Wrenchin... Adventures under the hood... Put em here.

[MontuckyFried]

Wife's QX has an engine light on. Dealer says it is the Cat. Quoted us the equivalent of 1/3 of a really nice vacation to get it changed out.
Obviously this can be done by any muffler shop, but what is the harm of letting it be for a while?

What's the mileage on it? My Volvo's cat's been throwing codes for the last 150K miles or so on one of my cars. Haha. Cost to replace exceeds value of car so I said screw it. Had plenty of non-cat related issues though, so I've just ignored the CEL for the most part and just run codes once in a while just in case. Yup. Still saying the cats. I'd love to just try and swap some O2 sensors and see what happens, but it's like a full removal of the entire undercarriage and exhaust system to get to them and without a lift, no effing way. Seems the rest of the car is falling apart around it though, so prolly least of my worries for now.

Swapping out motor mounts and shocks tonight as soon as my parts finally arrive. Oh joy!

[seano732]

^^^^^ your retired now seano, need something to keep you busy.

NOT what I had in mind…….

[warthog]

What's the mileage on it? My Volvo's cat's been throwing codes for the last 150K miles or so on one of my cars. Haha. Cost to replace exceeds value of car so I said screw it. Had plenty of non-cat related issues though, so I've just ignored the CEL for the most part and just run codes once in a while just in case. Yup. Still saying the cats. I'd love to just try and swap some O2 sensors and see what happens, but it's like a full removal of the entire undercarriage and exhaust system to get to them and without a lift, no effing way. Seems the rest of the car is falling apart around it though, so prolly least of my worries for now.

Swapping out motor mounts and shocks tonight as soon as my parts finally arrive. Oh joy!

She just hit 110,000 miles, so it is probably designed to fail about now.
I will see what muffler places will quote. No offing way I am paying the dealer $2500 for a fucking cat. We have no inspection here.
They can get bent. I'll offset my carbon footprint some other way.

Or, I could just park it in front of the house and then cut the cat off with my sawzall and call the cops. Hmmm- may have to erase that.

[Touring_Sedan]

She just hit 110,000 miles, so it is probably designed to fail about now.
I will see what muffler places will quote. No offing way I am paying the dealer $2500 for a fucking cat. We have no inspection here.
They can get bent. I'll offset my carbon footprint some other way.

Or, I could just park it in front of the house and then cut the cat off with my sawzall and call the cops. Hmmm- may have to erase that.

Do you have an OBD 2 reader? Most of the mid priced ones will show you live O2 sensor data. It can help you narrow down what's going on. Typically there's at least 2 oxygen sensors if not four. On before and one after the cat. Even a Luddite like me can interpret the data to see where things ate going tits up. If you don't have a reader, you can grab a cheap Bluetooth dongle off of Amazon for under $15 bucks. Pair it with Torque, (a freeware app,) and you're good to go.

[mcphee]

What's the mileage on it? My Volvo's cat's been throwing codes for the last 150K miles or so on one of my cars. Haha. Cost to replace exceeds value of car so I said screw it. Had plenty of non-cat related issues though, so I've just ignored the CEL for the most part and just run codes once in a while just in case. Yup. Still saying the cats. I'd love to just try and swap some O2 sensors and see what happens, but it's like a full removal of the entire undercarriage and exhaust system to get to them and without a lift, no effing way. Seems the rest of the car is falling apart around it though, so prolly least of my worries for now.

Swapping out motor mounts and shocks tonight as soon as my parts finally arrive. Oh joy!

She just hit 110,000 miles, so it is probably designed to fail about now.
I will see what muffler places will quote. No offing way I am paying the dealer $2500 for a fucking cat. We have no inspection here.
They can get bent. I'll offset my carbon footprint some other way.

Are your vehicles throwing the P0420 and/or P0430 Catalyst Efficiency codes? I was having this issue with my '06 Sienna. i didn't document the long term and short term fuel trims to tell you what to look out for, apologies. Try replacing both downstream O2 sensors (you're going to anyway if you're replacing your cats and at over 100k miles its not out of scope for sensor failure. Cats should last much longer) and clear the code(s). When either of those 2 sensors are reading slightly off due to internal failure yet not enough to trip their specific code the Engine ECM thinks the cats are bad.

[gravitylover]

Or, I could just park it in front of the house and then cut the cat off with my sawzall and call the cops. Hmmm- may have to erase that.

That made me laugh. Lemme know if you delete that and I'll zap the quote.

