Replacing catalytic converters

[TheMightyGonzo]

For what its worth, I had my raptor headers installed, plus two 200cel cats supplied and fitted, the third cat delete done on the GC for $650. Reasonable i thought.

Coupled with the latest and greatest KiDo update, the car is a sweet sounding menace.

Damn. Just so I'm clear, you already had the headers, and it was 650 to install them and get that extra work done? If so, that's a very tempting option for replacing the system, provided it's not just a sensor error.

[julianhaami]

Yea bro thats right, already had the headers. Got it done at Mufflers to the max (previously Ashmore Exhaust). The boss man there was great to deal with.

Get a tune, KiDo is the way to go. Your car will thank you for it.

[vertix]

Yea bro thats right, already had the headers. Got it done at Mufflers to the max (previously Ashmore Exhaust). The boss man there was great to deal with.

Get a tune, KiDo is the way to go. Your car will thank you for it.

Pretty much same deal for me, already bought headers from Tim, then just brought my own 200cel cats (bought for about $180 each) and got it all installed for just under $400.

[TheMightyGonzo]

I've just sorted headers tonight.
Do you have any problems with the 200cel cats triggering errors from your o2 sensors?

[alexeiwoody]

I've just sorted headers tonight.
Do you have any problems with the 200cel cats triggering errors from your o2 sensors?

If the problem is just that particular sensor playing up - you just switch that CEL off. It's only used by Subaru for emissions.

Your tuner can switch it off for you. There is a list of all the CELs on your ECU and you can switch off any you want. Most of them are there for good reason, and you should only fiddle with ones that don't pose any threat to your car. In this case, once you have a higher flowing exhaust and a more aggressive tune....leaving the emissions CEL on is asking for it.

Edit: Be mindful that you have another sensor in the exhaust, the "front one" (or two on the H6, I don't know as I haven't played with H6s ). The point is - this is the sensor your ECU uses to control the air and the fuel mix. If the front sensor is faulty - the only thing to do is get a new one.

[TheMightyGonzo]

Car's booked in to have the exaust looked at this weekend, so I should know once and for all if it's a sensor or cat problem. I'll post up the results once I have them, should help anyone else in a similar situation.

[TheMightyGonzo]

Update: Sensors are all fine, the coating on the inside of the cats is worn out so they're not processing exhaust, which triggered the check engine light.

Next step is to put on new headers, high flow cats, and mufflers.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get my head around this, you're all great.

-Nick

[alexeiwoody]

Update: Sensors are all fine, the coating on the inside of the cats is worn out so they're not processing exhaust, which triggered the check engine light.

Next step is to put on new headers, high flow cats, and mufflers.

Thanks to everyone who helped me get my head around this, you're all great.

-Nick

Cool

I feel a build thread coming up....

[TheMightyGonzo]

I feel a build thread coming up....

I'll be starting to work on the car in coming weeks, may as well start a progress thread.

[sox]

Just bought my Subaru MY07 3.0R Spec B wagon with 75K had it for a month. Just got a nice surprise ECU light on cruise light blinking and S symbol on. Taken to my Subaru dealer, bad news Cats need to be replaced at a cost of $6550, what a joke!
I have been driving for 32 years, with cars like Holden, Nissan, Bmw, Toyota and Subaru and have never seen anything like this. I must have really bad luck, manager at dealer says they must of used bad fuel like Safeway type, anyway have done some research and have read all your posts thx for the info.
I can get them replace from a exhaust place for $1000 Is this a good price? Ive priced Magnaflow for the Cats alone Cost is $308 each I think i need the Euro 4 type and also these cats have 2 OS sensors on them. Should i change the sensors as well?

Car still drives well no problems at all, while i had it the Dealer Ive done the 75k service. Now the error light is gone, car still drives as normal. Spoke to manager he suggests when i replace Cats i bring car back so they can replace all sensors on cats and reset ECU for a cost of $1800. Another joke! Is this necessary? He says they get contaminated and should be replaced. Car shows 14.6l/100 fuel eco this seems high, its V8 territory. My understanding if Cats are gone it would choke engine, which might lead to bad fuel economy.

[WIDELOAD]

...

Get a second opinion. Don't take what stealerships say as gospel. Someone from Melb might be able to suggest an independent subaru specialist for you to go to.

[TheMightyGonzo]

Just bought my Subaru MY07 3.0R Spec B wagon with 75K had it for a month. Just got a nice surprise ECU light on cruise light blinking and S symbol on. Taken to my Subaru dealer, bad news Cats need to be replaced at a cost of $6550, what a joke!

I feel your pain, I flew to Sydney to get my car and about 1/2 way back to Melbourne it started throwing check engine lights. Such a pain in the ass.

I can get them replace from a exhaust place for $1000 Is this a good price? Ive priced Magnaflow for the Cats alone Cost is $308 each I think i need the Euro 4 type and also these cats have 2 OS sensors on them. Should i change the sensors as well?

1000 seems to be a pretty reasonable price for the exhaust, I was quoted around 1100 at performance exhaust vermont (including installation of some raptor headers) As for the sensors, I got my car KiDo tuned and Matt just turned off the second O2 sensors for me. Haven't had any issues with it since then.

