My wife and I are in Florida for a much needed 3 month vacation. We drove our 2003 SC430 with 175,000 miles! Yesterday morning we headed out to pick up a few groceries and I noticed the CEL was on and the TCS light and TCS Off light were both on! So, we stopped at the Toyota dealer to find out what was wrong. After about 2 hours he reported that the Catalytic Converters were bad and had to be replaced! I asked how much that would be and he said about $2,000 but he could not get a price until Monday! I went to a local muffler shop and he quoted me a price of $1,300. He told me the converts from Lexus were about $1,300 each so the Toyota dealer would be closer to $3,000! Does that sound correct for catalytic replacement? I only paid $8,000 for the car a few months ago!

 

I forget the pictures!

 

Sorry to hear that. Genuine catalytic converters are usually very expensive as they are made out of platinum components. Dealer charge of $1500-2200 sounds about right. There is a 70% chance that you can clean it up with a catalytic converter cleaner like this one. Make sure to follow the instructions closely: leaving only about 2gal gas in the tank when you pour it in, and find an uphill stretch of a road so that you can floor the gas pedal to over 4500RPM for a few minutes. Two bottles may be needed. At this point you probably have nothing to lose by trying a $20 solution. Good luck.

 

How common is it for cats to go bad on these cars??

 

I don't recall anyone mentioning that they have had them replaced, but I could be wrong

 

what are the codes?
are they P0420 for the drivers side cat and P0430 for the passenger side cat?

since you have this many miles, I would change the O2 sensors first. If they are not operating correctly, these codes can show up.
i had a P0430 code, change both O2 sensors on that side and the code went away.

 

The unscrupulous person that I bought my 2004 SC430 from was using a scan reset tool to clear the CEL codes both times I looked at / test drove the car and when I picked it up. He knew it had a catalytic converter problem. This was at 90,000 miles. My CEL was on less than 35 miles after purchase. I tried resets with a friends scan tool and sure enough the CEL always returned in 35 miles or so.

Anyway, the code was for front left bank cat inefficient. These cars actually have 3 catalytic converters. The dealer said the Lexus recommended fix was to replace that cat and the center rear cat. One was $1,200 and the other was $1,300 plus labor and small parts ( gaskets and bolts ). Well over $3,000 with tax. The pervious owner tried the cheap fix by replacing the Bank 1 Sensor 1 o2 sensor as that sensor was clean and new with a tie wrap securing the harness.

I installed a quality after-market front left cat ( $350 ) and used Lexus gaskets and bolts ( $65 ). That was 4 years ago and still no problems at 122,000 miles.

 

This thread in conjunction with the ecm thread on freshly purchased cars , I want to tell what I do. When I purchase a car nowadays, and I just bought one a month and a half ago. I take my elm 327 with me. When my wife and I found the car we wanted I told the salesman before I can purchase I need to plug into the computer. He kinda hesitated and then said ok. This car I could see that the mileage since the last time dtc's where cleared was never . The mileage was the same as the odometer reading. I was also able to see if there were any pending dtc's, there were none. Pending dtc's don't turn the cel on. In this day and age I think this is a must do, or done by a pre purchase inspection by a technician.

 

The post cat O2 sensors are the ones that check the cat's functionality. The car's ecm has no check for the 3'rd cat, as there is no post sensor for it. I can't imagine the 3'rd one ever going bad short of damage from external trauma.

 

Thanks for all of the tips! My gas tank is about full and I was warned by tm\he service tech to not drive it a lot before I take of this problem. He also said one of the converts was very bad and the other one got worse the hotter it got! Would putting 2 cans of the cleaner help with an almost full gas tank?

 

Cats don't get clogged up overnight, causing an undrivable condition like a blown tire. Chances are your current cats are only marginally worse than last week. I would burn off the gas tank to the last two gallons and then put in the cleaner. Hopefully, that is all you need every three months.

 

That's a bummer to hear DylanFan. It might be our lucky day though.

Would you be willing to bet $150 for a custom fit aftermarket convertor? I bought one when I thought my cat had gone bad. It turns out it was just a leak in my exhaust, so the seconds O2 sensor was reading too much air and I needed a new gasket and not the convertor.

It is a Canadian built convertor, so it should meet all the North American standards (except California)

If it works, I can give you the contact information for the people I got it from and you can get one for the other side.

It is a catalytic convertor that they cut the ends off of and welded on the needed ends so it bolts up exactly like the original convertor.

If you are interested, you can PM me and we can work out the details.

It's a great alternative to a $3000 bill, (but only if it works of course). This is what it looks like

 

Did the dealer tell you what bank the code was for? If not go to autozone and have them read it.

 

When I went to the Toyota dealer the Check Engine Light was on and so was the VSC light and the VSC OFF light! When I left the dealer all of the lights were off but within a mile the VSC and VSC Off light came on again but not the Check Engine Light! Does that mean anything?

 

it means means the problem is still there. Did they tell you the code, and/or what engine bank was the problem. I'm with BGW70 On changing the O2 sensors on the bank with the code,