2005 Tundra P0420 After Thief Steals Cat (with video) (1 Viewer)

[Dork]

Hey all

I have a 2005 Tundra, 300,000km on it, I got to use as a work vehicle. About 2 weeks after I bought it, thief steals one of the cats from it. I won't go into that whole story, but you can watch the security camera footage down below.

I bought a new cat and o2 sensor. Install, clear codes, drive for 50km and then I get P0420, low efficiency bank 1.

My assumption is that because there's one old sensor and one new sensor, the readings are probably different so computer doesn't compute. Any thoughts or things to test before I start throwing parts at it?

Scum at work:

 

[Jgrauman]

Nice of him to back in and then tilt the license plate for a good view to the camera

 

[Weedhopper]

I think your assumption is correct. I had one sensor replaced on the Lexus and the other sensor didn’t like that. Replaced the second sensor and all is well.

Looks like the guy beat the book getting the cat out of the truck.

 

[LINUS]

+1 to what you & @Weedhopper think.

Makes the most sense, and aside from the cat only part changed.
(Guessing you did a visual and the wiring to OE O2 sensor isn’t cut/damaged by thief).

I’d say pull the OE one & clean with a new SS brush, but 90% of the swap labor would just be getting your 300K one to come out, so sorta a win/lose for time investment that may not even fix anything.

If you have the moneyz to buy a fresh O2 sensor, prob your smart/easiest way, plus you can soak the isht out of the old one in penetrating oil for a week & not be worried about the sensor.

FWIW, I had exact same issue when my OBD2 80 had the 2nuts corrode off & I literally popped the front O2 sensor like a champagne cork (super common I learned). That tripped the PO code until I got 2 SS nuts & reinserted/cleared the code.

 

[Dork]

Sounds good, thanks, I'll give a new sensor a shot first. They're about $100 here, so it's not the end of the world, but also not the happiest of things I could spend that money on. The cat itself is about $250, so if i can avoid that, all the better.

Regarding the video, cops are doing nothing about it. According to them, the vehicle belongs to some old man and wasn't reported stolen. They won't actually investigate, like even talk to the old man, because it's just a petty theft, and there's no money in investigating such things. Even if they caught him, since there's only evidence of this one crime, he would get less than a slap on the wrist. But, they always want us to report all crime, no matter how small. This way the police department has more "open cases" that aren't being solved, so when they go to the city for budget talks they can argue the need for more officers...

 

[Dork]

I had to drive 900km for a job yesterday, so I figured it's a good time to install a new sensor. Drove for 2 hours, no problems. Filled up with fuel, get the same code again. Clear it, drive for 2 1/2 more hours, stop, do some work. Drive for another 2 1/2 hours, still all good. Stop in the same town to fill up again, code pops up again right away.

Looks like it's just gonna be one of those things...

 

[vipergrhd]

Did the scum bag been tracked down and get his head cut off? Make sure you post that video.

 

[LINUS]

Did you try disconnecting the battery to see if the ECU “learns” to put up with the different values between O2 sensors?

I just had a “moment of clarity” where when I ‘champagne corked’ mine in the 80, I think I had to do that............but I was just remounting mine & I bet there’s alot of new tech between a ‘97 FZJ80 & a Mid-00’s 2UZ platform.

Maybe, IDK - worst case you waste 10mins popping the terminal loose & wait/remount.

Seeing any of the idiot lights singularly drives me more batsh!t insane than anything.

 

[Dork]

@LINUS I did that the first time, before I had a bluetooth obd2 thingy. Haven't tried since installing new sensor though.

The light doesn't bother me greatly, especially when i know what it is. However, this truck is supposed to just be a stop gap. I'd like to sell it in less than a year, and the more money I throw at it, the more that hurts.

 

[Dork]

Did the scum bag been tracked down and get his head cut off? Make sure you post that video.

I wish. That took place at 3:15pm, I had just gotten home, and gone in the house 5 minutes earlier. If I had caught him, he woulda been getting steel toes in his ribs continually so he couldn't get up while I waited on the phone with 911.
Then, I would also be serving time for assault with a weapon, and he'd be free.

 

[LINUS]

@Dork - 10-4 on trying not to throw $$ at this pre-planned vehicle sale.

On a related note, I got hit for a gross loss of over $6K when a thief took some sets of BMW wheels & other random stuff out of our shop when I was on vacation ~2yrs back.
I initially wish I’d caught him in the act, but I’d have had a 2A stick in hand, so I’d probably have acted & fought a self-defense case, so big picture it was best he got away initially.
(Neighbor tipped me pic I had on my game-cam was son of a landscaper he used).

Reality of catching a criminal:
I have a good friend / longtime coworker who I used to shoot with real regular who circa 2005 shot 2 home intruders, killing 1 and the headshot the other one had left him a permanently retarded & drooling mess who is in hospice care (was a father/son duo - dad dead, early 20’s kid now a potato). Sad, really.
He sat in jail for over 100 days before he was cleared of all charges.
He’s kinda got a bad taste for 2A toys now even though he was vindicated, quit going with us to range time.

God/the Universe/Karma (whatever you choose) - let me at least go on a pretty wild little anger/adrenaline recovery run & I got some of it back, sadly the “uninvited immigrant” got barely a slap after arrest/court, but I got a chuckle from the local sheriff deputies who responded when I called & had eyes on some of my sh!t & the 1 of the 2 pukes scared/hiding in his apt (lived in the local “little Mexico” apt complex).
Some are guys I know from the range so it was extra funny (gotta love small towns).

Your guy will only go **so long** before another camera or person/LEO catches him, and he never sleeps as good as us.
That thought always makes me happy