Stolen catalytic converters, options? (1 Viewer)

[WaterGeo]

Hey everyone, I have had an interesting week. I found out that my our v8's sound like absolute monsters with a straight pipe exhaust... but I found this out the hard way by having my catalytic converters sawzall'ed out. At least, that is what I think they are. I just got the vehicle back from the dealership and these are the parts that they said are missing/damaged. The main question that I have are these...

1. Is a "pipe assembly, exhaust" the catalytic converter?
   1. Part number 17450-50450 & 17450-50121
2. What are my options while maintaining reliability and the ability to pass emissions?
3. Is there anything outside of the obvious that I should look for that they could have damaged?

I have tried searching and haven't found any threads specifically describing this and with the high price of precious metals right now, I doubt I'm the only one who will have this issue. For context, I live in AZ and have comprehensive insurance through USAA. The price quoted to me by the dealership was $4155 for parts and $210 for labor so it must be 4 bolts basically I guess . I'm currently thinking of pocketing the money from insurance with a quote from lexus and finding a solution that will pass emissions and not sound like a hotrod.

Total parts list:

• 17410-50450 Pipe Assy, Exhaust
• 17450-50121 Pipe Assy, Exhaust
• 89467-71020 Sensor, Oxygen (x2)
• 89465-35690 Sensor, Air Fuel (x2)
• 17451-74051 Gasket, Exhaust P
• 90080-43036 Gasket, Exhaust P (x2)
• 90917-A6005 Gasket, Exhaust P

Time to pour myself a stiff drink and figure out my options...

Thank you all for any help you could offer and I hope others find this useful as well. I'll post some pictures in a reply of the carnage.

 

[WaterGeo]

Hey everyone, I have had an interesting week. I found out that my our v8's sound like absolute monsters with a straight pipe exhaust... but I found this out the hard way by having my catalytic converters sawzall'ed out. At least, that is what I think they are. I just got the vehicle back from the dealership and these are the parts that they said are missing/damaged. The main question that I have are these...

1. Is a "pipe assembly, exhaust" the catalytic converter?
   1. Part number 17450-50450 & 17450-50121
2. What are my options while maintaining reliability and the ability to pass emissions?
3. Is there anything outside of the obvious that I should look for that they could have damaged?

I have tried searching and haven't found any threads specifically describing this and with the high price of precious metals right now, I doubt I'm the only one who will have this issue. For context, I live in AZ and have comprehensive insurance through USAA. The price quoted to me by the dealership was $4155 for parts and $210 for labor so it must be 4 bolts basically I guess . I'm currently thinking of pocketing the money from insurance with a quote from lexus and finding a solution that will pass emissions and not sound like a hotrod.

Total parts list:

• 17410-50450 Pipe Assy, Exhaust
• 17450-50121 Pipe Assy, Exhaust
• 89467-71020 Sensor, Oxygen (x2)
• 89465-35690 Sensor, Air Fuel (x2)
• 17451-74051 Gasket, Exhaust P
• 90080-43036 Gasket, Exhaust P (x2)
• 90917-A6005 Gasket, Exhaust P

Time to pour myself a stiff drink and figure out my options...

Thank you all for any help you could offer and I hope others find this useful as well. I'll post some pictures in a reply of the carnage.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

If they steal mine, at least they are not working. That’s pretty sad they cut yours.

The best prices on Toyota integrated cats are from oemgenuine parts. Mine is a 2003 which has different part numbers than the later models.

There are also aftermarket cats for the gx470. There’s universal ones that need to be soldered/welded on and there are direct fit ones.

 

[Rednexus]

I would recommend calling a few local muffler shops and having a pair of universal cats welded in, which cost around $100 each. Factor in a couple hours of labor and short pieces of new pipe and you could maybe get it fixed for around $500. Or, find a set of a GX from a junkyard and bolt it up. Those cats are past the O2 sensors, so they should not throw any O2 CEL codes if they don't work quite as well as an OEM cat and therefore should pass emissions (if you local tests just involves hooking up to the OBD port).

Spending $4K on OEM dealership cats would be insane! Magnalow also makes a stainless steel replacement CAT/midpipe section that comes in two parts and costs around $800, IIRC. It would probably look cleaner than universal cats welded in.

