2007 Prius Catalytic converter

You can't legally get an after market cat in California. You might be able to get a small muffler shop to weld one on for you though. They sell on Amazon for under $100

 

Gotta go with JC it's a California thing.
How much Toyota asking?
On the hybrid batteries some folks call Toyota to ask for out-of-warranty assistance and sometimes Toyota HQ helps and calls dealer and says do it for the bare minimum.

 

Is a CARB (CA) cat really that different from the 49-state cat ? My impression is that the "certification" issue. I doubt it Totoya had actually installed a different cat for the CA/NY market.

Now that CA is requiring smog check on hybrid, it is becoming a problem. It's actually illegal in CA for the muffler shop to weld on cat replacement.

I'm also all pissed at Toyota, these cats are damaged due to bad engine design causing oil burning. Toyota really should own up, as it is an emission problem.

 

All new Prius are CA-certified no matter where you live (whereas FORD/GM have CARB and nonCARB models). So I agree we all start life with a CA cat. But I get the impression non-CARB states folks have some cheaper options at replacement time.
I agree the main concern is passing inspection legally. I don't know if the catalyst sometimes has the ability to come back to life, so I'm sure I'd play with it if I did not face a deadline.

Brainstorming: Put the old one in backwards and put some fresher catalyst up front? I do not know what it looks like to be honest. Use an oil with less leakage to allow catalyst to regenerate on its own? I don't know if you can revive the catalyst off-line somehow.

 

It's pretty hard to revive a dead cat, I've actually never heard of one done successfully. Cataclean and all those treatments are just hypes.

A replacement from the Stealer is about $1300, and non-CARB is around $300. So if they are all the same, a non-CARB should work just as well. All the online seller says "can not ship to CA"

It's all welded as one piece, cat and two resonators along with pipe from exhaust manifold to the muffler. Some body put this on youtube showing the entire piece:

and it's Item#1 in this picture:

2004 Toyota Prius Parts - AutoNation Toyota Gulf Freeway Parts

 

Holy cow I saw 1 big wide spot then an O2 sensor another 2 wide spots then out. All thick stainless steel, not cheap at all.
I don't know much about cat converters but I know in general carbon sometimes builds up on a catalyst and of course metals poisons from your lube oil additives. Interesting to wonder if burning off the carbon would help, but the lube metals may kill it anyways. Not sure what would be valid from CA perspective.

What was wrong with JC91006's suggestion?

 

Nothing wrong with JC's suggestion, but still would have to locate a CA/NY certified cat, just haven't been able to locate one yet. Any suggestion ? It would be easier and possible for DIY if it's a bolt on.

Does any one know the difference between a CA/NY cat versus the 49-state catalytic converter ?

 

It appears that Toyota installed a 50-state catalytic converter on all Prius, since there is just one replacement part number, 1741021500. I spoke to a Prius mechanic about the situation, he agrees that Toyota is presently the only legal source for a CA/NY Prius cat replacement. But he hopes that an after market source will become available soon, since it is only as of April 2015 that CA is requiring hybrid smog check, so there has not been a demand. The 49-state cat should work just fine but it is not certified by CA.

Can some one not in CA/NY post the Emission notice under the hood ? mine definitely says "federal and California" emission standard .... If all Prius have the same Emission notice, then I think I can convince myself to put on the 49-state cat.

Thanks

 

I am SOOOO thankful Michigan doesnt do any of that money grabbing, scammy state required smog testing/emissions testing and inspections. We used to do it but I think they discontinued it sometime in the early 80's.

I think its ridiculous you have to replaced your bad catalytic converter with ONLY a factory OEM catalytic converter in CA and NY. What if there is an aftermarket one that is more efficient and durable? What if some OEM ones fail prematurely and spew out emissions?

 

Go on Amazon or eBay and search for check engine light eliminator.

EDIT: fixed links:
"http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000W1XX4M"
"http://www.amazon.com/Degree-Angled-Engine-Exhaust-Extension/dp/B00B1U6I54"

 

Apparently no manufacturer of aftermarket catalytic converters with a model suitable for Prius has seen fit to submit an application to the CA Air Resources Board. The current list of approved aftermarket catalytic converters is mostly for very old vehicles. I guess that makes sense as newer vehicles mostly would be covered by the auto manufacturer's California emissions warranty.

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermktcat/exemptcat09.pdf

A California resident who installs an uncertified catalytic converter runs the risk of this being detected during emissions equipment inspection. The correct catalytic converter is supposed to have a label visible 5 feet away (see link above for the list and labeling requirements.)

 

thank you for posting, and I assume from your location that this is a Virginia Prius ? exactly like my '04 CA prius.

I called the dealer and gave them a CA & FL VIN, both return the same Toyota part number. These cats are TWC (Three-way-Cat) and basically the same.

 

Yes Va. I tried to tell you we all have the same stickers on a Prius ...I wonder if there could be recent change but historically all US Prii are created exactly equal right down to the stickers.

This is in contrast to FORD/GM where they have different cars for CARB states.

You keep saying 49 state cat converter but there is none for Prius so far as I know. Apparently the issue you are facing is that Ca. has not blessed the non-Toyota cats, but that may be coming some day.

 

The list actually shows CARB certified as late as 2005, but not for the Prius specifically. I can certain replace the cat with a certified one, say for a '04 Corolla. My '04 Prius has over 247Kmiles, it's just not worth putting in $1300. Besides, the ring-blow-by oil problem would soon kill a new cat anyway. It burns about 0.5qrt/1000 miles.

The mechanic i talked with yesterday essential said to wait for the after market to catch up with the demand. So I am supposed to park it until then ? I also called CARB, and man, the dude was quite combatant and confrontational. It's like he's more interested in dotting the i and blindly follow to the letter, rather than reducing pollutant.

 

Could a used Prius cat from a wreck parted out be OK for CA?

 

Get the eliminator. The installation is pretty simple and if you search youtube there are many videos on how and why it works. That way you fix the problem and maintain CARB certified converter.

You could try a couple bottles of fuel de-icer, or put just put x2 engine cleaner, premium gas and go for long highway drive. Several hundred non-stop miles may clean the converter enough to fix an issue, so light will not come back for some time after reset. We had a Camry which had passed emissions after this.

 

By federal law junk yards cannot sell used converters. And garage shops cannot install them either w/o loosing license if got caught.

 

^^^yes that's the spirit, I would try to make it go away...also work on maybe a 40w oil or expensive synthetic to minimize oil loss to give the treatment a chance

I do not know much about automotive catalysts, but I do know a lot about catalysts and typically there are permanent poisons and temporary poisons. we of course do not know what poison he has but we hope it s a temporary poison.