[mcphee]

That made me laugh. Lemme know if you delete that and I'll zap the quote.

sentence removed from my quote. apologies

[MontuckyFried]

Are your vehicles throwing the P0420 and/or P0430 Catalyst Efficiency codes? I was having this issue with my '06 Sienna. i didn't document the long term and short term fuel trims to tell you what to look out for, apologies. Try replacing both downstream O2 sensors (you're going to anyway if you're replacing your cats and at over 100k miles its not out of scope for sensor failure. Cats should last much longer) and clear the code(s). When either of those 2 sensors are reading slightly off due to internal failure yet not enough to trip their specific code the Engine ECM thinks the cats are bad.

Yup! I have the classic P0420. I also suspect the O2 sensor is off, but geez it's just such a bastard to even get to them, that I'm scared to spend the money on the sensors, go through all the work, just for it to end up not working. If I replace one, I'll replace all of 'em while I'm in there sort of thing. Maybe I'll tackle it one of these days after I get the rest of the car sorted out. Was a water pump last month. Then the cooling fans pooped out which caused an overheat and multiple coolant lines to burst, requiring a tow. That night sucked.

[Mazderati]

A clogged cat can be bad news. No idea if that is what is going on but that would be something you want to get fixed.

[warthog]

That made me laugh. Lemme know if you delete that and I'll zap the quote.

Nah, I would never actually do that.
Had cars broken into multiple times, but that would be the one time they fingerprint or find a neighbor's video showing me doing it.
Oh, that and it is dishonest.

[mcphee]

Yup! I have the classic P0420. I also suspect the O2 sensor is off, but geez it's just such a bastard to even get to them, that I'm scared to spend the money on the sensors, go through all the work, just for it to end up not working. If I replace one, I'll replace all of 'em while I'm in there sort of thing. Maybe I'll tackle it one of these days after I get the rest of the car sorted out. Was a water pump last month. Then the cooling fans pooped out which caused an overheat and multiple coolant lines to burst, requiring a tow. That night sucked.

c'mon, they can't be that bad to get to. get creative with stubby combo wrenches, modified harbor freight wrenches, modified sockets, different u-joint and extension combos...design your own tools! get crazy with the Kroil then hit that sensor bung with a MAP torch. no need for a lift or removing the exhaust system. your cats are most likely fucked since you've ignored the codes for 150k miles though. lol.

upstream o2's are typically more resilient (if your combustion process is healthy) than the downstreams. always replace your downstreams first, then upstreams, then cats. Cats are typically going to "clog" if you're running rich too long from bad sensor data, misfiring, or burning oil in the combustion process. Purely anecdotal evidence but my "06 Sienna with 205k miles have the original cats and upstream o2 sensors.

[MontuckyFried]

c'mon, they can't be that bad to get to. get creative with stubby combo wrenches, modified harbor freight wrenches, modified sockets, different u-joint and extension combos...design your own tools!

Oh, it can be. Those asshole Swedes decided to stuff the exhaust into some kind of channel and above the framing and somehow the rear driveshaft. I've spent an entire day crawling underneath the car trying my best to get to the darn things and I finally just had to give up. It's just too much of a PITA without a lift with this setup. Trust me. It's gnarly. Best advice I've seen on forums is to partially drop the exhaust to do the service. Sunnuva

Thankfully, a couple new shops have opened up in town that let you rent bays by the hour, so I may attack it one of these days now that I have that available. That is of course if I can get the rest of the car 100% though. It's been low on my priority list. I could definitely be missing something though, so I'm always open to advice if anybody here has done the sensors on a P3 XC70.

your cats are most likely fucked since you've ignored the codes for 150k miles though. lol.

Oh, most certainly. Haha.

[Obstruction]

I played the “fuck the 0420 code” game with a 98 318i for a couple of years. Cat was bad and eventually the honey comb broke down plugging the exhaust completely (on Rte 95 between Providence and Boston).

Being as you are in a no emissions testing jurisdiction I’d suggest considering finding a test pipe and a friendly muffler shop and cutting the cat out.

Of course that means the fuel trims will be permanently buggered but they already are if the cat is shot.

[MontuckyFried]

I played the “fuck the 0420 code” game with a 98 318i for a couple of years. Cat was bad and eventually the honey comb broke down plugging the exhaust completely (on Rte 95 between Providence and Boston).

Balls. Now I'm not feeling as cocky anymore. Dammit. Guess I better take care of it one of these days. Will post the TR when I get around to it cuz it is NOT going to be fun. I might just plan on replacing the cat while I'm at it because I have to get balls deep in there anyway, so maybe might as well if I can score a decent price on one (not gonna pay more than my car's worth, ya know?). FCPEuro has the actual Volvo branded cat for like 1/5th the price of dealers, so could be a good way to go.

[seano732]

Toyota is saying it’s my A/C Compressor “binding”, and shorting the fuses that lead to the alarms, windows, etc…..Recco replace the compressor, to the tune of 9 hundo, parts and labor……That sounds steep to me, what sayeth the collective?