 

[Acrad]

No idea how well this works

CatClamp - Ranked #1 Catalytic Converter Lock

Anti theft device for the protection and theft prevention of catalytic converters.

catclamp.com

 

[WaterGeo]

Thank you all for your help @Rednexus, @HomersCanyonero and @Acrad. After crawling around underneath and comparing it to the parts catalog, I think that I got lucky. You are completely right @HomersCanyonero, they are behind 02 sensors, so I should be able to pass emissions just fine regardless of what I install. Below is the parts diagram with red lines 'drawn' on where they made all their cuts. It will be remarkably expensive to replace with OEM at the dealership, but I may be able to get a nice check from insurance and then fix it nicely myself. It seems like it is essentially 8 bolts, 2 isolators, 2 o2 sensors and 4 gaskets. Thankfully they didn't appear to have damaged the 02 sensor plug so I think I'll be able to plug and play on that.

Does anyone have experience with Walker? It looks like I can get a complete bolt up solution on Rockauto for ~650.
Alternatively, I can get some welded up, but I need at least one 02 port included as well.

Will this make a noticeable difference in the exhaust tone? I think the exhaust tone is mostly accomplished in the muffler and exhaust pipe, but I have no experience with these systems. Ideally I'd keep it close to stock and have it pass first inspection as stock in the future when/if I ever sell it.

On a positive note, I think this will make a great excuse to the wife to invest in a full skid set from RCI as they will will mostly stop this from happening again

intact O2 port?

Cut isolator

Edit: added photos from mobile

 

[Rednexus]

Walker mufflers have a reputation for rusting out, though maybe that's not as big of a deal on AZ. I'm not sure on their cats.

Here is a link to the Mangalows. You need both sides which are around $900. They include O2 sensor bungs and are also mandrel-bent stainless steel (perhaps a bit more free-flowing than stock).

Lexus GX470 Catalytic Converters | MagnaFlow

Need a Catalytic Converter replacement for a Lexus GX470? Shop all MagnaFlow Lexus GX470 Catalytic Converters for the best price and quality. Keep your GX470 running clean & efficient.

www.magnaflow.com

For the sensors I would recommend Denso instead of Bosch, because Denso made the OEM sensors (Bosch stuff is OK for domestic cars but I prefer OEM sensors for Japanese stuff).

 

[WaterGeo]

Walker mufflers have a reputation for rusting out, though maybe that's not as big of a deal on AZ. I'm not sure on their cats.

Here is a link to the Mangalows. You need both sides which are around $900. They include O2 sensor bungs and are also mandrel-bent stainless steel (perhaps a bit more free-flowing than stock).

Lexus GX470 Catalytic Converters | MagnaFlow

Need a Catalytic Converter replacement for a Lexus GX470? Shop all MagnaFlow Lexus GX470 Catalytic Converters for the best price and quality. Keep your GX470 running clean & efficient.

www.magnaflow.com

For the sensors I would recommend Denso instead of Bosch, because Denso made the OEM sensors (Bosch stuff is OK for domestic cars but I prefer OEM sensors for Japanese stuff).

Awesome information, thanks @Rednexus.

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

Everyone’s insurance is different but I saw a post recently about someone getting their insurance to buy oem cats for their truck after it was stolen like yours. I would call insurance agent even homeowners if parked in driveway. Maybe you’ll get lucky

 

[HomersCanyonero]

@alabamatacomaguy the OP is a few steps ahead of you

 

[alabamatacomaguy]

@alabamatacomaguy the OP is a few steps ahead of you

I missed that reading first time. Sucks this type of thing is happening more all over.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

Yeah they get like $25 bucks but costs us $500

 

[tortoiseracing]

WaterGeo, sorry to hear this happened to you. My friend just had his cat stolen on his Prius, and he had to get an OEM replacement (yay for CARB). The shop also installed a cat shield on his car.

Would skid plates deter thieves from taking the cat from a GX? Seems like at the very least, it would slow them down, and the hassle might be enough of a deterrent?

 

[WaterGeo]

WaterGeo, sorry to hear this happened to you. My friend just had his cat stolen on his Prius, and he had to get an OEM replacement (yay for CARB). The shop also installed a cat shield on his car.

Would skid plates deter thieves from taking the cat from a GX? Seems like at the very least, it would slow them down, and the hassle might be enough of a deterrent?

