Walker Catalytic Converter (or a sad excuse for a CC)

[fish0281]

I ordered a Walker CC and this is the product that was delivered...

Pic 1: The AF sensor bolts are bent to h***, likely because they use low grade threaded rod instead of a proper high-temp bolt. The actual damage was Fedex's fault, but I'm thankful it prevented me from even trying this thing.

Pic 2: There is still a large piece of metal left hanging inside the pipe where they punched through for the AF sensor and it extends into the exhaust stream. It's upstream of the sensor, so it's likely to interfere with the sensor's ability to sense... at some point, it's going to brake off and get lodged in the catalyst. Lastly, they welded the bung directly onto the folds of the bend - probably not the easiest to seal there and will probably fail quickly/easily.

Remaining Pics: Terrible welding, the flange is not perpendicular to the tubing, and more examples of a garbage product.

Needless to say, I'm returning it. I'm sure there are some of you out there who are happy with your Walker product, but I think this is just ridiculous. No wonder we're lucky to get aftermarket cats to last a year!

 

[Stick Figure]

makes me feel a little better that they aren't approved for the 2000+ cali trucks.

 

[bikerjosh]

walker experience

Interesting, I ordered just the weld in cat, so no bungs for the sensor or flanges and it looked in good shape. Had a local guy weld it in, and he mentioned that he was seeing a lot more of that brand here in California. It's tougher to get a cat here becuase they have to be CARB approved, and installers won't even touch them w/o the paperwork. Not sure on the idea of them only lasting a year, but I think in california they have to last 5 or 10 years (sorry I'm little fuzzy, no coffee yet and a 7 week old at home).
Josh

 

[fish0281]

Yeah, the life-span of aftermarket cats is definitely not empirical, most people that post are only posting cause it stopped working or threw a code again, but that's about the only infortion they share.

I'm willing to bet the cat itself is fine, but the 'direct fit' parts they added onto it is amazingly terrible. I think weld-in is the way to go, if you know of a good welder/exhaust shop. Are you going to have yours welded into your existing exhaust pipe or build up new stuff

 

[bikerjosh]

Had it welded into existing exhaust pipe, but that already replaced since PO had a magnaflow low restriction cat that burnt up attached to a magnaflow muffler. I couldn't pass smog in california w/o it. I ended up having to my exhaust apart when I installed my cbi bumper but now it's all good.
Josh

 

[fish0281]

...PO had a magnaflow low restriction cat that burnt up...

That's ironic - assuming you don't have crazy high miles or an excessively rich-running engine - more evidence of aftermarket cats having short life spans


Hope the new one works out well though!

 

[madbomber08]

What is your plan now? Obviously you need a new cat but I would assume dealer price for one would be outrageous.

 

[fish0281]

Yeeeaaahhhh... Not really sure.

I will probably buy the URD Simulator first, just to get my CEL off (don't want the P0420 code to mask other, more important codes). Then I may try looking a bit more closely to see if it is actually plugging/melting or just operating slightly below the threshold... Maybe flushing it with some sort of cleaner will help reactivate the catalyst bed if only for a while. (Interesting, if nothing else: Reactivation of an aged commercial three-way catalyst by oxalic and citric acid washing. | Mendeley)

If I can't get my shipping costs refunded, I may have them (Autozone) send out another CC from a different mfg. The part price jumps significantly from the $175 Walker to the $300 Bosal and I can only hope it's built better.

Toyotapartsales.com has Toyota CCs on sale for $938.75 (front) and $1095.88 (rear)... hurry now, these prices won't last! :whipping2

 

[bikerjosh]

That's ironic - assuming you don't have crazy high miles or an excessively rich-running engine - more evidence of aftermarket cats having short life spans


Hope the new one works out well though!

Magnaflow cats have a pretty bad reputation in some areas. This was a non-carb approved CAT so it would have probably failed the visual inspection. Yes, they even crawled under my truck wrote down the number and put it in the computer to see if it was an approved cat. :gun6:

 

[ryanarcane]

Same Boat Need Help with Catalytic Converter replacement 2004 V6

Hi Everybody

I'm new to this forum, I have been using this forum since 2017 but I could find mos to of the stuff I needed in other posts but this one is a bummer.

