I have a 2000 Maxima se auto (cali emissions) with 172k and ive had 3 different shops inspect my vehicle regarding the bank 2 catalyst issue. Before you guys get all crazy I did lots of research on here about what pre-cat to get and so forth. I am considering the eastern cat i seen on discountcatalyticconverters.com. My problem is Ive read threads that mentioned that eastern has updated the precat to where you would need to purchase the OEM gasket compared to the older models where the gasket did not fit correctly so guys would go without a gasket(I don't wanna be that guy lol). Ive seen pics but I still can't see a difference in the design, so even if I ordered it and got an old model pre-cat I wouldn't know if i needed to get the gasket or not. Basically what im asking is where is to best place to get the updated pre-cat or another aftermarket pre-cat and is there just one gasket for one end meaning I wouldnt need a second gasket for the other end of the pre-cat?

As you can see I am quite confused...any info on this would be greatly appreciated.

bump, plz help im tryna order my parts today

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ighlight=bosal

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...ighlight=bosal

http://forums.maxima.org/5th-generat...l?highlight=vs.

You have a cali spec car but are you still in California? If so, no one makes a precat for use in California other than OEM. I have the same problem. Parts plus labor is about $1000. It passes smog fine so I just get used to the SES light being on. If you live in CA then you could take a chance on an aftermarket precat and hope the smog inspectors don't notice it.

I also checked with several salvage yards and they all told me that it's illegal to sell used cats in CA

CAli resident and I had the same problem. I ordered the Eastern cat and used it with no gasket. It works fine. When I went for the smog check, it barely passed. I don't know if it was the Eastern cat or the remaining OEM cats starting to go bad. Whatever the case, it passed, I'm still driving on it and there are no leaks.

Here's your problem if you are in California. Eastern won't ship that cat to California so you'll have to have someone in a different state order it for you and mail it into california.