New Cats Omg? Gs430 2005/2006

[brian155]

Hi all. My pride and joy has developed a fault " engine management light/abs light/traction light all amber in colour so I asked the question on here a bit ago and members answers ranged from oxygen sensor to air leek or blocked cats. Anyway took it to my local "very good" auto electrician in Stoke on Trent DJ Auto's who put it on diagnosis and told me that p0420 left bank cat was knackered and the right bank cat was on it's way out as well, he also tells me that "non genuine" cats don't have enough cells inside the cat and won't last more than a couple of months. His findings are based on the readings on his diagnostic machine before and after cat sensors, the cost of genuine Lexus cats £1500 each plus fitting, what I am going to try unless someone on here tells me otherwise as iv'e got nothing to loose apart from £40 is to put 4 bottles of Cataclean into a full tank of fuel and hope for the best does anyone know on here if his non genuine cats is true has anyone else put non genuine cats on? and fixed the problem your answers will be very welcome.

Thanks for your replys in advance Brian

[wendle]

Hi Brian Sorry cant answer your question , but you could perhaps try

a breakers yard, or some one breaking a car

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/LEXUS-GS430-4-3L-V8-PETROL-2005-2009-EXHAUST-CATALYTIC-CONVERTERS-CAT-LAMBDA-/181622667033?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a498df719

ok had a couple of minutes to spare and i know this is not a good example and i don't expect you would go with one from this country

[ikgs300]

I'd suggest Terracleaning the engine. Then driving hard for a long run. Worked for my friend.

Sent from my Iphone using Lexus OC

[ColinBarber]

get a second opinion based on CO reading taken from the exhaust to check cat operation, not based on oxygen sensor readings. The upstream sensors could be faulty which cause the downstream sensors to trigger a cat below efficiency error.

[brian155]

Hi Ian, Thanks for your reply not sure where in or around Stafford where I live is there anyone who does this Terraclean had a look on You Tube looks interesting in the mean time I took my car to DJ Auto's in Stoke who put it on his diagnosis machine and he informs me that my cats are knackered booked in for tomorrow 23/01/2015 at a cost of £1078 inc vat for 2 genuine cats fitted sounds a bit better than his original off the top of his head quote of £3000 phew!

Cheers Brian

[Stuno1]

If you need cats you could always get a quote from a good custom exhaust company who will probably fit high flow cats for a fraction of that price. No point wasting money on fluids if the cars are knackered.

Stu

[brian155]

Hi Colin, Thanks for your reply Duncan from DJ Auto's explained everything to me during the diagnosis on my car showing me the up stream and down stream figures although he didn't do a CO reading from the exhaust, I would like to think he hasn't duped me as he has excellent recommendations from all who use him and he did explain during the diagnosis what was wrong. His total cost for the job is £1078 which taking into account the cost of the 2 cats £890 plus £40 for new gaskets he's charging me £157 for fitting which I don't think is bad.

Thanks Brian

[brian155]

Hi Stu, Thanks for your reply I did call a couple of custom exhaust and cat manufactures localish to me and none seemed to offer the same or similar amount of cells that are in the genuine Lexus ones and those that were close cost more than the genuine Lexus cats

strange that anyway car booked in at D J Autos tomorrow so should be back to normal and judging by the googleing these cats only last around 100,000 miles so at 98,000 they were due to give up the ghost.

Many Thanks Brian

[Stuno1]

Yeah that's not surprising they usually deal in high flow cats only so allow for MOT pass, don't throw warning lights and slightly improve exhaust gas flow hence lower cell count.

Stu

[brian155]

Hi All, an update of my P0420 fault code.

Well iv'e had both cats replaced with genuine Lexus ones by D J Auto's but the lights and fault code reappear after a short time few days got back in touch with Duncan at D J Auto's took car back to be put on diagnostic machine he wasn't happy with the left bank up stream reading wasn't smooth as the right bank reading so he recommended a new up stream 02 sensor put that on this morning slight improvement on the smoothness reading but he still wasn't happy with it he then checked the spark plugs to see of they had been replaced with the correct ones during its Lexus servicing and they were ok lights back on with same fault code. He is now going to contact Lexus Technical Department to seek their advice because he's a bit suspect about the cats he had from Lexus because they arrived unboxed and possibly not Lexus genuine ones?. If the Technical department come back and insist the problem is definitely the cats then Toyota/Lexus are in for a right roasting. Anyone had any problems with parts from Lexus not being genuine or can anyone shed any light on possible fix/cure as I'm now £1300 out of pocket and fault still there.

Kind Regards Brian.

[ColinBarber]

Was the new upstream sensor replaced with a genuine Denso sensor? Has the MAF sensor been cleaned? Any air leaks in the exhaust before or around the downstream sensor?

Is there a reason for both cats being replaced, given that the error is just on one bank?

I've never heard of a Lexus dealer supplying non-genuine parts - that's a quick way to lose your franchise.

[brian155]

Hi Colin,

Thanks for your reply the reason why both cats were replaced was the left bank reading on the diagnostic machine indicated

the cat was knackered and Duncan explained that the reading on the right bank "although no fault code" was not far off being knackered as well , so thinking that if the left one is knackered and the right one ain't looking too good he advised and I totally agree

with him like if your n/s brake pads were knackered and your o/s weren't far off you wouldn't just replace the n/s would you?.

Anyway he did replace the 02 up stream sensor with a Lexus supplied one but in regards to the "genuine" cats thing what makes him suspicious is the fact they arrived unboxed and he says that this kind of stuff always comes in sealed boxes. In regards to MAF sensor surely that would affect both banks?. He also did a check for air leaks and even removed a left bank spark plug just to make sure they had been replaced with the right ones as specified by Lexus which they have, this car has always been serviced at Lexus of Leicester from new.

Kind Regards Brian

[black400]

On 1/16/2015 at 9:54 AM, brian155 said:

Hi all. My pride and joy has developed a fault " engine management light/abs light/traction light all amber in colour so I asked the question on here a bit ago and members answers ranged from oxygen sensor to air leek or blocked cats. Anyway took it to my local "very good" auto electrician in Stoke on Trent DJ Auto's who put it on diagnosis and told me that p0420 left bank cat was knackered and the right bank cat was on it's way out as well, he also tells me that "non genuine" cats don't have enough cells inside the cat and won't last more than a couple of months. His findings are based on the readings on his diagnostic machine before and after cat sensors, the cost of genuine Lexus cats £1500 each plus fitting, what I am going to try unless someone on here tells me otherwise as iv'e got nothing to loose apart from £40 is to put 4 bottles of Cataclean into a full tank of fuel and hope for the best does anyone know on here if his non genuine cats is true has anyone else put non genuine cats on? and fixed the problem your answers will be very welcome.

Thanks for your replys in advance Brian

If you are using Cataclean  one bottle per half a thank, I used it on my Subaru worked a treat