P0420/ Catalytic converter questions

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SFA1500
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Joined: Mon Jun 02, 2014 1:45 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

P0420/ Catalytic converter questions

Postby SFA1500 » Thu May 28, 2015 8:38 pm

So a few months ago my SES light came on. I went and had it read and it came back that one of my cats was bad. The light would come ask on and turn off at random times. And the new it finally stayed on and hasn't turned off. My state inspection needs to be renewed soon so I ran a bottle of Catalytic converter cleaner through my system. This didn't seem to have any effect.


So I went and got quoted and it came out to be $600 for parts and labor. I thought this to be a little high since I thought our cats were bolted on, but the shop owner swore that they are welded on.

Anyone have a fix or possible solution that I can pursue. I'm fine with getting the cat replaced if that's what needs to actually be done.


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smj999smj
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Postby smj999smj » Mon Jun 01, 2015 8:11 pm

The cats are bolted on...but as far as the price, that doesn't sound too far off. A genuine Nissan converter is around $700 +/- for the part alone. I'm expecting he pricing an aftermarket.

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Somber Goat
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Location: Nashville, TN

Postby Somber Goat » Fri Sep 11, 2015 1:26 pm

I'm in this same situation as the OP.

SES came on, cleared the codes, no SES for a couple days, SES came back and now after clearing them it takes only 1 drive cycle(forget the technical name) for it to come back on. No smiley face emission sticker for this guy!

Was hoping it was just a bad sensor but both shops i've been to say the converter needs to be replaced. Is there even a chance that it could be one of the sensors just gone bad and these mechanics i've seen are just trying to lock me into a high dollar service?


Also, i've priced the converter for an '05 on rockauto and the range is $120-270 'ish. I've got 180k miles on it right now so i'm leery of the $700 option. Is genuine Nissan parts a must in this regard? And is this something I can do myself if its bolt on?


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