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While helping someone in obtaining a Cat. Converter, they brought it to my attention that there are dif. types of cat. converters.. one with 2 flex pipe section and one with 1 section
1 Flex pipe
2 Flex Pipe
Would having 2 flex pipes be a neg. or what. I'm dumbfounded because this is the first time i'm seeing one with one flex pipe.. haven't actually been up under my car yet...
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January 6, 2007
Lexus officially announced that they arent f***ing around anymore
"We aint f***in' around anymore." - Lexus Employee
I already ordered the one with 2 flex pipe sections but he is about to order one of these. He was'nt sure what to get for himself since its the flex pipe that went bad on his car. We weren't sure if his risk of potential future damage would depend on whether he got the one with one or two sections.
__________________
January 6, 2007
Lexus officially announced that they arent f***ing around anymore
"We aint f***in' around anymore." - Lexus Employee
The one I had on my old i4 was the one with 2 flexpipes. I just paid $75 for a muffler shop to put a new one on. As ShawnM said I would just go with what you have on the car now. That whole section costs too much money when you could just get the flexpipe fixed.
I just thought about the fact that the one with two flexpipes could be the v6 and the one with one flexpipe could be the i4. My old i4 had one flexpipe and the v6 i have now has two.
Sorry I mixed up your question witht the flexpipe issue. However, even with the converter I would just replace the it by itself. Again you still don't need to replace the whole section.
Well.. I dont know how much it'd cost him to get that replaced.. he said something about the dealer charging $1250, so why not get the $200ish part from ebay and DIY..
me.. I need to replace mine (whole thing) as I have a Hole in my cat. I'd rather get this and put it on my self instead having the place around here gimme BS about $800 plus to have it fixed...
__________________
January 6, 2007
Lexus officially announced that they arent f***ing around anymore
"We aint f***in' around anymore." - Lexus Employee
Well. It sounds like you need to look up under the car a actually see what it looks like or you could always go to the dealership and give them the VIN. They'll pull it up and let you know exactly what you need.
I am the guy in question here that Ruffrydasean was talking about. I have a 97 Camry LE V6 with a bad flex pipe. I took it to a local muffler shop and they said that they can only weld in a universal flex for the i4, not the v6, because the flex is too close to other components. I assume this is if they try to do it in place. They could probably remove the whole pipe, weld in a new one, and replace it, but then the labor charges get to be as bad as just buying a whole new kit.
I just looked under my car, and my pipe looks like the 1 flex piece pictured above. I mistakenly told Ruffrydasean that I had a heat shield on my factory pipe, but now that I got a better look I can say that this is not the case. I was seeing the mounting bracket from a strange angle. So my factory pipe is in fact the same as the 1 flex pic.
The details on what I've found so far:
NAPA, Summit Racing, and Advance Auto Parts list the 1 flex pipe part, which is a Walker part # 50415. NAPA wants $379 and can get it in one day. Advance wants $268.88 but they only have 1 in the country and it's already reserved! Summit lists it at $259.99 but I don't know availability yet. Their website claims it would ship on May 13th, but Advance's website was deceiving so I'm not trusting Summit's until I hear from a human.
AutoZone has an Arvin part # 652090, but they have no picture of it and I haven't been able to find one online. They want $319.99. I don't know if it's the right part or not. Perhaps it is the same as the eBay part pictured with 2 flex's, since I don't know what brand that is. The eBay part is $225 after shipping, by the way.
The flexpipe on my v6 had to be replaced and it was the one that has the two flexpipes next to each other(picture #2). One muffler shop told me the same thing about how they can't just weld a new one on because the other pipe is in the way but another muffler shop told me it would be no problem. I went to that muffler shop and they did it for me with no problems and I haven't had any problems out of it at all. If you don't want to shop around for a different muffler ship then you can go ahead and get another section but I would try to find out first. Good luck buddy.
Interesting. Yours has 2 flex's? It's a 93, correct? I wonder if they used to use 2 flex's and then changed to just one for the 97 (and whatever other model years are similar). For Ruffrydasean's sake, I hope the 2 flex piece fits in a 97, cause I know that's what he ordered.
I'm still a little torn about trying to get a new flex welded in. I read a few other forums before I started searching for parts, and the consensus seemed to be that if you have a universal flex welded in it would only last a year or two. Unfortunately I didn't save the link to the forum I heard this in. There were a handful of people in the forum that agreed with that. You're actually the first to say that you didn't have problems with having a new flex welded in.
I'm not in a hurry so I'm doing my research first. So far I'm leaning towards the new piece from Summit Racing since they're local to me and I can return it if it turns out to not be the right part or whatever. It's not a horrible amount of money, and I get a new cat out of it too. Didn't have any problems with my old one, but who knows what tomorrow will bring! But you're welcome to convince me otherwise. I'm open to opinions.
Now take note....I you don't get new motor mounts, you will need a new flexpipe in a year or two (maybe less). Even if it' OEM it wont last. 90% of the time your flexpipe breaks because you need new motor mounts. I didn't even replace the mounts yet and it's still holding up so I can vouch for aftermarket flexpipes.
The flexipe breaks because of the extra movement of the engine due to bad mounts.
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-Chris
Last edited by TheMajesticking; 04-26-2005 at 01:30 PM.
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Cat. Converter Question?!?
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