Car still drives well no problems at all, while i had it the Dealer Ive done the 75k service. Now the error light is gone, car still drives as normal. Spoke to manager he suggests when i replace Cats i bring car back so they can replace all sensors on cats and reset ECU for a cost of $1800. Another joke! Is this necessary? He says they get contaminated and should be replaced. Car shows 14.6l/100 fuel eco this seems high, its V8 territory. My understanding if Cats are gone it would choke engine, which might lead to bad fuel economy.

If you get your cats replaced and still continue to get CELs from the second O2 sensor then replacing it is an option, however for a much lower price you can just get your car tuned somewhere and get them to turn the sensors off. When my car started throwing CEL's I took it to Subaru, they plugged into the ECU, got rid of the error code and I was happy until it came back on 20 minutes later.

Car shows 14.6l/100 fuel eco this seems high, its V8 territory. My understanding if Cats are gone it would choke engine, which might lead to bad fuel economy.

It really depends on what you mean by 'the cats are gone'. In my case, the catalytic coating on the inside of the cats was worn away, so the cats weren't processing the exhaust, triggering the CEL. If your cats have collapsed however, then you could have some negative effects on performance. Having said all that, I'm not an exhaust specialist. Take your car to someone who knows what they're doing, and they'll be able to give you a better idea of what's going on with the car.

Good luck man

[sox]

Just bought my Subaru MY07 3.0R Spec B wagon with 75K had it for a month. Just got a nice surprise ECU light on cruise light blinking and S symbol on. Taken to my Subaru dealer, bad news Cats need to be replaced at a cost of $6550, what a joke!

I feel your pain, I flew to Sydney to get my car and about 1/2 way back to Melbourne it started throwing check engine lights. Such a pain in the ass.

I can get them replace from a exhaust place for $1000 Is this a good price? Ive priced Magnaflow for the Cats alone Cost is $308 each I think i need the Euro 4 type and also these cats have 2 OS sensors on them. Should i change the sensors as well?

1000 seems to be a pretty reasonable price for the exhaust, I was quoted around 1100 at performance exhaust vermont (including installation of some raptor headers) As for the sensors, I got my car KiDo tuned and Matt just turned off the second O2 sensors for me. Haven't had any issues with it since then.

Car still drives well no problems at all, while i had it the Dealer Ive done the 75k service. Now the error light is gone, car still drives as normal. Spoke to manager he suggests when i replace Cats i bring car back so they can replace all sensors on cats and reset ECU for a cost of $1800. Another joke! Is this necessary? He says they get contaminated and should be replaced. Car shows 14.6l/100 fuel eco this seems high, its V8 territory. My understanding if Cats are gone it would choke engine, which might lead to bad fuel economy.

If you get your cats replaced and still continue to get CELs from the second O2 sensor then replacing it is an option, however for a much lower price you can just get your car tuned somewhere and get them to turn the sensors off. When my car started throwing CEL's I took it to Subaru, they plugged into the ECU, got rid of the error code and I was happy until it came back on 20 minutes later.

Car shows 14.6l/100 fuel eco this seems high, its V8 territory. My understanding if Cats are gone it would choke engine, which might lead to bad fuel economy.

It really depends on what you mean by 'the cats are gone'. In my case, the catalytic coating on the inside of the cats was worn away, so the cats weren't processing the exhaust, triggering the CEL. If your cats have collapsed however, then you could have some negative effects on performance. Having said all that, I'm not an exhaust specialist. Take your car to someone who knows what they're doing, and they'll be able to give you a better idea of what's going on with the car.

Good luck man

Nick, How did you confirm you cats were worn? How or were can i take the car to check if the dealer is correct? they don't do anything other than plug a device and get a code i would assume. The dealer must have reset my ECU during my service so far so good its been a week with no errors lights. I see we have the same car, you mentioned you got a KiDo tune, how much did it cost? is it worth it? what gains can i expect, is it all for power or fuel economy?

[TheMightyGonzo]

I took my car to an exhaust specialist, they ran some diagnostics, then actually looked at the cats to confirm that the coating was worn. Not sure if they did that with a camera or if they actually pulled part of the exhaust off.

As for the KIDO tune, cost me around 400, but totally worth it. Gets rid of the flat spot before around 3800rpm, and my fuel efficiency is better now than it was stock. With myself and 4 other guys in the car, along with a whole load of snow gear, itll still get around 600km on a tank. It also makes acceleration through first and second and third gears absolutely terrifying. Well worth the money.

[studbag]

Had my 07 3.0rb throw the error with the cruise light flashing, Subaru wanted $5000 to replace mine! Needless to say I waited for the error to go away and have left the exhaust alone.

I'm pretty sure it's not something that will immediately cause catestrophic damage to my car, but hey, It's an excuse for a new exhaust.
Have you had any problems with the cats since? Does your car still throw the same error very often?

Two weeks ago the CEL started flashing again with the cruise light too, I'd be 99% certain it's the same issue but it hasn't gone away so I guess I'll have to do something about it this time.