That sucks that this happened to your friend, it’s such an expensive fix for some petty theft. I wish we could stop this somehow.
I think skid plates are an excellent deterrent to this type of theft. If I had a transmission skid and transfer case skid, they would only be able to easily access a single joint of the rear passenger catalytic converter. Hopefully they wouldn't have a set of impact wrenches and would go find an easier target.

I think my lesson learned for the forum is, if you can spend $1000 on a set of full belly skids, you may save yourself $500 in deductible and a whole heck of a lot of annoyance.

I have my appraisal with insurance scheduled and a quote from the lexus dealership on the parts, so I'll keep this thread updated on how this goes.

 

[White Stripe]

Check around on Craigslist for someone parting out a Lexus. Maybe you can buy the exhaust off of them.

 

[HomersCanyonero]

On my son’s 80-series, I put sliders that came with integrated cat skid plates and that was a deterrent because there was no room to Cut the cats. The design of the cats on the 80 was conducive to be protected.

On the GX470, there’s a lot a room in there to cut the cats. Might be hard to get skid plates to protect.

 

[VongGX470]

That sucks that this happened to your friend, it’s such an expensive fix for some petty theft. I wish we could stop this somehow.
I think skid plates are an excellent deterrent to this type of theft. If I had a transmission skid and transfer case skid, they would only be able to easily access a single joint of the rear passenger catalytic converter. Hopefully they wouldn't have a set of impact wrenches and would go find an easier target.

I think my lesson learned for the forum is, if you can spend $1000 on a set of full belly skids, you may save yourself $500 in deductible and a whole heck of a lot of annoyance.

I have my appraisal with insurance scheduled and a quote from the lexus dealership on the parts, so I'll keep this thread updated on how this goes.

I'm interested in hearing if you have installed any skid plates to help protect the cat from theft. I'm exploring options to protect the cat as well and want to hear what you and others have done. From what I see from different skid plate manufacturers, even with the full transfer case skid plate, there is still a large space between the plate and the frame rail to access the cat. I hope these skid plate mfr would start making plates to cover the cat to help from these thevies.

 

[WaterGeo]

I owe everyone here an update, thank you all for your help during this crazy time. In mid-late February I got the appraisal from USAA (entirely conducted over the phone!) and they covered everything, no questions asked. I decided to do the following with the nice check from insurance.

• Requested indy mechanic fix the cats/02 sensor (Late Feb)
  • They replaced the two rear catalytic converters with Magnaflow cats, so far they have been great. I wasn't concerned with OEM since there are no sensors behind them.
  • They replaced the drivers side rear stolen 02 sensor with a Denso O2 sensor
• Ordered a full set of skids from RCI
  • Engine skid, transmission skid, transfer case skid, bumper filler plate (all 3/16" steel with black powdercoat)
  • Install went smoothly
  • Only issue that may pop up is I may need longer bolts and several spacers to clear the Y-pipe crossover, it is currently contacting the transfer case skid (photo below)

By my estimation, the skids have closed up 3/4 of the cut points that the grifters used. For the 1 cut that they could still easily make, it is now a much tighter access point.
So in my book, the skid install serves a great second purpose. I was planning on bashing the existing skids and then replacing, but the insurance money helped that happen sooner and also will deter the catalytic theft in the future. I don't think it will prevent if someone has time and is determined, but it will deter.

On an related side note, I have started to get infamous P0430 Bank 2 code infrequently. Since that is the same side as the stolen/replaced 02 sensor, I believe this code is popping up because the new downstream 02 sensor is accurate than the old upstream 02 sensor. I need to get it to the mechanic and confirm that diagnosis but I hope it will be fixed by replacing the old upstream 02 sensor so they are reading similar values again. I'll keep everyone posted.

Cheers,
WaterGeo

New Catalytic Converters with paper prior to "burn-off"

New skids installed

Cat pipe contacting the transfer case

 

[tortoiseracing]

WaterGeo, glad you were able to put the insurance check to good use. Thanks for the information on how the skid plates will help protect against future theft. I'm adding that to my list of things to do on my GX to prevent catalytic converter theft.

 

[Orchemo]

Our drivers side cat was cut out Monday night. Some POS.

Also have a Gen3 4Runner that is even easier to get under than the LC. Need to weld a cat plate in the 4Runner tomorrow.