Did this -'Easy P0420 test defeat'- work for you??/

That looks like a cheap brass plumbing fitting. The fitting that I bought to do this with is heavy duty steel that also can rotate up and down and it contains a piece of catalytic converter brick in it I can see it in there that's what it's advertised I think I paid a whopping $12 for the thing. I have not installed it yet. Before I do I'm going to try a set of upper and lower O2 sensors first and then I have something similar to this video but a little better made right here in the drawer and we'll see if that works that did not work on an '02 Corolla with the AC Delco computer problem that they did make a flash for.

 

Where did you get the part please ?

 

It might be better to change the thread title from 'P0420 fix' to 'P0420 test defeat' or something like that. It's not fixing anything, just preventing the car from noticing the converter's not doing what it's there for, and giving you the code.

Sometimes people understand that and that's all they want to do. But we shouldn't be leading other people to thinking it's a 'fix'.

 

It did seem like a few people are replacing the cat and still having the issue, resorting to this work around ? Im just preparing myself, had a jeep compass do that to me a couple years back, lots of time and money.

 

Yeah, if you replace the cat with an inadequate one, the code will be back as soon as the car tests the new one's adequacy.

 

Interesting, so the only ones up to snuff are Toyota provided ?

 

I don't think that's the case. But certainly there are cheap ones that aren't.

The test the car does isn't looking for a Toyota hologram or anything. It just runs the engine lean for so many seconds to bank up some oxygen in the cat, and then rich for so many seconds to see how long the cat can still do its job. The ones that can't make the grade set the code.

 

Interesting, is there a list of approved, or better yet, units that are successful in being used for replacement ?

 

Do you recall where your part was obtained ?

 

Yes if I'm not mistaken eBay and the person or people still sell it today I think I saw one the other day but I can't swear to it It's made out of stainless steel It's in the advertisement and it's like a flip joint that goes on the end of a grease gunjust larger . It has a nut on the section in the center that swivels so you can swivel it to any angle and then lock the nut and it stays put and then it has another nut where it mounts into the threaded boss on the pipe so again you can screw it in as far as you need back it to where you want run the lock ring up against the pipe and it stays put there and if I'm not mistaken it was $18 in 2021 or something Is sitting here right here on the shop desk I'm looking at it I ordered another one too but I don't know what happened to it It's got to be around here somewhere it's very similar just from another manufacturer both are Chinese and I don't think there's any legal ramifications for selling them as they are not creating any real modification to the car It's just an adapter if you will so I can't see where EPA or any other governing body would bother the manufacturer or their representatives for selling this product I can see where estate agency like an inspection station could say you need to remove it because the way they read the law.

 

Thank you yes, I actually did find this extension unit. But in more research, I really need to see if my cat is damaged and if so is it due to excessive oil consumption. I did not realize before buying one of these cars that that was an issue. This forum is very enlightening and a smart man would have spent time here researching BEFORE making a purchase on an 08 with 222k on the clock. The deal on the car was good so I figured I could repair the minor stuff and still have a decent car.
I have replace the traction battery with one from the dealer ( from Japan ) and a couple cosmetic pieces and gotten the car registered here in Reno, it passed smog after driving it for a couple hundred miles, although, in the first 35 miles after replacing both batteries, the P0420 code came up, I cleared the code and it stayed off long enough to get the smog test done. Now it’s back, and now it comes on right after being reset within 20 miles.