I have a 2001 Lexus GS300 with around 216K miles. Very well maintained. The check engine came on and my mechanic replaced 2 of the O2 sensors. However, the check engine light came on again. I took the car to the Lexus dealer and they are saying I need to replace the Catalytic converter. YIKES on the price. I tried putting fuel injector cleaning in this weekend to see if that will help. Any suggestions?? The car runs fine and I do not smell rotten eggs. Is there a way to clean the convertor? The check engine light comes on and goes out by itself. Not sure what that mean. Thanks

 

Sucks, but there is no way to clean the catalytic converter. You're gonna have to bite the bullet and replace it. Eventually there is going to be a lot of build up in the converter and it will restrict exhaust flow, which in turn will reduce your engine power. On the bright side you did get a lot of miles out of the original

 

check for exhaust leaks and bad vacuum hoses.....they will also produce a CEL.if you dont smell the cat its 99.9% not bad. the fact that it comes off and on by itself sounds to me like you have a exhaust leak.

check here, starting at post # 21

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...hat-to-do.html

i been battling my code for awhile now and new gaskets/etc havent fixed it but i have a leak on the exhaust but i finally know where mine it coming from.....if u look at that link i supplied and look at the pic in post # 27, mine was on the opposite side in the exact same place

do u have a P0430 code? or what was the code/codes? its hard to help without knowing the code man

also welcome to the family but please search before making any new posts

 

As mentioned above check for exhaust leaks. I replaced the 2 donut gaskets in the mid pipe section and that fixed my problem.

 

with that many miles, theres a good chance the cats are bad.

 

shhhhh john

u have no clue what your talking about here.... ESPECIALLY since he doesnt smell a bad cat its very unlikely his cats are bad and its more likely he has a exhaust leak

 

A bad smell is not a sign of bad cats. I have quite a few cars coming into my shop with bad cats and I can't recall every having one that caused a bad smell. Granted, we catch these cat issues at the very beginning so I have never had to deal with one that has been run for prolonged periods of time. Maybe neglecting it causes a bad smell

 

Knowing what DTC's OP has will help diagnose this problem properly instead of ASSuming the problem.

 

a rotten egg smell is a 100% sign of a bad cat, 99% of cats arent bad if they not smelling.

yup, thats why i asked for his codes in post 3

 

[QUOTE=1sikgs;7665762]A bad smell is not a sign of bad cats. I have quite a few cars coming into my shop with bad cats and I can't recall every having one that caused a bad smell. Granted, we catch these cat issues at the very beginning so I have never had to deal with one that has been run for prolonged periods of time. Maybe neglecting it causes a bad smell[/QUO

 

Are there any places i can get a cat manifold for cheap

 

Help yourself by watching a video on YouTube with the installation of O2 sensor spacers

 

This is what I was going to post as well as what I would do.

 

yeah, amazon magnaflow direct fit that will need the oem gaskets to work properly. It's California carb legal and 2 day shipping for about $1200.

 

You could use this as a simple fix: https://www.ebay.com/itm/113986503817