New ride for an old guy. (1 Viewer)

[vipergrhd]

Just bought a 4th Gen. this past weekend from one our close friends who no longer wants to fix it, one owner and has 254k very good overall condition. Original Cali car and stayed in the Bay Area since new, well maintained never seen real off-road I will post pictures later after I clean her up our driveway needs expansion for sure it's getting a bit crowded.

 

[Infinity00]

What are you planning to do to it? I got mine a couple of months ago and love it - and I’m with you on having too many vehicles. Wait, I mean, not enough space for all my vehicles

 

[vipergrhd]

What are you planning to do to it? I got mine a couple of months ago and love it - and I’m with you on having too many vehicles. Wait, I mean, not enough space for all my vehicles[/QUO

My plan in the next few weeks is to get her to pass smog, Cat efficiency failure on both sides and very likely will need a pair of Cat. Converters.
I will try a few things before I replace the Cat just maybe I can buy some time and the transfer case is leaking at the actuator which is not a fun job since the case needs to be split open just to replace an o-ring. Maybe get her a mild lift and new shocks once I fix her up.

 

[GXer04]

Before you replace your Cats, check for exhaust leaks at the joints ahead of the 2nd oxygen sensors. I would also check the tightness of the oxygen sensors. Tundra's had a problem where the sensors would rot out of the pipe.

I had the same code when I bought, but I found the leak, and a new gasket fixed it. If you research what the second oxygen sensor does, you'll see that a leak will cause the same code. Cats are like $1200 each and require pulling the motor, so it's worth a shot.

 

[Arailt]

Congrats on the new GX!!

Before you replace your Cats, check for exhaust leaks at the joints ahead of the 2nd oxygen sensors. I would also check the tightness of the oxygen sensors. Tundra's had a problem where the sensors would rot out of the pipe.

I had the same code when I bought, but I found the leak, and a new gasket fixed it. If you research what the second oxygen sensor does, you'll see that a leak will cause the same code. Cats are like $1200 each and require pulling the motor, so it's worth a shot.

There are two sets of cats (1 attached to each manifold and 1 in each of the crossover pipes) on the 470, right? I recently had both manifolds replaced because they were cracked and ticking (which did require loosening the motor mounts). Now it sounds like the exhaust is still leaking from somewhere. The second set of cats in the crossover pipes seem to be easy to replace. I was going to replace them with an aftermarket Y pipe since I've read they're not required to pass emissions (excluding Commiefornia of course). I'll try the gasket first through. Did you replace the gasket between the crossover pipes and the manifolds?

 

[GXer04]

I replaced the gasket on driver's side post Cat just prior to the 2nd O2 sensor. The OEM gasket would not fill the gap due to rust, so I used a rimflex gasket from Amazon. It's a thick soft graphite gasket that will take up the gaps. I think I bought a Mopar gasket based on diameter and trimmed it to fit.

I've had success finding leaks buy feeling for the air with the back of my hand on cold start up.

 

[vipergrhd]

A few updates since I got the 4th Gen. I got the beast to pass smog and I'm not sure if it is a good idea for me to post how I got the codes to clear and not return for the meantime I'm sure some you have researched this and there is a whole bunch of ways to get rid of the Cat eff. codes. I was able to do some maintenance on the vehicle but like what I have mentioned on my first post she is well cared for. Recent repairs was replacing the lower control arms since the bushings have completely separated and making some noise I bought a pair of LCA/ Ball joints from Rockauto and had it aligned after, I was able to stumble on a pair of rear shocks Bilstein 5100 from CL for $85 and the ride is so much better afterwards next I will replace the front with possibly a pair Bilstein 6112 if budget allows. I will post pics later.