[roguebuck]

What are the emissions tests like in CA? As in: what does a typical inspection look like?

As Surf mentioned - we don't get a visual inspection in OR. On top of that, only vehicles in the Portland and medford metros get deq testing anyways. The rest of the state is emissions testing free.

How does CA (and NY) enforce different standards (in practice, not in the written law) than the rest of the country?

 

[Surf and Snow]

I used two Walker cats (passenger side) on my 2005 Frontier and 2006 Xterra. Both purchased from Amazon.

The one that went into the 2006 Xterra fit perfectly and a few thousand miles later, code hasn't returned.

The Walker installed on the 2005 did not fit well, I had to re-weld one of the studs because it was too crooked.

I also purchased a Bosal from Amazon for the driver side on my 2005 Frontier, it was a horrible fit too. The tube was too large on both inlet and outlet.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

-When did you replace? (12/26/15 at about 98k miles)
-What brand? Walker
-How well did it fit? ie was it bent wrong, missing bolts etc) Fit great! bolted right up w/ no issues or leaks
....

I used Walkers for the primaries, and straight pipes to delete the secondaries. Walkers fit great, no modifications needed, Amazon with free shipping..cheap. ...

-...
-What brand? Walker
-How well did it fit? ie was it bent wrong, missing bolts etc) Sh1t fit, due to bent flanges, bent tack welded bolts (more info below)
...
-Do you recommend, and any feedback? No I don't recommend, will be contacting Walker to see if I can get replacement cats and do this sh1tshow of a replacement all over again. Both cats had bent flanges on the front of the cat and the tack welded bolts seemed welded crooked so it didn't fit to the manifold flange at all. I grabbed a BFH and knocked out one of the bolts on each cat. Surpisingly they seemed to fit despite looking bent so I carried on. When I tried to connect to the b-pipe is where things when really wrong. They simply don't mate up correctly, as the nuts were tighting down the flanges never pulled together, instead I have a gap that is about the same width at the pipe gasket. I actually broke the factory weld on the B-pipe and had to reweld that, no pics because I suck at welding but belive I have that problem fixed. I've refitted the exhaust twice now trying to get a better fit. I completely disconnected the exhaust all the way back, including the hangers. I did notice that at some point while wheeling I snapped the metal that holds the muffler's front hanger point, not sure if that is contributing to my problem but pretty confident I just got crap cats. I have a bad exhaust leak on both sides.

Sounds like Walkers are real hit or miss. Reading the couple guys who got ones that were all screwed up makes me very hesitant to go that route.

Thanks for all the feed back so far guys. Hopefully more folks will chime in. I know more than 7 members have replaced their cats...

 

[NOAHVT]

Subbed. Replacing my engine this weekend and while disconnecting the header from the Cat they look very rusty and one has a hole in it. So I will be replacing them while the engine is out. I need to order them soon though!

Edit: Looks like Walker is doing a $50 off rebate mail in right now. I am going to buy them, i'll update how they install.

 

[robust57]

Just ordered replacement cats and will see how well Rockauto handles this situation. I couldn't deal with Walker directly, their Tech Talk support advised to get them replaced. Should have them later next week and installed the last weekend of Oct. I'll be sure to update this thread.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Just ordered replacement cats and will see how well Rockauto handles this situation. I couldn't deal with Walker directly, their Tech Talk support advised to get them replaced. Should have them later next week and installed the last weekend of Oct. I'll be sure to update this thread.

Are you getting another set of Walkers, or a different brand?(and if so which brand)

Good luck! Keep us updated.

 

[robust57]

Are you getting another set of Walkers, or a different brand?(and if so which brand)

Good luck! Keep us updated.

Walker. I ordered the cats 36 days ago apparently so I have to abide by warranty policies of RockAuto. We'll see how it works out.

 

[JNR]

I have 2 1/2" magnaflow high flow cats (one each bank) and they seem to work alright. My CEL hasn't come on, even with LT headers, least for the converters (i.e. no 0420/30) but I do have a header leak at flange and don't think my O2's are grounded properly and get an unrelated CEL's (would have to scan again for #'s). So, answered MF only because I have them and not sure what I'd get if I were in the market right now. They are not the cheapest choice, but IMO much better than the rock auto specials, let's say (get what you pay for)...I have no problem buying things from RA btw and have and do, just something like that I generally don't. Wlaker generally makes good replacement parts, quality vs cost, although they will not be like oem, unless specified and costing your firstborn nut

Aftermarket will never work as effectively as the oem's, if saving mother earth is your concern, or don't want to deviate from stock-look/position for smog purposes. They do perform better generally speaking (all vary like anything else).

 

[Surf and Snow]

I have 2 1/2" magnaflow high flow cats (one each bank) and they seem to work alright. My CEL hasn't come on, even with LT headers, least for the converters (i.e. no 0420/30) but I do have a header leak at flange and don't think my O2's are grounded properly and get an unrelated CEL's (would have to scan again for #'s). So, answered MF only because I have them and not sure what I'd get if I were in the market right now. They are not the cheapest choice, but IMO much better than the rock auto specials, let's say (get what you pay for)...I have no problem buying things from RA btw and have and do, just something like that I generally don't. Wlaker generally makes good replacement parts, quality vs cost, although they will not be like oem, unless specified and costing your firstborn nut

Aftermarket will never work as effectively as the oem's, if saving mother earth is your concern, or don't want to deviate from stock-look/position for smog purposes. They do perform better generally speaking (all vary like anything else).

Sounds like your magnaflows are universal fits mounted further down steam and not the magnaflow direct fits. Is that correct?

 

[Surf and Snow]

Subbed. Replacing my engine this weekend and while disconnecting the header from the Cat they look very rusty and one has a hole in it. So I will be replacing them while the engine is out. I need to order them soon though!

