhaust system (cost about $800). check engine light went off and stayed off.
The diagnosis was that the catalytic converter was inoperable. My curiosity is why would the catalytic converter fail at 40,000 miles? Is it inherent in the way that Toyota specs the manufacturer of these converters? Is it something in the function of the engine exhausts or computer?
I work for a firm that has a fleet of 4 Chevrolet HHR's. They have mileages of 115,000, 136,000, 145,000 and 208,000. As far as I know, none has had a catalytic converter problem.
This is not my first experience with Camry catalytic converter issues. I had a 2001 4 cylinder Camry which required replacement of the catalytic converter at about 100,000 miles. Replacement was necessary because the pipe in front of the converter had rusted and broke.
Not knowing then what I know now, my mechanic replaced it with a non-Toyota after market converter. The engine light came back on, and I was looking at substantial costs ahead of me (front converter, replacing rear converter with Toyota converter) and I decided to cut my losses and trade it in.
Based on people's experiences with Camrys around the 2006 model year, is my nephew going to be looking at converter failures every 40,000 miles? Needless to say, the converter
is not under warranty forever.
Thank you for whatever input that you may have.
“For Camry PZEV vehicles, (Partial Zero Emission Vehicles), the applicable warranty for the catalytic converter is extended to 15 years or 150,000 miles for vehicles operated in a state that has adopted California Emissions Coverage. New York adopted this guideline for the 2005 model year and your catalytic converter would be covered for this longer time frame.”
Following weekend I went to the closest Toyota dealer in my area and gave him the copy of the email I received from Toyota and asked him to check his books for the warranty on the Cat. After arguing with him for few minutes he was able to find the paragraph in his manual (which I did not see) which stated this extended warranty for PZEV camry for 15 years/150,000 miles. He then told me I would need to pay diagnostic charges and if its indeed the Cat then the charges will be waived. I asked him to go ahead with fingers crossed and went home. 3 hours later I got a call from the dealer confirming my Cat needs replacement and that he has ordered one and will let me know when it has arrived for me to have it replaced :-).
So for those of you who want to delay future cost on Catalytic convertor problem with Toyota, my advise is get a California emission vehicle IF AND ONLY IF your state has adopted California emission standard. That way you are covered for 15 years/150,000 miles.
I've been having some noise coming from my engine. The car has only 54850 miles on it. It sounded like it was coming from the exhaust but when an exhaust specialist checked he told me it was from the engine and advised me to take it to the dealership.
The dealership couldn't diagnose the problem either but told me that it could be from the intake manifold. They wanted to take the engine apart to be certain but then I wouldn't be able to drive the car. They didn't know how much it was going to cost me but when I insisted on an estimate they said it would cost me close to $1500.00. I thought that wasn't good enough since they didn't know exactly what the problem was. I have since gone to 2 other mechanics who couldn't tell me what the problem is. The last one said it could be from the timing chain being loose.
A few times when I've driven the car for sometime I don't hear the noise but most of the time it's there; I've had this noise for about a year or so now.
At this point I don't know what to believe. Has anyone had this problem? Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated
I've been having some noise coming from my engine. The car has only 54850 miles on it. It sounded like it was coming from the exhaust but when an exhaust specialist checked he told me it was from the engine and advised me to take it to the dealership.
The dealership couldn't diagnose the problem either but told me that it could be from the intake manifold. They wanted to take the engine apart to be certain but then I wouldn't be able to drive the car. They didn't know how much it was going to cost me but when I insisted on an estimate they said it would cost me close to $1500.00. I thought that wasn't good enough since they didn't know exactly what the problem was. I have since gone to 2 other mechanics who couldn't tell me what the problem is. The last one said it could be from the timing chain being loose.
A few times when I've driven the car for sometime I don't hear the noise but most of the time it's there; I've had this noise for about a year or so now.
At this point I don't know what to believe. Has anyone had this problem? Any ideas? Any help would be greatly appreciated
The most common underlying issue is with excessive emmissions. So focus on the simple stuff first:
o Gas cap - Inspect condition of cap ring gasket, if any doubt replace it
o PCV valve - Replace it or thoroughly clean it with throttle body cleaner
o Vacuum leak - Thoroughly check all hoses for looseness or cracks. Also check that each hose contains no clogs. Clogs are more common than you might think.
o Clean fuel injectors - Add a good quality injector cleaner to a tank of gas such as Seafoam.
Performing the above recommendations has resolved the P0420 code for me multiple times among 4 vehicles. And the great part was the small expense.
Happy motoring!
is there a number I can call? I just spoke to Plaza Toyota and they are refusing to replace the cat as per manager Mike. I explained what I could but it does not seem to work. They claim its out of warranty. They quoted me $3140. This is crazy!
Thank you!
