Stolen Catalytic Converter

jpless

jpless

New member
So I left work yesterday and my car sounded like a throaty v8. Sure enough, someone stole my catalytic converter in the hour and 45 minutes i had it parked in the company garage. Ive read up on thefts on the west coast but I'm over on the east. Clear saw blade cuts through. What I was wondering is how to check for the O2 sensor. Some other reports mention theirs were taken at the same time. I ordered a new exhaust system already ($240), a Doug Thorley from AutoAnything.com but now with the possibility of having the O2 sensor missing I want to make sure I fix it all. Please let me know how to check for the sensor.

Thanks!
 
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02 sensor

You may have 2, most Toyota's have one before the cat and then another after the cat. If you look under the truck, right before the actual Cat. you should see the screw mount, where the O2 sensor goes.

What I don't get is how your truck is monitoring it now. In theory since you Cat is gone, the back O2 sensor is shouldn't be getting anything since you have a gap now.

Also the front O2 should be way off in it's reading.

Paul C
 
Bummer. Reminds me of when cats first came out... in the UK at least theft was a big problem. Now I guess it's just because the prices of those precious metals has gotten so high.

Same reason that morons regularly get electrocuted trying to steel copper wire from electrical substations (although at least that's Darwinism at work).
 
platinum, palladium, and rhodium... the three most commonly used precious metals in catalysts. Recycling old catalysts is big business.

Platinum's the most valuable of the metals by far... latest market price is about $1300 an ounce. I think it's almost as high as it's ever been.
 
Not sure where the bungs for the O2 sensors are for your 4Runner (I'm well versed in 94-01 Rams not 4Runners LOL) but there may have been a bung in the exhaust pipe pre-cat, which would be your Upstream O2 sensor, which is what the PCM uses to set air/fuel mixture. It could have also had a bung in the Cat's outer shell right where the Y Pipe comes into it. If this O2 sensor is missing, you SHOULD NOT DRIVE as your computer may run the engine so rich that the fuel in they cylinders would "wash" the oil off and contaminate the crankcase oil, and score the cylinders/pistons badly.

The O2 Sensor that is post-cat, or Downstream, does not affect air fuel mixture, but rather it tells the PCM data about the cat's efficiency and will turn on a MIL if it sees an out of range reading. It will not harm anything if the downstream O2 sensor is gone or damaged if you need to drive it somewhere.

Not sure if this is exactly how the PCM works on the 4Runner, this is just the basics of how it works on my Ram so I assume the 4Runner's is basically the same, or like most any other OBDII vehicle's emissions system.
 
Converters and sensor locations

IIRC, the V6 uses 4 converters, two for each cylinder bank. There are O2 sensors (actually I think they're air/fuel sensors) on each side. One in front of the first converter and one after that converter. No sensor after the 2nd converter I think.
 
thanks guys. looks like my sensors are still there. my exhaust comes in on wednesday and now im debating whether to try and install it myself or pay almost as much for install as i did for the system.
 
DIY... is the way to go

If i were you, i would do that myself. if its out of my hands, then i'll get it installed. but m pretty sure you should be able to do it. good luck



jpless said:
thanks guys. looks like my sensors are still there. my exhaust comes in on wednesday and now im debating whether to try and install it myself or pay almost as much for install as i did for the system.
Click to expand...
 
Re: what....

Sams984Runner said:
i did not know that they start stealing cats too. Damn these thieves.
Click to expand...

Is your system a Cat-back exhaust? If so, it won't have a new cat included, right?
 
yea its cat-back, no cat included. The shop down the road said it would take like an hour maybe 2, and cost around 140 max. I might just go ahead and do that. I went out and bought some sockets today and tried loosening bolts but they were pretty sticky. There were also some hangers that im not sure of how to remove. I've never done something like this before so i figure for a little over a hundred im willing to pay the pros. I just want my truck back as soon as possible since im stuck driving a minivan in the meantime.
 
I feel your pain, this is all to common in the MD/DC/NoVA area.

Luckily my cat is hollow, so if they could even get close, they'd get nothing. :D
 
fourwd1 said:
Luckily my cat is hollow, so if they could even get close, they'd get nothing. :D
Click to expand...

Hahaha, I know that one, my 2000 Ram has true duals with headers, had two CarSounds high flow cats on it. One only lasted about 10K miles before it started rattling. I cut them off, gutted them both, and put the cans back up there for visual. So, I invite a cat theif to come steal mine, all I'll find in the morning is two empty cat canisters laying on the ground and maybe a few fist marks in the doors LOL.

That is, if they could even get under the truck with the BellTech 2-4 lowering kit on it!!
 
does some1 sell a test tube I so can keep my cat from being stolen? or at least have it ready when my cat gets stolen, so the truck will not be so loud?
 
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Wow, if this becomes a seious problem, I think I'm going to create some sort of catalytic converter "skid plate" to protect the cat from thieves and offroading!

Think about it....if someone slides under a 4Runner to do a quick hack job on a catalytic converter, I doubt he's going to waste his time trying to remove a skid plate just to get at the cat.
 
Yea thats true. I thought about somethign like that. Im thinking of having it spotwelded but i dont know if that would just result in a failed attempt to steal it and leave me with cut pipes. Either way, id still have the cat.

I was expecting it to come next week since it was shipped UPS ground yesterday. However, I checked this morning and its already in my city and out for delivery! I just got Halo 3 last night and my plans were to play that all night after work but now I'll play it until the cat comes and then play with my truck!
 
UPS failed delivery on Monday, I picked it up from them on Tuesday. The old bolts were rusted through so I had to take it to a shop. This ended up costing me another 500 bucks since the 02 sensor was also rusted. They had to drill and tap the bolts and then install the cat. All in all, I spent about $950 bucks, 400 more than I should have if i had been able to get the rusted bolts off myself. Either way, I am very pleased with the result. It's fairly loud but so far I like it, although it takes a little getting used to.
 
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