rx300 exhaust

[john.riminton]

hi, my wife has a 2001 rx300se, from new, 90k, mint and has never gone wrong, so attached to it she wont get rid of it. mot says exhaust has failed emissions and will need complete exhaust system including cats. i know it wont be cheap but cheaper than buying a new car. not worried about stainless anybody got any ideas on a good supplier , many thanks jr.

[Herbie]

You'll probably find that the usual suspects (KwikFit, ATS etc., etc) don't do them anyway so it'll have to be either main dealers or custom stainless.

Probably going back a couple of years so prices will no doubt have gone up, but someone on here got a custom stainless, lifetime guarantee, cat back system for just under £400 if I remember correctly.

[Herbie]

Here you go:

 

 

[Delphius1]

It would be worth asking the mechanic about the emission results. Although cats do eventually wear out, I'd expect them to last a lot longer than 90K.

There's usually some underlying engine issue that kills the cats. Either burning oil or an air leak in the exhaust. Make sure any engine issue is resolved otherwise you could be looking at another big bill in a year's time.

[john.riminton]

many thanks guys, i,m still very sceptical about these results, a cat clean last year solved it but now the lights are back on, i,d be very anoyed if its just an oxygen sensor so i,m going to push the garage for better info. sensors seem to go a lot , ive just had one go on my sc430. cheers

[rich1068]

31 minutes ago, john.riminton said:

i,d be very anoyed if its just an oxygen sensor so i,m going to push the garage for better info

Check and double check. I was getting codes indicating the cats were bad but a fiddle with the sensor and the codes haven't come back.

[Delphius1]

10 hours ago, john.riminton said:

many thanks guys, i,m still very sceptical about these results, a cat clean last year solved it but now the lights are back on, i,d be very anoyed if its just an oxygen sensor so i,m going to push the garage for better info. sensors seem to go a lot , ive just had one go on my sc430. cheers

Having to do anything like a cat clean indicates some issue. Why did the cats need to be cleaned? Were they covered in oil deposits from oil being burned in the combustion chamber?

The matrix of metals in the cat can only work when they are fully exposed to and touching the exhaust gas stream, so coating them reduces the cat efficiency. In some cases the soot from burning oil can start to clog the cat. If the cat efficiency was restored by cleaning the matrix, then I'd talk to the mechanic about it.

High hydrocarbons in the emissions results would point towards oil being burned in the combustion chamber and confirm the reason for needing to clean the cats. The reasons can vary, but it could be down to something as simple as a blocked crankcase breather valve (a £15 part).

Oil in the exhaust will coat everything downstream of the engine, so all the oxygen sensors and all the cats can be affected.

 

[john.riminton]

hi, the plot thickens and i take on board all of your comments. the car burns no oil whatsoever and stays clean throught and no rear smoke at any stages of driving, i shall be asking for explicit confirmation of the problem, thanks.

[Barry14UK]

Take it spark plugs have been changed at appropriate time?

[PUKU]

I had over a year of problems with MIL lights and so called emission issues. It turned out to be a pin hole (or two) right next to the sensors in the exhaust.

We have a local tyre, Battery and exhaust place near us in Shaftesbury. They made up a S/S exhaust front to back for about just under £700 (inlsv) and no more exhaust, sensor or MIL issues. That was two years ago.

Maybe worth checking in with such a place near you if you have one.