A lot of you will recall that I just had the engine in my '99 ES300 w/125,000 miles replaced due to sludging. Many thanks to you all for your advice on that one. Well, now apparently I'm told by the dealer that I need a new catalytic converter, though I'm not sure they've got their story straight. Here's the facts:
CEL & Trac Off lights came on (yesterday), 4,500 mi after engine replacement. Brought it in this AM, and was initially told by dealer that the code was P0130. Replacement = $1,300. When I pressed for more detail, they brought in the tech who diagnosed it, who said, sorry, it was actually code P0420. Sounded squirreley.
This may have no impact, but I had my first oil-change on the new engine 200 miles ago - and changed to synthetic. I always use 89 octane gas, usually from BP.
My questions are:
1 - Is catalytic converter failure at 129,000 miles abnormal?
2 - Is it possible that I only need to replace the sensor (as a p0130 would indicate), instead of the entire catalytic converter?
3 - Could the exhaust smoking associated with engine sludging have accellerated the demise of the catalytic converter?
Your thoughts and input is much appreciated. - CNB