Catalytic converter stolen, non OEM replacement?

Lol... Walmart is using that massive profit from the pandemic to try to be bigger than Amazon online. Yesterday I was looking for tires and they came up and now Catalytic converters? Hilarious...

Magna flow seems like an established cat making company of 30+ years, though it's hard to know what you're going to get in quality for any of the cat making companies that are pumping out massive amounts of these near $100 ones thanks to tens of thousands of thefts lately.

On the one hand a new cat is going to built with a more modern design that uses way less precious metals and at low engine speed may even be cleaner. But on the other hand, California has never certified them to be as same value and you'll fail the smog test if you don't have a Toyota logo on your cat in that state because clearly it's not as simple as the state getting test data that shows it's equivalent. Hard to say what's really the way to go.

As for shield, it's just a sheet of metal for $100... The more ventilation the better...

Plenty more info for you about all this over at this thread: Prius Cat Theft Tracking | PriusChat

 

I’m not sure if the aftermarket substitutes are “more modern,” or if they just aren’t made to be as effective as the originals. Until someone does certification testing and publishes the results, we won’t really know.

I have no evidence that it’s not exactly that simple, in principle—but as described in the California evaluation procedures (PDF) linked in my earlier posting, the required tests for approval of an aftermarket catalytic converter are extensive, and more like the testing done to certify new models than the pass/fail tests done for older vehicles at Smog Check (emissions inspection) stations.

 

Any sense on if this certification is cost prohibitive for manufacture or simply doesn't qualify in terms of tailpipe emissions so they don't bother?

 

That’s a very good question, and I don’t know the answer—indeed, it could be both. Has anybody asked CARB?

 

That's not what you linked to? And how often do you spend an extra $500 for something that might not be better than the one that costs a bit over a hundred dollars?

 

I just found this thread as I'm dealing with this right now. I told Toyota to go with an OE cat plus OE O2 sensor and I'll deal with insurance in the meantime. It's already and uphill battle but I'm trying.
I wish it was a joke but they authorized THIS part: NAPA part #EXH54848
Worst case is that I pay an additional $440 on top of the deductible.

 

According to Napa
https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/EXH54848
Not legal for sale or use in California and Colorado
so it will diminish the resale value of your car. That is an argument to use with insurance company even if you don’t live there currently. A prospective buyer may.

 

I put the $125 one on from Amazon. Car ran better and after months it never threw a emissions check engine light so it would probably pass emissions.

Muffler shop took my oem one off I sold that for $1500 on eBay and They installed the Amazon cat for $100 labor. There was a small mismatch of the final cat to pipe connection so he welded in an adapter pipe. Which was perfect because you can clearly see there’s another pipe welded to the cat now and would make it a real pain to sawzall through now. Like cutting through twice the thickness of exhaust pipe now.

They were sketchy about welding on the car with the hv hybrid battery system so I parked it onthe Ramps then pulled the safety switch and the 2 12 volt battery plugs. Welded up I plugged it up drove away.

 

You'll need to look under the car. If the thief only took the rear cat Magnaflow has a CARB (California Air Resources Board) certified cat for $507. It's good for all 50 states. The front cat is quite a bit more expensive and the entire piece with both cats, ready to bolt in, is $2950... even Toyota is less expensive than that.

I would be tempted to buy a cat that doesn't meet CA specs since a new OEM cat would just be another target for the thieves. I wouldn't buy the cheapest. Maybe a $300~400 cat and have a muffler shop install. It kind of depends on your deductible. If you have a low deductible then the Napa will be fine and should last for years if your engine isn't burning oil and runs well. If you're planning to move to CA that would change the equation I guess, but barring that I would just assume you'll be in Chicago when you sell or trade in the car so it probably won't matter at all.

Here's a Mangaflow link:

https://www.magnaflow.com/products/5671405-catalytic-converter-magnaflow-california-grade-carb-compliant-universal-catalytic-converter

 

I just bypassed mine with flexible SS exhaust pipe. Total cost was $85, bought all of the parts at NAPA ($35) then had the adapter welded to the flange the thieves left up front ($50). Sounds a bit more throaty but is tolerable. Going to try to add an inexpensive O2 sensor, just not put it in the exhaust gas stream. Not sure if that is going to work to turn the check engine light out, or if the computer uses the downstream O2 sensor to adjust fuel trim. It might take our lawmakers a couple of years to get their arms around the problem, and thieves are taking them out as fast as they can be replaced in my neighborhood. The first time it happened (I own 2 gen 2s), I replaced it with the OEM CAT, which is now basically $2000 taped to the bottom of my car. I got the cat shield and will get a wire cage to secure it. Ughhh.

 

The problem you have now is that 1) if your car has another issue that could ruin the engine you'll never have a chance to address it because your check engine light is already on, and 2) the engine computer can no longer fine tune the air-fuel ratio to maximize power or efficiency (huge loss of money over time) and is stuck at default settings.

An inexpensive aftermarket cat for $130 is less than you spent on failing to fix it correctly and your car pollutes as bad a car from pre-catalytic converter era. That makes no sense!

 

It makes some sense as I can't seem to keep a catalytic converter in the car. So far the mileage penalty does not seem too bad. However if the fuel control computer uses the downstream O2 sensor to set the fuel air mixture, I will put the downstream sensor back in teh exhaust stream, but if there is no difference between the readings on the upstream sensor and the downstream sensor, it will set a check engine light. If there is truly a $130 cat that is plug and play, I will consider that. My concern is that thieves will take whatever is there, unless it's just a straight piece of pipe. Only then will they leave it alone.

 

The majority of Prius on the road today have not and will not get their cat stolen... It's a risk, but you gotta be realistic. @TMR-JWAP recommended this $130 cat that I bought and was very impressed with quality and warranty paper work. Most others at this price don't have that: Catalytic Converter For 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Toyota Prius 1.5L EPA OBD2 | eBay

 

I have had and continue to have great success with that model. I tried a few different models and it's the only one that come with the correct bolts and a perfect 'slip on' fit to the remaining exhaust pipe at the resonator. The only fault I have with it is that the pipe sections are 2" diameter, with the slip fit portion crimped down to 1.75", which is all fine. The problem is the kits I've gotten always have a 2" pipe clamp included, which will not properly seal a 1.75" joint. I buy heavy duty 1.75" clamps at Oreilly's Auto Parts for about 4 bucks and they are the bees knees. Well over a dozen installed, couple years and tens of thousands of miles of use, 4 currently in my own immediate family. Only one call back and that was for a donut gasket that had started leaking. 30 minutes to replace.

 

That's a pretty fast donut / flange gasket swap... You must have a lift?

 

No lift, just technique !!

 

I ordered an Amazon Catalytic AutoSaver88, only because the eBay seller doesn't ship to Canada. I notice the blurbs on the eBay cat show YitaMotors, shipping from Atlanta GA, my labels on the Amazon Cat shipping box show Yita, Atlanta GA. Suffice to say most of the $120 Cats probably come from the same factory. The Amazon Cat has the 2" clamp and a warranty card addressed to TWG, Three Way Group.

Catalytic Converter For 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 Toyota Prius 1.5L EPA OBD2 | eBay

Mayasaf Cat mentioned by StrawBrad and TMR show imprint 201-2004 same as on the Amazon Cat, not sure if that means anything.

battery vs cat conv. | PriusChat

Curiously YitaMotors also has their own listing on eBay for a Prius Cat for $101.

For Prius Catalytic Converter w/Oxygen Sensor Port 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 | eBay