Catalytic Converter Replacement -2001 Prius

[GZ1]

Here I go: I own 2001 Prius with 137k miles. Has been out of warranty since I hit 100k over a yr ago
**Problem: Check engine light came on over a week ago. Dealer ran diagnostic and said Catalytic Converter and subsensor need to be replaced at a cost of $2,300. I was told there is no hole in the exterior of the convereter and the HCAC valve is not clogged so problem is internal and they recommend replacement. I asked that Toyota split the cost, and they agreed (pleasant surprise).
**Latest status:
-I received the car back on 5/8 and scheduled the appointment for 5/18.
-Check engine light stayed on while it was at the dealer and the day I took the car back.
-On 5/9, I noticed the check engine light was off. It has not come on since.
**Has anyone experienced a similar issue with an older model prius? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
**I have to make a big decision. Do the repair and take advantage of Toyota's goodwill, or take a risk that there is no problem and hope for the best. I need to keep this car for atleast 2.5 more years. I also realize that the Hybrid Battery Pack could also act up over time
Thanks
Gary

[tnthub]

Maybe someone will correct me, but I wager a competent mechanics shop could remove the existing cat and sensor, measure the inlet and outlet, and cross reference the size to install one for far less money than that... Cats woukd the same way (as far as I know) on any car and you just need the correwct size and shape to be properly installed without banging on the underside. Exhaust systems in general work pretty much the same way from car to car regardless of the powerplant.

[c4]

Chances are that it's just the oxygen sensor that has failed.. Catalyst failures these days are exceedingly rare unless you've been putting extra unapproved additives in your gas or using the really cheap high-sulfur stuff..

[jmagneson]

I've got 2002 Prius and have noticed that when I drive to Flagstaff during the winter - 7,000 ft elevation, my Prius has difficulty starting in the morning. The car will start then stop. If I drive the car on batteries until they drain and try starting again eventually the car will start - maybe after 15 minutes. The red triangle light will also come on and the dealer says it's the catalytic convertor that is bad; however, I notice no difference in gas mileage or engine sounds. Anybody else have engine starting issues at high elevation and cold weather - 10 to 30 degrees?

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by GZ1

**Has anyone experienced a similar issue with an older model prius? Any insight is greatly appreciated.
**I have to make a big decision. Do the repair and take advantage of Toyota's goodwill, or take a risk that there is no problem and hope for the best. I need to keep this car for atleast 2.5 more years. I also realize that the Hybrid Battery Pack could also act up over time
Thanks
Gary

Yes, I have seen a couple of instances of this on the Classic Prius. One person on PTS (Yahoo Discussion Group- Prius Technical Stuff) decided to obtain a used converter assembly and successfully repaired his car.

Also, see Art's Automotive for an aftermarket repair:

http://www.artsautomotive.com/PriusConverter.htm

[ForTheGlory]

Out of curiosity, what did you say that got Toyota to help foot the bill for the repair? I'm very surprised that they didn't just say, "you're out of warranty, sorry."

[mingoglia]

Holy CRAP, $2300? Okay, let me preface this by saying I have an '08 so I've never made any repairs to the Prius. I am however competent at working on my own vehicles and rarely bring vehicles in for anything. I'm a bit more than a shadetree mechanic as I will rebuild my own engines, trannies, etc as well as metal fabrication. Granted none of this on a Prius.

I recently replaced my O2 sensor on my Jeep rock crawler as I managed to (offroad) jam the existing O2 sensor (the post-cat one) through my tub of my Jeep off road . The O2 sensor was $22 to replace. I'm assuming here the Toyota O2 sensor isn't made of out of this world materials so it has to be at least under $100. A catalytic converter can be had at the lower end $50, to the upper end $500 (I believe $500 was what I was quoted for a Dodge half ton truck I had from the dealer... that was before I bought one for $99 elsewhere). I couldn't imagine it being more than $50 to have the local muffler shop weld it on. This isn't rocket science here.

Once again none of those above numbers are on a Prius... but unless a Prius O2 sensor is 20 X's more complex than a typical O2 sensor and a Prius Cataytic converter isn't lined with 24k gold (instead of Platinum like the typical converter), I just don't see how the Toyota dealer could charge that much for this job.

Mike

[Patrick Wong]

Originally Posted by jmagneson

I've got 2002 Prius and have noticed that when I drive to Flagstaff during the winter - 7,000 ft elevation, my Prius has difficulty starting in the morning. The car will start then stop. If I drive the car on batteries until they drain and try starting again eventually the car will start - maybe after 15 minutes. The red triangle light will also come on and the dealer says it's the catalytic convertor that is bad; however, I notice no difference in gas mileage or engine sounds. Anybody else have engine starting issues at high elevation and cold weather - 10 to 30 degrees?

I suggest that you ask the service writer to identify the DTC stored by your car. I do not believe that your hard-start driveability symptoms would be caused by a bad catalytic converter unless it was plugged. If it was plugged, then the car would deliver low power at all times.

For those posters responding to the OP today, note that the original post was back in May 2007. The reason that the Classic catalytic converter is so expensive is because it includes the HCAC (hydrocarbon absorption and converter) assembly which is unique to that model.

[dogfriend]

Originally Posted by Patrick Wong

For those posters responding to the OP today, note that the original post was back in May 2007.

Sorry Patrick, I didn't notice that until now.

[hobbit]

Art's Automotive is very cool; they're also doing transaxle
rebuilds and MFD patch-ups and I'm in semi-frequent contact with
Paul Cortes over there about various fun stuff. If y'all on
the left coast are within striking distance of Art's or
Luscious Garage or any of the hybrid-clueful places that have
popped up around CA, definitely give them your business because
they really know what's going on with these cars.
.
Now, with the high-altitude thing ... the "engine runs for a
few seconds" thing is probably it trying to crank and failing,
and is more likely a stuck/crapped-up throttle body than the
cat. An '02? Yeah, that's pretty usual.
.
On the other hand, Jesse's almost-350K Prius [now totaled by
some numbnuts kid in Randolph MA] had a huge crack all the way
around the rear of the second catalyst can, making a small
exhaust leak before heading toward the final muffler. He was
hoping to break 400K without having to replace the exhaust
system -- since it was post-second-cat it wasn't an emissions
issue, we were just hoping the pipework would actually hold
up and not fall out of the car in the meantime. But the engine
was running just fine without any issues.
.
_H*