Haha. I'm confused too. I looked at the pics bati posted again and sure enough there's a shiny new spacer between the O2 sensors and the exhaut pipe. I'm just a shadetree mechanic so this O2 sensor spacer thing is a new one for me. Something is causing these O2 sensors to read wrong whether its the cats or the sensors. It seems to me that adding spacers to change the way the sensors work is just a band-aid solution.

bati wrote: from my understanding was that P0430 meant I had a bad cat so had my cats checked at muffler/cat shop both of my cats were in good condition. the guy at the shop said more than likely I had a bad 02 sensor he recommended that I get an 02 spacer.

What shop did you take it too? It wasn't Midas was it?

LOL, learn something new I guess!

I read about this trick a while back on another forum for an Xterra or maybe a Frontier. But basically by putting in a simple spacer you alter the way the sensor reads/detects. I have been getting that code for over 6 months now, but every so often it disappears and after a week it pops back up. It doesn't bother me, I tend to keep cars for 8,9 or 10 years and have had only 1 car with a failed cat.. (that was an 85 Nissan 200sx) When the cat on that car completely failed, the car wouldn't move past 5 mph and u could smell it burning. I wonder if everyone is replacing the cats just because the sensor reading says its going bad; or did someone's cat completely fail, rendering the car inoperable? My mpg are still the same..18.2 and I don't smell anything burning. There's no emission testing in AL; so I can use my best judgement as to when to replace the cats if I see a problem developing.

djbit wrote:I am at ~ 96K and my check engine light came on. My ODBII reader gave me the same code.

P0430 is the code for a bad catalytic converter. I cleared the code but it came back a few days later.

I will start by replacing the 02 sensors after the cats. Cats are not cheap, and I think it's a dealer only part. I am hoping the 02 sensor replacement can fix it.

djbit, did the new O2 sensors solve the problem?
today we have a post from another forum member with the same symptom...........

dared3vil00 wrote:So as some of you may know, i recently had to pay for a whole new transmission blah blah blah, I get in this morning turn the truck on and notice the SES or the FML light is on. Between smashing my head through the window and deciding which cliff to push it off, I managed to make it to the shop in 1 peice. The code is for bad cats. Thats about all i know. Is there somewhere i can get a cheap set (NOTE it's only one side that is bad i was told) And how much am i looking at? I had them delete the code, and if it comes back which it inevitably will, I will get them fixed, so thats why i'm looking for a guesstimate. Thanks guys. BTW, my truck has 140,000KM or roughly 5,000Km over warranty.

eieio wrote:

djbit wrote:I am at ~ 96K and my check engine light came on. My ODBII reader gave me the same code.

P0430 is the code for a bad catalytic converter. I cleared the code but it came back a few days later.

I will start by replacing the 02 sensors after the cats. Cats are not cheap, and I think it's a dealer only part. I am hoping the 02 sensor replacement can fix it.

djbit, did the new O2 sensors solve the problem?
today we have a post from another forum member with the same symptom...........

dared3vil00 wrote:So as some of you may know, i recently had to pay for a whole new transmission blah blah blah, I get in this morning turn the truck on and notice the SES or the FML light is on. Between smashing my head through the window and deciding which cliff to push it off, I managed to make it to the shop in 1 peice. The code is for bad cats. Thats about all i know. Is there somewhere i can get a cheap set (NOTE it's only one side that is bad i was told) And how much am i looking at? I had them delete the code, and if it comes back which it inevitably will, I will get them fixed, so thats why i'm looking for a guesstimate. Thanks guys. BTW, my truck has 140,000KM or roughly 5,000Km over warranty.

If I were people getting these codes, I would be hesitant to start buying new parts ASAP especially cats. People need to stop posting that this is THE cause for this code. Don't let a shop tell you your cats are bad without showing you something other than the code or just telling you they're bad. As noted, it could be also be an O2/AF sensor issue around the primary cat, a fuel issue, an ignition issue, or bad cats. The code simply means the cat system including the sensors, isn't operating between an expected threshold.

I got the P0430 and P0420 codes at the same time and found mine to be a fuel issue. Running injector cleaner/fuel cleaner through a tank or two can sometimes stop the codes as mine did. If both codes pop at the same time, I highly doubt it's bad sensors/cats because the likelihood of both sides going bad at the same time are small.

However, it wouldn't be a bad idea, especially if the code is on one side only, to do some simple inspection of the cats yourself which isn't hard. Start by tapping or shaking the cats/exhaust and if you hear loose material then definitely go to a shop sooner rather than later before your engine is damaged. If you have any doubts, unbolt the cats and inspect them visually for any loose material or damaged matrix inside. I found some helpful tips on troubleshooting cat issues here.


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index ... 830AAzOPz0

+1!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The shotgun approach to auto mechanics is expensive!

I just had a guy at Advance Auto tell me something interesting. He said with the wild temperature swings we've been having around Birmingham, AL, a flood of people have been coming in to have the cat/O2 sensor warnings reset. Around here, it's been 75F degrees one day then 30/40F the next and back and forth. I think it's been over a month since I had my P0430/P0420 codes reset. All of a sudden we had a cold snap then a 75F degree day and my codes tripped again.

This may be true considering the concentration of O2 is higher in cold temps and lower in high temps. Could be the O2 sensors reading this and tripping. Then again, we've been having temp. swings here for as long as I can remember but nothing as severe as this year. This is the mildest winter we've had that I can remember with the occasional 20/30F degree low.

I doubt it...

I was a little skeptical since I know after certain codes are reset, it could take a few weeks for them to trip again and it could've just been a coincidence. I wonder it that's the normal time it takes P0430/P0420 codes to trip again. Or is it dependent on how badly the system is failing?

fwiw, mine was tripping after 25 miles. I replaced the cat and it hasn't come back yet (125 miles or so later).

I didn't get the in-depth diagnostic but at my last oil change I was told I needed some cat related work. With that said, when I took a road trip of about a 1000 miles the light went off about halfway through. It came back on after a few days of city driving with my commute being about 45mi/day. I'd be excited to know that this can be fixed for hundreds as opposed to 1000's of dollars!

aadadams wrote:I didn't get the in-depth diagnostic but at my last oil change I was told I needed some cat related work. With that said, when I took a road trip of about a 1000 miles the light went off about halfway through. It came back on after a few days of city driving with my commute being about 45mi/day. I'd be excited to know that this can be fixed for hundreds as opposed to 1000's of dollars!

If you do the labor yourself, you can do it for under $200.

ASUMTNEER wrote:

aadadams wrote:I didn't get the in-depth diagnostic but at my last oil change I was told I needed some cat related work. With that said, when I took a road trip of about a 1000 miles the light went off about halfway through. It came back on after a few days of city driving with my commute being about 45mi/day. I'd be excited to know that this can be fixed for hundreds as opposed to 1000's of dollars!

If you do the labor yourself, you can do it for under $200.

My codes are back on again. Did you replace the AF/O2 sensors first or just go straight to replacing the cats? Did you do both front cats and where did you get the parts that cheap? Thanks.

ric4044 wrote: It doesn't bother me, I tend to keep cars for 8,9 or 10 years and have had only 1 car with a failed cat.. (that was an 85 Nissan 200sx)

Hey that was my first car! (85 200sx). Did you have the 2.0 or the 1.8 turbo? I had the 2.0, 2 spark plugs per cylinder. It was a pretty cool car, I put a lot of miles on it. I only have 1 pic of it, and its not digital.

I should have totally kept this car for rally racing.