Q: I was wondering if anyone could give me an estimate on what it might cost me to replace my cat converter on my 2000 nissan maxima. I strongly suspect a rattle coming from my car could be the broken substrates within it. Anyone know how to check for this also? So I actually have multiple questions: 1) How much to replace Cat on 2000 Nissan maxima ( parts and labor) 2) How can i test or find out if the cat substrates are broken apart in there 3) Someone at meineke once told me my car had 3 cats and the one that is usually broken is the one closest to the motor and most expensive- that he'd have to have me go down to nissan and thatd be like 900 dollars. I strongly felt i was getting jerked around- especially cause he said it was maybe a heat shield which it definitely is not. Has anyone heard of 3 cats on one car? does this make sense? if so- which do i test to see if its broken? Thanks again for your time in advanced also- please feel free to email me if you have any additional questions you want to ask. I'd love to hear from you . One of the most frustrating things for me is reading a posters response with lots of great info- then i want to ask them something vital only to find out they dont allow contacts.... So.. Mine is mikemd21 at yahoo or on messenger im mikemd21. thanks again
A: Yes your car has 3 cat converters. Cats close to the motor heat up quickly so they can start cleaning the exhaust gasses faster. And your car under hood sticker will say federal emissions or California emissions on that tag. That will effect the cost of the converters and you did not state the Code number P0430 or P0320 one code for each Cyl bank. I am hoping for bank#1 because it is the $900 your talking about Bank #2 is the front of your motor. Bank #1 has Cyl #1 or rear of your motor. And I would not replace the converters unless you have a engine trouble code. Always replace the oxygen sensor of the affected Cyl Bank because the cat and o2 sensors wear out at about the same time. The only way to test the cats is remove the upstream O2 sensor and use a Flexible Endoscope or Bore scope to visually check the insides of the cat. Rattle only does not give me much to go on. Most likely there is a gusset to the motor cracked bolts fell out ot the exhaust got struck parking curb? Nissan cats very rarely break apart like some other manufactures.