Please focus on my previous recommendations. Then disconnect the battery which will reset the computer. If your battery has top terminals have them cleaned and treated while you have the cables off.
I prefer not to post my phone number on this forum. Just send me additional questions as needed.
If you do replace it be sure to use the OEM part and not a universal unit.
Good luck with this!
Plaza Toyota quoted me $3140 on the phone (they said both front and rear cats had to be replaced) and said the car is out of warranty as per service manager Michael Alvarez (despite the fact its PZEV). . I called 800 number and they easily pulled up warranty info and confirmed it is still under warranty. Cust service rep sent a ticket to Michael Alvarez so he can see its covered. After he saw a ticket he wanted to check the car again and they brought it back from their lot "to make sure". After checking the car the second time they finally changed the estimate to $1100 (changing the paperwork too) saying only front had to be replaced. (???) But this time claiming the air filter is "dirty" and the brakes are "low" so the car is "not properly maintained" and that's why its not covered under the warranty. I don't understand their reasoning at all. The car was checked out by a good mechanic yesterday and he said the car needed nothing else but cat converter. (air filter and brakes seemed fine to him).
It is very upsetting that Toyota dealer will treat me like this. I am not going leave it like this and will fight it. Will keep you guys posted.
My car has 154,000 miles and I have had my car checked before I hit the 154,000 at the dealer. They told me 8 years 80,000 miles. If you can give me any information please let me know.
Thanks,
Corene
I am still trying to fight this system. Will def make an appointment with them. Its 148500 now.
thank you!
when i went to the dealership (Plaza Toyota) they told the warranty is 80000 miles. However I called toyota 800 number and they confirmed the warranty was extended to 150,000 miles.
if I find the solution I will let you know.
Good luck to you!
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Good luck guys!
That minor underlying emissions issue was corrected by the first guy after he replaced the Cat by most likely replacing the PCV valve or correcting a vaccum leak. But he would not have shared that with you.
Folks it is extremely rare that the Cat ever needs to be replaced and should only be the last resort after all other possible sources are eliminated.
Happy motoring!
Today car didn't have the CEL on. Went to the mechanic and asked him why the light went off? He couldn't offer an explanation.
So now I don't need a new cat. converter? What is this ???
The Bosal cost me $430.69, Front Flex-Catayltic Converter Pipe $19.46, plus $96.00 labor, plus $3.60 shop supply/haz mat, and sales tax of $44.24, for a total of $593.99.
Except now I've got this awful noise and found out it's the pipe connected to the converter that's rusted and has a hole in it, so the car is very loud. Darn. So, now I have to get it replaced since the pipe and converter are all in one piece. They said charcoal canister needs to be replaced, too. And, now, the CEL stays on all the time.
That's what brought me to this board (my first post!). I've got 210K on my Camry and everything else works well. Not sure if I should spend $2.5K (which is what the dealer quotes me) for cat and canister. I've always felt if the engine and transmission are good, stay with the car and I usually drive my cars until they die. But, $2.5K is a lot of money. What do do???
I'm thinking on either buying a new car or certified used in the Spring. Is it worth getting repaired and is the estimate too high?
I welcome your comments and suggestions.
I have the car for a diagnosis with one trusted mechanic. He said the front cat converter is not working and the rear one appears to be lazy (it does not change much with an increasing RPM). He suggested me to change the front one first to see if it can fix the problem with a quote $770 including front cat converter and labor fee.
He said he will use an original new converter and I have no idea where he can get an original one.
After reading all the posts above, I think he may find the right problem. But I am not sure if he will use an authentic OEM part.
My next inspection is still one year from now. But I also suspect this problem could affect the lifetime and power of engine, which is why I tend to fix it soon.
Anyone has a suggestion for this?
I will say that one time a few years back the engine light went on and my brother figured it out that I had something weighty sitting on my passenger side -- which the car "sensed" and it wanted the seatbelt used!
Once I moved the object to the trunk, I was set to go again!
I have a 2002 XLE Toyota Camry with 97,000 miles and it has been an absolutely wonderful car!
All I have done to maintain it is put in new front brakes, new tires as needed, and lots of ROUTINE oil changes.
I am going to have to have something done with a wheelbearing this fall, and they have advised me ahead so we can budget accordingly (but who can complain about something like that for a vehicle this age/mileage?)
It has no rust whatsoever on the finish.
I would love to be optimistic and think we can get 130,000 out of our car, too.
Some revision:
I called the mechanic again, and he said his quote includes only OEM part. The Toyota original one will cost $1400 for front cat converter. I called a recommended dealer later, which confirmed the price for the original one.
I did not replace it today anyway. The light is off now and I wait to see how soon it will come back again:)
I would like to know how I could get the service bulletin concerning the Catalytic converter please help