Edit: Looks like Walker is doing a $50 off rebate mail in right now. I am going to buy them, i'll update how they install.

What prompted the eninge failure? What was wrong with it? Did a cat fail and get sucked in?

 

[JNR]

Sounds like your magnaflows are universal fits mounted further down steam and not the magnaflow direct fits. Is that correct?

Yeah, universal, as oem fit wouldn't work on LT's...even if they bolted right on, just not enough room, so they have to go down a few inches...I would like ceramic coat or somehow insulate that section of tube (pipe) going from LT flg to the cat...more heat, better those will function.

 

[NOAHVT]

What prompted the eninge failure? What was wrong with it? Did a cat fail and get sucked in?

We aren't sure yet, going to pull the engine apart once it is out to see what we can find. No codes, I think the cats are still technically good, but while the engine is out i might as well replace them because they are 11 years old and are starting to rust through.

 

[Whacked]

I'd have to look up when I replaced one of my cats.

Since I live in California the only place I could find a legal one was through the dealer.

ground was too soft to lift my truck to replace myself so I took it to a muffler shop and it cost me basically the core charge.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Hoping @pso and @Revolution Xer can chime in with feedback on their Eastern Catalytic converters.

Lights back for the 5th time. Coming on every 200-300mi. I need to make a choice and order up ASAP.

 

[robust57]

Just got my walker replacements. They look much better. I will take comparison pics as it may be a warranty battle. Hoping I can get some time under the truck tomorrow night or this weekend. Will update at that point.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Just got my walker replacements. They look much better. I will take comparison pics as it may be a warranty battle. Hoping I can get some time under the truck tomorrow night or this weekend. Will update at that point.

Thanks Robust. I/we appreciate the feedback.

 

[Surf and Snow]

So now I'm leaning toward Eastern Catalytic. They seem to have the highest loadings of precious metals and accordingly have the longest (double) warranty on the catalyst itself. 50,000 mi vs. almost all the others at the federal minimum of 25,000mi for the catalyst itself (All are 50,000mi for body/welds/etc...) Also appears to be the most popular choice of those before me (poll). So OEM warranty 80k cost ~$570 and Eastern warranty 50k cost ~$200 then double the price to do both sides and I'm looking at ~$1200 for 80k or ~$400 for 50k. The extra 30k doesnt seem worth 3x the cost...

I've only found one negative experience and that is AZ-Ted. He had codes return after a year. BUT based upon this timeline I put together from this thread: http://www.thenewx.org/forum/11-powertrain-driveline/12752-p0430-bad-catalytic-converter.html I think that he had an another actual problem causing cat failures. I do not think it was defects by eastern catalytic. He had 2 (TWO!) OEM Nissan Driverside cats fail at about 50k both times. Thats not normal and 2 back to back screams there was a cause that was leading to failures, to me at least...

Timeline of AZ-Teds posts:

2008 OEM driver bad at 52k - Replaced with OEM under warranty
2011 2nd OEM driver bad 99k (47k since it was first replaced)
2012 Original OEM pass setting code
2013 Replaced both with Eastern Catalytic
2014 both codes back
2015 codes still – installed non-foulers to cheat codes

 

[Revolution Xer]

I have not installed my Eastern cats yet, so I will not be able to offer any perspective at this point.

I bought all 4 and all new o2 sensors because I don't want to be chasing codes for the next few years on my 160,000 mile X.

 

[Surf and Snow]

Thanks. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Surf and Snow]

For those curious what it looks like when you have a cat going bad. The following is an excerpt from the FSM:


DTC P0420, P0430 THREE WAY CATALYST FUNCTION
On Board Diagnosis Logic

The ECM monitors the switching frequency ratio of air fuel ratio (A/F) sensor 1 and heated oxygen sensor 2. A three way catalyst (manifold) with high oxygen storage capacity will indicate a low switching frequency of heated oxygen sensor 2. As oxygen storage capacity decreases, the heated oxygen sensor 2 switching frequency will increase. When the frequency ratio of air fuel ratio (A/F) sensor 1 and heated oxygen sensor 2 approaches a specified limit value, the three way catalyst (manifold) malfunction is diagnosed.


This video shows my B2 O2 S2 sensor high switching frequency indicating low oxygen storage thus setting a code for cat converter efficiency below threshold. In this case bank 2 (P0430) If you watch the botom right (B2 O2S2) you will see it switching way low to high. Compare that to B1 O2S2 at the bottom left which is much more consisitant.

The typical average values should be about:
B1 O2S1 ~0.3V, B2 O2S1 ~0.6V
B1 O2S2 ~0.6-0.7V, B2 O2S2 ~0.6-0.7V

Heres the vid:

Hopefully this will help others in their diagnosis and understanding of what the ECM is looking for to trigger a P0420 (Bank 1) or P0430 (Bank 2) Catalytic Converter Efficiency Below Threshold code.

FWIW, at the time of this video mine has reached the point it will set the code within 100-200 miles after clearing. In fact today it set only 30 miles after I cleared it.

Something else to consider and examine: Look at your Long Term Fuel Trims. If you see one side is way low, this will indicate it is taking away fule on that side because it is running rich. And if way high its adding fuel because the enine is running lean. This indicates a problem other than just age that is causing the cat to fail. In my case both banks are the same and normal. Thus indicating the converter has simply began to fail and run out of oxygen storage. ymmv

I will add this info to the begining of the thread as well to help others in the future first opening this thread.

-Jay

 

[Surf and Snow]

Going to order tonight or tomorrow. Think I'm going with Eastern Catalytic unless there's any other last minute helpful feedback out there...