[El Chupacabra]

Toyota is saying it’s my A/C Compressor “binding”, and shorting the fuses that lead to the alarms, windows, etc…..Recco replace the compressor, to the tune of 9 hundo, parts and labor……That sounds steep to me, what sayeth the collective?

Does that engine use a single serpentine belt to run all its accessories, including the A/C? Or is there a separate belt to run the A/C? <-- if a separate belt for A/C only, remove the belt, replace all the shorted out fuses, see what happens (i.e. drive without A/C for awhile to test all circuits).

[Obstruction]

Parts prolly 600 at the dealer. Easy install relatively speaking and an overpriced recharge of the system and there’s your $900 down the drain.

At an Indy? Maybe save $100?

I paid $1k at a suby dealer for one in a Forester. I went that route cursing the whole way instead of DIY because an aftermarket compressor was around $350 - $400 and I don’t have the gear or experience for a full charge of the system and most importantly I wanted someone I could hold responsible if the diagnosis was wrong or the part was faulty.

[mcphee]

Sounds about right for replacing the compressor at the dealership. Did they say if it was the compressor or the compressor clutch? What engine do you have?


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[seano732]

One belt, I think. Said the whole compressor. 4Liter V6. And I e done plenty of cursing, trust me…..

[Norseman]

Toyota is saying it’s my A/C Compressor “binding”, and shorting the fuses that lead to the alarms, windows, etc…..Recco replace the compressor, to the tune of 9 hundo, parts and labor……That sounds steep to me, what sayeth the collective?

Does that engine use a single serpentine belt to run all its accessories, including the A/C? Or is there a separate belt to run the A/C? <-- if a separate belt for A/C only, remove the belt, replace all the shorted out fuses, see what happens (i.e. drive without A/C for awhile to test all circuits).

If 4.0L, the belt is shared by the alternator, power steering, and water pump.

If the a/c compressor is seizing, the belt would be squealing on the crank pulley, and you might notice more resistance in the steering and maybe dimming of the lights. If you can find and replace blown fuses/relays, maybe try unplugging the electrical connector at the compressor so it just spins freely without its clutch engaged.

[gravitylover]

My ac compressor is shot and it looks like it's easy enough to replace the condenser while doing the compressor so I would do both. The kit is under $400 for both and the hoses are only another $80 and I already have a new drier to go into the condenser so it really makes sense to do all of it together. I already changed the expansion valve, that was a 5 hour suckfest pulling out half of the dashboard but it had to be done to figure out if there was a block or if it is the compressor. If I could get the system depressurized I'd probably go for it myself but none of the local shops want to do that if they're not doing the whole job and they're quoting over $2k. Pain in the ass...

@mcphee - Is it a terrible thing if I stick a syringe into the rose joint boots and shoot some fresh grease in there to shut them up until I get to replacing them? I'm really tired of it sounding like an old conestoga wagon rolling down the road.

[seano732]

If 4.0L, the belt is shared by the alternator, power steering, and water pump.

If the a/c compressor is seizing, the belt would be squealing on the crank pulley, and you might notice more resistance in the steering and maybe dimming of the lights. If you can find and replace blown fuses/relays, maybe try unplugging the electrical connector at the compressor so it just spins freely without its clutch engaged.

Thanks Norseman! I did notice a weird sound the other day coming from the A/C vents….. So if I go the disconnect route, no A/C then correct? It’s still hot as fuck down here…..My BIL told me to tell them to get fucked, but idk if this is something I can DIY, especially the flush and recharge….

[mcphee]

seano-I second norsemans troubleshooting. If you go the DIY route. Get the system evacuated by an indy shop you like, Throw a reman compressor in there yourself, then take it back for the refrigerant charge. You Could save 3-5 hundo.

Gravity- if you’re talking about the ball joint boots then it wouldnt hurt anything since you’re replacing anyway. Probably won’t do much good though since the ball joint is already worn enough that it’s loose and making noise.


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[simple]

I did the way McFee said last time. Cheap project that way. My a/c guy said do the dryer and the heat exchange radiator at the same time so it makes sure system is clean and fresh. Still a cheap project as all parts were at RockAuto

[ill-advised strategy]

Thanks Norseman! I did notice a weird sound the other day coming from the A/C vents….. So if I go the disconnect route, no A/C then correct? It’s still hot as fuck down here…..My BIL told me to tell them to get fucked, but idk if this is something I can DIY, especially the flush and recharge….

The rubber part of the magnetic clutch at the front of my 12 tacoma a/c compressor (2.7…but) has failed loudly a few times now.
To keep it from trying to engage, I remove the “MAG CLUTCH” relay from the underhood relay box. That should keep your A/C clutch from engaging and a stuck or stiff compressor from dragging the belt.
Temporary non-fix kinda fix for diagnostic purposes and/or just to keep it driveable without melting the serp belt, etc.