Catalytic converter replacement

[andyb63]

Anyone know of where to source other than Lexus directly.  Bank 2 sensors and Cat are not working according to error codes I have checked myself and had confirmed by local garage also.  Lexus want over £1000!  I have 2005 GS300 with 107k so  £1k for one converter  for car of that age and mileage is daft.  

[IanA2]

I had a full system SS replacement done a few years ago by Tony Banks: https://www.tonybanks.co.uk/ for a fair bit les than a grand.

About 800.00 squidaroonies iirc. Life time transferable guarantee to boot. He has a very good rep. I found out about via the MB Club.

 

hth.

 

[Normski]

17 hours ago, IanA2 said:

I had a full system SS replacement done a few years ago by Tony Banks: https://www.tonybanks.co.uk/ for a fair bit les than a grand.

About 800.00 squidaroonies iirc. Life time transferable guarantee to boot. He has a very good rep. I found out about via the MB Club.

 

hth.

 

This. Also used Tony. Top chap and always has a Lexus in getting some work down so is very experienced 

[Nails]

I really wouldn't bother. Mine does this and it still passes the MOT fine, the tester just turns the light off and emissions wise it is fine. If it starts to fail emissions tests you might have to get it changed. Just live with the light being on is my advice. 

[Britprius]

5 hours ago, Nails said:

I really wouldn't bother. Mine does this and it still passes the MOT fine, the tester just turns the light off and emissions wise it is fine. If it starts to fail emissions tests you might have to get it changed. Just live with the light being on is my advice. 

A warning light is now an automatic failure under the new MOT test procedure. Even taking the bulb out if it is a compulsory requirement will still fail. The tester should turn on the ignition, and watch for all the lights to come on, and go out one by one.

John.

[Nails]

On 2/14/2019 at 3:18 PM, Britprius said:

A warning light is now an automatic failure under the new MOT test procedure. Even taking the bulb out if it is a compulsory requirement will still fail. The tester should turn on the ignition, and watch for all the lights to come on, and go out one by one.

John.

That is true, but my mechanic is friendly and will just turn the light off. It takes a while to come back on and certainly won't come back on during the MOT. 

[Britprius]

3 hours ago, Nails said:

That is true, but my mechanic is friendly and will just turn the light off. It takes a while to come back on and certainly won't come back on during the MOT. 

While I can see to some extent the reason you would do this it is not exactly eco friendly. If stopped by a roadside vehicle check could involve a fine, a notice to get the problem fixed, and a retest at one of the government MOT testing stations "not your local garage". 
I know the chances of this are slim, but the number of car roadside check points are growing.

John.

[Lwerewolf]

You also mentioned O2 failure - if it's the front ones (doubt it as that'll switch off all emissions-related checks until you've fixed it), you'd better replace it. You don't want your engine running far from stoich.

As for the cats and if it's the rear O2s - swap O2s and see if it's still the same bank or the other. Then, check for leaks - y-pipe in particular. Exhaust parts including catalytic converters directly from Lexus are bound to be very expensive, but killing a cat nowadays... unless your car is burning oil and you're running a high phosphorus one... or you've somehow gotten leaded fuel in your car... and even then, pretty rare. At any rate, second hand low mileage ones or aftermarket should be way cheaper.

Finally, that light being always on means if something else develops, you might not get any warning.

Side note about the manifolds - a lot of aftermarket ones are listed to work with all of the rwd-application GR motors - that means all 2nd gen IS and 3rd gen GS cars, at least. Not sure if the cats on the OEM versions are the same, but if they are... way more scrapyard pulls are possible. Low mileage is250s should be plenty 😄