Catalytic Converter!

[jcrome04]

So I'm thinking about having my exhaust FULLY done sometime soon..

2.25" piping, "X" pipe, couple of nice resonators, all going back to the muffs I already had put on.

I figure, hey I wonder how much new cats would cost???? Since I'm going to be down there anyways....

So I get curious about a price.....

I go to www.lexuspartsonline.com since they usually have really good prices on stuff.

I search to find this....

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$978.34 FOR ONE CAT?!?!?!?!????!!??!!!!!!??? :o :o :o :o

YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!!

Is this for real?? If it is, is there another route to get some good cheap cats??????

[eatingupblacktop]

Jc, from what I've seen, oem cats ain't cheap anywhere! Here's a list of alternatives I started a while ago, just in case I needed to replace mine:

http://www.thepartsbin.com/

http://www.discountconverter.com/

http://www.rockauto.com/

http://www.catalyticonverters.com/

http://www.car-stuff.com/

Haven't done much research on each one, but the prices looked a lot cheaper. Let us know what you find out.

Btw how are those mufflers of yours holding up?

[jcrome04]

As good as the day I got em!!!! :D :D :D

Hey thanks for those links buddy.

I took some pics JUST for you right now to show you how thankful I am!!!

Like my new lisence plate???? ;) lol

[eatingupblacktop]

Glad to hear it. Hey A-cool, speaking of pics, check out the latest I just posted. Scares the hell out me! :o

[ED.]

Yeah cats are VERY pricey. I know a lot of the guys from my other board have used magnaflows but I am not sure how compatible they are with the LS. What I do know is that they are about a tenth of the price in some instances!

[SKperformance]

Good cats are hard to come by , do not change them unless you need to , clean them up with some seafoam instead.

Large diameter cats like our have lots of precious metals in them like platinum so it makes them expensive.

[eatingupblacktop]

Yeah cats are VERY pricey. I know a lot of the guys from my other board have used magnaflows but I am not sure how compatible they are with the LS. What I do know is that they are about a tenth of the price in some instances!

I think the Magnaflow make a universal that needs some custom work to make them fit. There are some others that make direct fit for the LS that are still a lot cheaper than oem, but don't know what the quality is like. I think that's the key, if you want them to last as long as the car, get oem, if you don't mind replacing them sooner or doing some custom fitting, go aftermarket and save a bundle.

[eatingupblacktop]

SK has a point about cleaning them out if thery're getting clogged. You can also do some WOT runs from a standing start heating them up enough to burn off the carbon buidup.

[ED.]

Yeah I think you lose a bit on quality with them. I didn't know Lexus cats were that unique.

[Step Hen]

The catalytic converter doesn't have a lot of platinum/paladium, but rather the price for these metals is astronomically high now along with the other commodities.

Spot prices for July:

Paladium: $389

Platinum: $1731

Remember, we are talking per ounce and not per pound!

[jcrome04]

Can anyone elaborate more on cleaning the cats with Seafoam???

I did the 3 step seafoam a while back, and just put some more in my tank.

Is flooring from a stop all you have to do??

and eatingupblacktop WHAT PICTURES WHERE! The integra?? heheh. and it's "2-KOOL" to you thank you very much. having trouble reading that fancy "Lexus" font?? ;) hahah

[eatingupblacktop]

Hey Mr. 2-KKKK...Kool, yeah the Integra! Doesn't it look like a Bat Out of Hell!

It's a monster of a photograph!

[nc211]

The metals inside of catalytic converts are worth so much these days, they're having a problem here with Durham hood-rats coming to UNC's campus at night and actually cutting them off of SUV's in parking lots and selling them.

[jcrome04]

Holy crap! I was just going to say...... maybe I'll just cut them off and sell them! lol

That integra is pretty ridiculous. I'd love to hear that thing tear down the street!!! :D

[Robert Young]

Saw an article in the paper a few weeks ago, apparently the metal in the cats is valuable enough that the bad guys will cut them off the car during the night and sell them for scrap! Mentioned LA among other cities as worse than average, so I make sure the Lexus is at least behind my gate.

[Blayd]

They have platinim in them I beleave. Il let u know if im wrong. My friend owns a shop with a lot of junk cars siting around and a company paid him $24,000 for all the cat converters. It was a lot of cats but still...

Hers what my dad did with his monte carlo if u want a cheap fix. Put car on bay, saw converter off, tack back into place and run engine pretty hard for a while, remove cat, (B very carefull its hot), run water through it, wear extremely protective gear during this as water will shatter restrictions inside of cat, so it still looks like uve got one but u reallly have a completally non-restrictive mechenism now.

[Fabricatorx]

Tuning Grüppe sells high-flow cats for this car, fyi ;)

[jcrome04]

Good price too, if you're looking for a high flow...

Would a high flow cat, or cat delete screw up your O2 sensors directly behind them?

[Blayd]

Yea they have planinuim, palladium, and rhodium in them, all of which have skyrocketed to all time highs. That one of the reasons they cost so much I guess.