Have a car repair question...exhaust related

edbert

Alright, so the catalytic converter on my car has gone out on me and I need to get it replaced. It has 170K miles on it so I guess something finally had to go. Anyway, does anyone know what the average cost of replacing one would be? I will be purchasing the catalytic converter myself and then was going to take it to a muffler shop to get the work done. I have called a few places this morning and most have just given the generic, "Well, it just depends on what we run into?" Whatever. I just need a basic idea on how much it would cost to get the old converter cutoff and a new one welded on.

Just to throw it out there, I am aware that there is a bigger issue that caused my converter to fail and will be trying to address all of those things as well. Thanks again!

strider

What kind of car do you have? There are some cars that have bolted on cats, some welded, etc.

nikolas812

edbert wrote: »

Alright, so the catalytic converter on my car has gone out on me and I need to get it replaced. It has 170K miles on it so I guess something finally had to go. Anyway, does anyone know what the average cost of replacing one would be? I will be purchasing the catalytic converter myself and then was going to take it to a muffler shop to get the work done. I have called a few places this morning and most have just given the generic, "Well, it just depends on what we run into?" Whatever. I just need a basic idea on how much it would cost to get the old converter cutoff and a new one welded on.

Just to throw it out there, I am aware that there is a bigger issue that caused my converter to fail and will be trying to address all of those things as well. Thanks again!

I can not give a quote because I have always done it myself.

But in my experience it is usually just a bad converter and nothing else. After so many miles they just tend to clog up and need replaced. Once you you have it replaced you'll probably be fine for a long time. It probably couldn't hurt to have the o2 sensor changed also. Its cheap and its usually right there close to the converter.

edbert

Thanks strider, I knew I forgot something.

99 Toyota Corolla. You can replace the piping from the header back to the muffler with the cat already in place(which I might end up doing but that is why I was trying to do a quick price comparison). So basically you would have to weld on a new one unless you wanted to purchase the whole thing.

Serendipity

nikolas812 wrote: »

I can not give a quote because I have always done it myself.

But in my experience it is usually just a bad converter and nothing else. After so many miles they just tend to clog up and need replaced. Once you you have it replaced you'll probably be fine for a long time. It probably couldn't hurt to have the o2 sensor changed also. Its cheap and its usually right there close to the converter.

Wow, you seem to know a lot about this stuff. I also have a similar problem in which the exhaust is rusting: http://www.polkaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62150

Would the catalytic converter be bad in my case?

strider

Talking to a couple of guys, you're looking at about 2 hours labor to replace the cat with an OEM replacement; that'd be about $185 here. You still need to do some cutting to get it off, however. They put it back on with a sleeve clamped on to the pipe rather then a weld.

If you're going with an aftermarket equivalent, it would be a cheaper repair, even if welding is necessary. One caveat with an aftermarket cat, quality is suspect. The guys I talked to had a customer who had one installed that had continual problems with it. The shop that installed it kept throwing O2 sensors at it until they finally tried replacing the just replaced cat. It fixed the problem, but only after spending a bunch of coin on O2 sensors. If you're interested in trying to replace the cat yourself, with a Toyota part, and have any questions, let me know. I've got 25 guys here to ask.

edbert

I would be getting a magnaflow/carsound cat, not just some ebay el cheapo deal. I generally do all the work myself on my car, but I thought that this might be out of my league. Let me ask you this(and I am assuming some things here), if I know someone with a welder and some experience, is this something they could tackle for me?

strider

edbert wrote: »

I would be getting a magnaflow/carsound cat, not just some ebay el cheapo deal. I generally do all the work myself on my car, but I thought that this might be out of my league. Let me ask you this(and I am assuming some things here), if I know someone with a welder and some experience, is this something they could tackle for me?

I don't think it would be terribly hateful. If you 've got experience and know someone who can weld, why not? Only thing I could see giving you a problem would be is the welding, dependent upon where the weld needs to be done. I'm assuming it would be after the cat, and in that case it probably wouldn't be that bad. Just need to lower the back half of the exhaust to get the top portion of the pipe welded.

Check that: do you have access to a lift? Otherwise it could be a real PITA to weld!

edbert

I would just unbolt the whole thing from the car. You can unbolt it from the flange where it meets the header and then after the resonator before the muffler. I think I know a few guys who might be able to help me out. Thanks!

strider

edbert wrote: »

I would just unbolt the whole thing from the car. You can unbolt it from the flange where it meets the header and then after the resonator before the muffler. I think I know a few guys who might be able to help me out. Thanks!

No problem at all.

Sounds like you should be fine getting it done yourself. Soak those bolts with penetrating oil now!

Kex

It can be tricky lining things up sometimes. I've seen exhausts not properly fitted that rattle continuously against the undercarriage (on deceleration etc., you get an annoying knock knock knock sound ...). Just a thought on something to watch out for.

edbert

If I can't find a friend with quite a bit of experience and who is anal about getting it done right, I will probably just end up taking it somewhere. Thanks!

[Deleted User]

edbert, too bad you do not live in oklahoma! no inspection in the state! Just core out the cat and get a lil performance enhancement out of it! J/K. Changing out the exhaust and cats is not as hard as you think it would be, whether its bolt on or wielding.

tbyrne

If you go DIY, you gotta get it on a lift - I had my muffler replaced recently & the lift made a hard job easy.