George's 2003 Sub "lucky7"

[Georgeb]

Now that I seem to have gotten past the MAF sensor issue I have to continue to do this:
http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html
Twice a day since I have two opportunities a day. This is in an effort to get the catalyst monitor to set so I can get the OBDII test done and renew my tags. This is really hard to accomplish!! I have successfully done it but wound up tripping a hard DTC for catalyst efficiency about every fifth time. Since I ran the cat cleaner through it I will need to complete the drive cycle three more times in order to see if it sets the monitor or if it trips the DTC again. If it trips the DTC again I will be replacing all four O2 sensors and the cats. If that doesn't do it to the stealership it goes........
UGH! Not so Lucky of a truck after all. May have been better if this one would have been smacked rather than Clifford.
On a brighter note I drove Butterscotch for the first time in nine months. Good ol girl! Has never let me down in 16 years! Even when she had a bad tranny she drove to get the replacement tranny and back.

 

[foamypirate]

Fingers crossed for ya!

 

[Georgeb]

Well after speaking with the local dealership it doesn't sound like they will be able to be of any help either. The guy said it's just a matter of cold start key strokes to get the PCM to run diagnostics. He said they could try to force it with the techII but they haven't had 100% success with that either. So it's a matter of time I guess. I am surprised he was so honest and helpful.

 

[Georgeb]

And the verdict is in. While doing some errands last night I got a hard P0420 code again with a SES light. Catalyst efficiency low. Going to be ordering parts this morning. I was contemplating reusing the O2 sensors to save some cash but as far as I can tell there is at least 80,000 miles on them. I have had little sucess removing them and getting all the threads to come along so I guess it's a Y-pipe with the cats and four new sensors for this repair. Yay for me!

 

[Georgeb]

Ok, so I got my parts. One Y-pipe with cats from Walker exhaust and four OE oxygen sensors. Cost me a hair over $600.00. I was considering pricing up a factory one through a dealership parts buddy of mine but according to GM parts direct I am looking at over $700.00 plus a $100.00 core plus shipping of the new one to me and the core back to them. Guessing over $1000.00 all done! Well, this one is warrantied for 5 years or 24,000 miles. Of which I wont reach that mileage in five years even if I drove it every day to work all year. So.... I am going to put it on tomorrow and see how it goes. Once I get pass the smog **** this year I have two years to enjoy the truck before I have to think about it again. Who knows I may find myself in a square burb by then........I hope!

 

[Georgeb]

Any opinions on a factory versus aftermarket cat? Seems to me as I think about it perhaps the added cost of a factory setup could pay off in the long run if I keep the truck for 10 years which isn't uncommon for me. I doubt the aftermarket one will last that long but depending on the price difference it may be worth the extra. I suppose if the factory one is less that double te aftermarket I may want to go that route. Thoughts????

 

[Old77]

For what it's worth I've had good luck with magnaflow cats in the past. No idea what the diff in cost is between that and OEM, though

 

[donmateo]

^X2 on Mags

 

[Georgeb]

Well, I decided to go with the security of the OEM cats. Cost twice as much but I want to work on my square not this thing!

 

[flyboy1100]

I ran a high flow magnaflow on my Buick for 10 years and 200k miles. Towards the end before I sold the car I could smell than the cat wasn't quite doing its job anymore.

But that wouldn't have helped your case because the high flow version isn't efficient enough so I needed to space out the o2 sensor so the computer thought it was.

But I wouldn't be afraid of an aftermarket cat, especially with the mileage you have already.

BTW: not even 5k year? Jeesh, that is 2 months for me or 1 month between both of our vehicles. Someday I will find a job in the same city so we can move and get down to tat 10k/yr or leas type driving.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[Georgeb]

So I pulled into the lot at work and just for giggles checked to see if I had any additional monitors on. To mu surprise the EVAP monitor was set to on! ZOOM, off I go to inspection only to get stuck at every red light on the way. On one particularly long light I was greeted by the soft warm glow of the check engine light again. Bank one catalyst efficiency below threshold. Should have put it in park and shut it off for the wait. ****! Anyway, I have $1000.00 worth of new cats in the back of the truck to put on tomorrow.

 

[Georgeb]

Old versus new...... The old appears to have smaller cats than the new. The swap was rather easy and trouble free.

 

[Georgeb]

And I have a completed catalyst monitor. Time for inspection on Monday!

 

[foamypirate]

And I have a completed catalyst monitor. Time for inspection on Monday!

w00t!

 

[Georgeb]

Passed inspection today!

Found out the ECU is not original to the truck. It comes up with a different VIN for a 2004 GMC Sierra. Gonna have to look into getting that reflashed.