empty cat

this is the catalytic converter from a '97 2.7 3rz with 74k on it.

its literally completely empty.

yeah so, the nuts on the flanges had been welded to the bolts both sides of the cat.

previous owner was informed "someone has stolen your catalytic converter"
after taking truck into the shop for CEL. It was suggested by the shop to weld the nuts so it wouldnt happen again.

WTF? Is that common shit?
sounds shady to me.


I have not spent adequate time peering into burned up exhaust parts to conclude weather or not this is normal, but I mean where did all the shit from inside the cat go? obviously P0420 was on, but mechanic told him it was a CEL for the AC.

I wired up a universal cat(ITS JUST RATTLING AROUND LOOSELY)
... and the CEL is gone.

do I need to look down pipe for the crap from the cat, is the muffler likely to be full of CAT GUTS?

anywhoo...
gonna replace the manifold and gaskets tomorrow, and would like to get the damn thing welded on.

someone tell me this is normal please.
guess ill just grind the welds off and go from there.

 

I guess it could happen.

When i had my wrx, the years with the pre turbo cat, the cat guts exploded and got sucked up by the turbo and destroyed the fins.

0 boost, got a new turbo out of it though. The subaru pulled their heads out of their asses and removed the pre turbo cat.

 

Some people will hollow out their cats in belief it will yield more power. Maybe they were intentionally gutted and welded to prevent inspection.

 

I can believe that.
not this time tho.
my oldschool uncle was the original owner
no where to lie, beside the jvc tape deck
nothing was ever done to the truck unless it wasn't working.
the oil got changed sometimes.

 

Funny most stolen cats they are just cut off why mess around with bolts.

I have those bolts break all the time trying to remove them.

If you feel safer I guess you can weld your nuts on.

 

^
what he said. welding won't stop someone from cutting it off if they want to.

the Toyota exhaust has bolts and flanges w/welded nut that connect each piece

 

The converter's element is a ceramic honeycomb structure, that can (I've only seen it twice) break apart and get blown downstream in the exhaust-we found small bits of one once in the muffler input end, and surmised the rest must have gone through and onto the road...

 

That looks awfully clean. When the honeycomb is damaged, it will often clog up, cause an exhaust obstruction, overheat and melt further. In the event it does break up and blow through, it wouldn't look so clean. It looks like someone put in a Mexican catalytic mod, opened up the casing and removed all the internal metals to sell for scrap.

Also, the tech would be able to see what the CEL was for, and there is no such thing as a CEL for an A/C issue.

 

The HVAC is controlled by the ECM and there are a number of "B" (Body) DTCs that indicate HVAC problems. However IDK whether body codes would trigger the MIL on our trucks...

 

There are generic B codes, though they typically have to do with safety related systems, not A/C. The CEL is only to signify the presence of certain P codes, usually P0xxx and P1xxx codes. Note not all P codes will trigger a CEL, but what does can vary from one car make to another. A/C codes are typically P2xxx, iirc.

 

Thieves are getting smarter. Looks like they removed the cat and hollowed it out then put the empty case back on. By the time we found out they were already is South America.

 

^^^^^^^^^^this

the honeycomb in the cat is fragile and can be broken fairly easy.

the honeycomb is the precious metal part that is worth all the money so somebody took the sellable stuff out to steal it and then tried to prevent the owner from finding out by welding the nuts so it couldn't be discovered what they did. whoever did the welding did the sealing.

 

Rare palladium in that honeycomb material. 2800°F melt point. Where all the money is in that thing. $800+ for a new cat for mine,,,back in 2004. "Test pipe" went in.

 

Uhm.. I was just kidding about someone taking the time to hollow out a cat and re-weld it back together. Used cat's are worth $40 tops. OEM cat's are expensive as hell for obvious reason, after market cats are like $80 and contain just as much "rare palladium."

 

The "rare earth" metals of platinum, palladium, and rhodium make a relatively small amount of the material that are in the catalytic converters. This is why even a short time of rich misfiring can ruin the thin coating. The honeycomb is made of a ceramic composite that is only coated in the reactive metals. A $800 OEM catalytic can have about the same amount of precious metals as a $100 aftermarket one. Youre paying for the certification, taxes on manufacturing and environmental fees, and of course dealer item markup.

 

I am interested in how that Toyota emblem got in the cat....

 

Yeah when I got the truck, the only showed P0420. After installing the new cat no more CEL.
Also.. the belt for the AC is missing. When I removed the lower plate, I found a wound up belt, PK875, which from what I can tell is not for my truck.
so, will be doing the belts sometime soon...