Hayk

iTrader: (1)

That is one clean ES. A lot of them suffer from faded headlights, but yours looks nice.

Regarding the P0430, here is what I found
And the scraping noise could be coming from the front brakes. Check the backing plates behind the rotors, they tend to get bent once in a while.

Druvius

Sweet, thanks. I'm gonna stop in to the shop and ask them about that. I just assumed they didnt fix the wheel bearings correctly or that I had a suspension problem.

Regarding the headlights, they were cloudy, but my mechanic 'treated them' with some type of compound. He was getting a bunch of customer vehicles done and snuck mine in with them. I'll find out what it was and report back!

overdubber

I imagine you have resolved your catalytic converter situation. Mine is in process.

I ordered aftermarket cats (middle, rear) from DEC. I spoke with them directly and also spoke with one of their authorized distributors: WPC Diesel (dba, Wundercarparts).

Great people.

Question: How many sensors will I need to complete the Cat rebuild?

Thanks.

Peter

try714

cali sucks it have to be right cat and the star number or it ill not pass smog.

Druvius

Actually I still have the issue… My CEL is still on with the same code and I've just avoided figuring out the problem because I rarely drive (I live in NYC).

To answer your question, the car has 3 O2 sensors:

1. Radiator-side exhaust manifold, before the cat.
2. Firewall-side exhaust manifold, before the cat.
3. At the rear cat, not sure whether it's before or after the cat.

Technically, you don't need to replace any of them if you change the exhaust and everything is still working. But they are notoriously finicky. I replaced #3 and still the CEL is on…

Mythotical

Check lug nut torque! Sounds like an issue I read on CL at some point. As for the cel... are there any even slight exhaust leaks? When I hear things like "washers" and "sealant" in the same sentance as exhaust I know by experience that it usually means exhaust leak. That being said, it can let air into the exhaust and cause a catalytic converter to operate under its threshold temperature and eventually fail. Hope this helps a little...

Druvius

UPDATE:

So I brought my car in to get serviced (transmission fluid flush and power steering flush) and had them do a diagnostic regarding the check engine light. Turns out I had a few other issues. One was an "E-vap" issue which they managed to do a smoke test to figure out where the leak was and the repaired that no charge very easily. The second thing is that a fuel/air sensor code is being thrown which is a hard code and can't be put off for too long, so I'm getting it replaced.

Lastly and most importantly, they fully diagnosed the exhaust and determined that the exhaust manifolds I bought were absolute crap and the cats are doing nothing at all! All the O2 sensors are new so they ran a emissions test as well as swapping the sensors and made sure that they weren't the problem. As I mentioned in the beginning of my thread, I bought these exhaust parts online, non-OEM, for a fraction of the OEM price. The mechanic who installed them said the build quality was terrible but they were so much cheaper I went with them anyway…

So tomorrow I'm getting the air/fuel sensor changed out and getting better quality exhaust parts priced out. Wish me luck!

ps. this was the brand and place I bought the crappy exhaust parts:

http://www.autoanything.com/exhausts...0&AID=10375065

try714

Made in China craps.

aneidiaz

I got a 2001 GS430 and I was dealing with that PO430 code as well my brother... I had to make the decision between OEM or aftermarket... I went the HARD way, busted my butt and worked extra hard to get the OEM cats, gaskets, and Denso o2 sensors.. It was well worth it bro. These Lexus cars are Luxury mixed with Reliability. They are best fitted with OEM parts. The inisde of aftermarket cats are cheaper made then the OEM. That's confirmed. If your dealing with PO430, PO125, etc you need to know the basics. Cats, gaskets, o2s. Hear the car. If it has a raspy, rough, pickup sound upon start and when accelerating, that's an air leak. Very common when gaskets deteriorate. If your going to try to fix this problem and do not want to spend ALL the money for cats and such, I recommend this. Go on www.sewellparts.com, sign up, with your CL account to get MAJOR DISCOUNTS. Buy all OEM gaskets before and after cats and anywhere else you might have air leaks. If you don't mind while your at it, buy all nuts + bolts pertaining to the exhaust to just freshen up the exhaust flanges and make it easier for mechanic to take apart and put back together. Also buy all o2 sensors, Denso or OEM is preferrable as all members on here agree that Denso being aftermarket are very durable and reliable. After replacing all gaskerts and o2 sensors you can expect 2 or 3 things. Better performace and throttle response (no air leaks), slightly better fuel consumption ( proper o2 readings), better idle, etc. If that doesn't clear the codes then your looking at new cat(s). But if your cats are still in condition which most lexus OEM cats are made to last, the the codes should not come back. So long as there is no air leaks interfering with the o2 readings. It's simple bro. Buy gaskets and o2s first. Relatively cheap in comparison to actually buying cats with it. That usually solves the problem and gives you stress free driving. But if it doesn't, the cat's condition is questionable. Here's a few pics of my experience. Thought I'd share with you guys. Good luck with your issue and I hope it is resolved ASAP! Stay positive and optimistic. Read allot and everything will go in your favor bro! Salutations from the 2GS department!!!

P.S. Get exhaust parts off sewellparts!!!! Nobody or dealer(stealership) can beat those discounted prices!!! I paid around $900 for each cat. Dealer and shops were quoting $1100 + !!! Also notice in my pics the older cat (last pic) was deteriorated on the outisde. Gasket was stuck to flanges due to age and not maintaining it but insides wre in condition. They do get old in there tho. Don't let the pic fool you. These were my OEM cats from factory. Changed em out at 97k. But what I'm tryna say is that if you replace gaskets and o2s first, that might solve the problem for a while until you can get OEM cats.

aneidiaz

Druvius

Nice write up man. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience. Yes, I'm definitely learning the hard way.. sigh. The price difference was immense but in retrospect it would have definitely been worth it. For now I'm gonna just keep driving the thing because it runs really well in terms of power, fuel consumption, and sound. Plus I rarely drive (maybe once a month).

I've been taking really good care of it since I got it, so I'm hopeful that when I do get all lights off that I'll be able to drive it for a long time to come. Thanks again for sharing dude!

aneidiaz

No problem bro. And yes your car will last long even after you replace those parts. When I first bought my car, it had 76k miles on it. I didn't know cats were bad until now that I changed em at 97k. It was running all that time like that. And now it feels GREAT. So glad I bought it with OEM and have a piece of mind for many years to come. Hope your problems get fixed ASAP bro!!! And your welcome, that's what we're all here for. TO HELP EACH OTHER OUT.

try714

So how much it cost you?

overdubber

Hello:

I recently replaced the middle and rear Cats on my 1999 ES300. I (actually, my mechanic) installed after-market, California-legal Cats made by DEC. I bought them from Wunderparts. Both companies provided first-class customer service. My mechanic told me the Cats installed with no problems.

In addition, I replaced all three sensors and the four gaskets. These were OEM Toyota parts, the same parts (part numbers) used on the Lexus.

So far, things are good. The car's performance has picked up, and the check-engine lights are off.

I must say that the gentleman at DEC, Derrick, gave me plenty of information over the phone. He actually told me if a part was not in stock, he'd make it and ship it the next day.

The folks at Wunderparts, Brad, Cisco, and Ryan, were very helpful and professional. Plus, the prices were very fair.

Best,

Overdubber

aneidiaz

All around with everything and installation fees WITH MY MECHANIC BEING EXTRA FAIR, I must've spent easy $3000. Maybe a lil more, maybe a lil less. But it was Worth It. It feels much better and wastes noticeably less gas.New cats, gaskets, and o2 sensors.