Basically I need to replace my rear left cat code P0420 but decided to have both rear CATs replaced. I need to do this by this September. I have researched a bit I was initially hoping on having Bosal or Magnaflow to have something in accordance with NY stipulations. But unfortunately couldn't find anything. I did another search on RockAuto and only found AP emissions are C.A.R.B. compliant. The parts are priced around ~ half of OEM CATS 17410-31380, 17450-31010 which is favorable. Problem is I read around the forum and other places that even Bosal and Magnaflow sometimes don't last over 2/3 years and in some cases CEL comes back on due to lack of sufficient precious metal in the CATs. I don't want to be in that boat and end up using a simulator for the CEL. I have also heard that after market brands do have early defects which lead leaks after just a couple of years. What is your advice in this situation would you recommend I go with OEM ~1500 from McGeorge toyota and have peace of mind or are there any reliable aftermarkets which are NY/CARB compliant and would last reasonably long (5-6 years) and wouldn't turn on the CEL. Appreciate the advice and expertise and thanks in advance!

 

[Bad Luck]

Hi Everybody

I'm new to this forum, I have been using this forum since 2017 but I could find mos to of the stuff I needed in other posts but this one is a bummer.

Basically I need to replace my rear left cat code P0420 but decided to have both rear CATs replaced. I need to do this by this September. I have researched a bit I was initially hoping on having Bosal or Magnaflow to have something in accordance with NY stipulations. But unfortunately couldn't find anything. I did another search on RockAuto and only found AP emissions are C.A.R.B. compliant. The parts are priced around ~ half of OEM CATS 17410-31380, 17450-31010 which is favorable. Problem is I read around the forum and other places that even Bosal and Magnaflow sometimes don't last over 2/3 years and in some cases CEL comes back on due to lack of sufficient precious metal in the CATs. I don't want to be in that boat and end up using a simulator for the CEL. I have also heard that after market brands do have early defects which lead leaks after just a couple of years. What is your advice in this situation would you recommend I go with OEM ~1500 from McGeorge toyota and have peace of mind or are there any reliable aftermarkets which are NY/CARB compliant and would last reasonably long (5-6 years) and wouldn't turn on the CEL. Appreciate the advice and expertise and thanks in advance!

This is the 3rd gen section (1996-2002) so I can't really give you any specific recommendations. Try asking or searching in the 4th gen section. To search specifically in the 4th gen section use this: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&rlz=1C1QJDB_enUS784US793&sxsrf=ALeKk00o7tlr9cMn4-m2Zuc9cJLfHHhTxQ%3A1594393395611&ei=M4MIX7r7JJKasQWI06j4Aw&q=site%3Atoyota-4Runner.org%2F4th-gen-t4rs%2F&oq=site%3Atoyota-4Runner.org%2F4th-gen-t4rs%2F&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQA1CudFi8gQFg8JIBaABwAHgAgAFXiAGWA5IBATeYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwj64Oif-sLqAhUSTawKHYgpCj8Q4dUDCAw&uact=5

 

[ryanarcane]

This is the 3rd gen section (1996-2002) so I can't really give you any specific recommendations. Try asking or searching in the 4th gen section. To search specifically in the 4th gen section use this: https://www.google.com/search?newwindow=1&rlz=1C1QJDB_enUS784US793&sxsrf=ALeKk00o7tlr9cMn4-m2Zuc9cJLfHHhTxQ%3A1594393395611&ei=M4MIX7r7JJKasQWI06j4Aw&q=site%3Atoyota-4Runner.org%2F4th-gen-t4rs%2F&oq=site%3Atoyota-4Runner.org%2F4th-gen-t4rs%2F&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQA1CudFi8gQFg8JIBaABwAHgAgAFXiAGWA5IBATeYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-ab&ved=0ahUKEwj64Oif-sLqAhUSTawKHYgpCj8Q4dUDCAw&uact=5

Thank you for specifying my bad!

 

[Bad Luck]

Thank you for specifying my bad!

No worries bud. Good luck!