How to Diagnose a bad Catalytic Converter on Toyota and Lexus

Comments · 621

• PI

  @Pianistp3 · 5 years ago

  I wish every mechanic was as knowledgeable as Car care nut 🙂

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• LD

  @ld3rp · 5 years ago (edited)

  For a long time I wanted a Toyota  mechanic to create their own YouTube channel hoping for that mechanic to give great advice on how to take care of your own Toyota and not only tell you but also demonstrate how to. I can say that you sir have done that. I'm so thankful and grateful that you decide it to take time out of your day and make videos for us.

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• ST

  @stevejette2329 · 3 years ago

  Some people are born natural coaches or teachers. Others can be trained to be good. <br>I believe this man is a born and trained teacher/explainer. Much appreciated.

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• VB

  @vb7037 · 6 months ago

  I consistently come back to TCCN videos for issues and you explain them PERFECTLY. I got a p0430 on my Lexus ISF and I was like omg here we go $6000 header job. Turns out it was an exhaust leak midway through the exhaust. Fixed for $100.

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• FU

  @fugazi5150 · 5 years ago (edited)

  When im done watching Scotty Kilmer i flip the channel to TCCN🤙🏼

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• SU

  @suzuki230 · 3 years ago

  My favorite part is where we have to drive around to get the readiness monitors ready because it’s beyond ridiculous with a permanent code, the epa says we can’t pass emissions with a check engine light on, but they have zero issues with us wasting time and fuel non stop to in an attempt to get these bs monitors ready.

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• VI

  @vilnis29 · 9 months ago (edited)

  OMG You are LEGEND!!!!!!! &nbsp;My mom have 2011 Yaris with 1KR engine and have that code PO420 and I had a lot of questions in my head about all. and is very hard to find good answers online. After watching this video I have clear what issue about all that. BIG THANKS and bless you-you are good men !!! :)

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• PL

  @plumkey197 · 4 years ago (edited)

  The CAT on my 2008 Prius became suspect after the ECU threw a PO420 on a 9 year old car with 178,000 miles. At first, the light would stay on for a day or two - then turn off. But as time went by, the light would come back on and stay on for longer and longer, until there came a time where it remained on. It took around nine months to get to this point, The engine has always had it&apos;s oil changes at 4-5000 miles (full synthetic 5-30) and everything was intact - no exhaust leaks, no misfires, no nothing. This was the first time the CEL came on since I had the car. The dealership wanted $2200 plus change for a carryout converter for the car. I elected to replace the exhaust system and the converter pipe/resonator with a system made by Walker Automotive. I&apos;ve used Walker exhaust parts for my cars while I was in HS during the late 70&apos;s and they make quality components. A little welding was necessary, but not a deal breaker. The actual CAT pipe was bolt-on and exactly the same as the OEM. I purchased the entire system for around $600 and some change back in 2017. Five years later, the light has remained off. The mileage is nearly 240K as I type this. After some research and digging around, another phenomenon is hard at work inside of the CAT: as exhaust gasses pulse through the device, the precious metal load within the honeycomb is ever-so-gradually being worn away and subsequently reduced with the passage of time and passage of exhaust gasses; a process akin to erosion. Have you heard of this explanation? Love your videos and I&apos;m waiting on the day you replace the ABS actuator on a second gen Prius!

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• JO

  @JoshuaJDarcy · 4 years ago

  Another thoroughly detailed video with so much relevant substance that you won&apos;t find anywhere else. Toyota/Lexus should have recognition awards for folks like you. 👏

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• DE

  @deadduck8307 · 3 years ago

  Holy heck man, this video is soooo good. I had a P0420, Toyota said it needed a new catalytic converter, but there were some fishy aspects to the diagnosis. 1) they spent maybe 5 minutes diagnosing it, and 2) the truck only had 96K miles on it... I remembered that I hadn&apos;t changed my spark plugs in awhile (at least 60K miles on copper plugs), so I had them change the plugs. The light hasn&apos;t been on since I cleared the code after they installed the plugs. &nbsp;Like you, I wanted to know if the catalytic converter was bad, why was it bad? The Toyota tech told me cheap gas, but again I just felt they were reaching for the easy answers. In context, my truck has 96K miles on it, but it&apos;s 15 years old. I don&apos;t drive it much, only to the grocery store about a mile away. It doesn&apos;t even warm up in-route. That combined with well over-due spark plugs tells me (based on your video) that the catalytic converter is probably prematurely worn. This is why I went to Toyota for a diagnosis -- THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED TO KNOW -- but instead they said my catalytic converter on bank 1 was &apos;non-functional&apos; due to cheap gas and didn&apos;t even ask or check my spark plugs in their service history or ask about its driving conditions... It was such a scam, the dealer was, and to think how much you offered here totally for free, I just feel cheated by the dealer. But at least I now have my answers... at least I think I do. Of note, the dealer said it wasn&apos;t an exhaust leak because if it was, they&apos;d hear it... You&apos;re telling me they had time to pull the code, plug the exhaust, listen, &nbsp;and fill out the paper work in 5 minutes? I don&apos;t have to be a mechanic to know they just pulled the code and made up the rest -- so sickening. This was Toyota of Mt. Pleasant, TX for reference.

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• CO

  @Coyote5555 · 5 years ago

  Great explanation on CCs... it&apos;s nice to hear a simplified explanation of how they function etc.

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• KI

  @kimdavis5631 · 5 years ago

  This is real world 🌎 instruction brother, not another lecture by a boring professor. I’m not a car guy, but a good teacher like you has made this car topic so interesting!

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