Lexus GS300 New Catalytic Converter Options?

[sjpitts]

There are a couple of Lexus GS 300s in my family. I have an 2001, and my daughter and SIL have a 2003. These are great cars, with great straight six engines (the 2JZ-GE).

The 2003 is throwing codes, and the mechanic in Utah said the catalytic converters are clogged needs a new exhaust manifold. The mechanic also said they would only install OEM-- which are very very expensive. Like 5K worth of expensive.

But there are lots of non OEM options, but I am not sure which if any are good. And which should be avoided. Ebay has several, Amazon, Parts Geek. RockAuto has several.

Some are as cheap as 200 bucks.

And I have heard that some people just cut the old cats out of the manifold and weld new ones in. Or even just "unclogging" the cats.

As I said before, this car lives in Utah, and it does need to pass an emission inspection. And we don't necessarily want the cheapest--if decent quality can be found for a good price.

Does anyone have any recommendations?

And while I have you-- is there a decent Lexus car forum out there? I know there are a couple, but I don't if one will get you better advice than any other.

Jared

 

[rexington14]

GS300's are nice. How many miles and in what condition? Maybe wait till a 25% off Toyota parts sale and see what you can get the OEM part for if keeping the car long term?

And of course double check / second opinion on if the manifold / cat is truly the problem and it's not something simpler like an o2 sensor.

 

[sjpitts]

It is in pretty good shape with about 205K miles on it. I just checked Lexus Parts Now and it now says the OEM is discontinued.

But I found another option-- a Dorman EPA version (not CA) on Amazon for 511 bucks.

I feel like Dorman is a big company, so maybe it is worth paying a little extra to get one from them.

Jared

 

[alia176]

I'm not sure if this will contribute to this thread but any thoughts given to cleaning the cats? I know they're odd shape but if they're clogged, just clean them using a deep vat, muriatic acid, etc. I'm sure plenty of vids and info exist on the 'net. It's not like the expensive contents inside gets depleted or anything, just gets dirty over time. The hot exhaust doesn't get "scrubbed" by the catalyst so the CEL comes on. Hell, you can cut the cats out, clean them, then re-weld them back on or reattach them using V band clamps for ease of removal the next time. IMHO, the OEM cats are the best anyway as they have a higher % of the precious metals inside vs any aftermarket units.

Edit, found some vids on YT:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cleaning+catalytic+converter