2002 Maxima SE. Fun to drive!

 

Welcome to the forum.
Nice looking car. Not too many nice manual cars floating around any more.

 

Congrats! and she's a beauty..

 

Nice! Looks real clean!

 

Very nice! Body and especially rear quarters look rust free, that's a bonus.

 

nice car man

 

Look at the trees lol. No salt there.

 

Great Observation lol

 

It's been in AZ all it's life. Has some cosmetic issues like chips here and there and a small scrape on lower front by the fog lamp. Other than that, the interior is clean and rides great. I'm not sure if I should mod it out or keep it stock.

 

I can't resist...

Get rid of the precats or pay the price later.

 

Mod it mod it

 

Great looking car!

 

I just bought a 2002 SE today..uh..Saturday, to replace my '95 GXE.
what's the deal with the precats?

 

google "nissan precat failure" and try not to **** yourself

 

I got these for ya!

 

I searched and noticed the pre cat failure is common with the 2.5 Altima.

 

 

We have the same ones. The one in the vid is better looking than most LOL.

 

Is this issue that common?

 

Every one. It's just a matter of time relating to operating conditions.

 

I wasn't throwing any codes and when I pulled mine off they looked way worse than the ones in that video. My car only has 105,000 miles on it

 

So what's the recommended fix, any links to buy parts? I assume it's new headers?

 

I bought a set of OBX headers. More power and no more problems

 

Yeah, by the time a code is thrown there's usually already serious cylinder/ring damage.

Headers are great b/c of the power improvement, but you can just gut them. The front cat will come out easily (I dumped one out, literally was just rattling around). The rear is likely to be very solid and there's not a wide opening. You'll have to drill holes in it and beat it up with a punch/chisels.

An aftermarket Y pipe deletes the rear cat, right, guys? So, that would be an easier option.
Might as well gut the main cat as well. Get some flow!

 

Will any codes trigger with new headers? I really appreciate the expertise you guys are providing.

 

They will. Use defoulers or O2 sim if you can find one. Lots of threads on this.

 

Great info here, I'll just gut em all! and replace the main cat with a Test Pipe.

 

good luck finding a shop that will remove them/ gut them. Most people where i live wont even touch the rear precat because of how little room there is to work with. Rust/ risk of snapping and breaking bolts. Is that accurate that a new y-pipe will replace the rear pre cat/bank 1. I thought that was only on 5th gen maximas/3.0 engine , not 3.5 engine where the rear pre cat near the firewall can be seperated.

 

That's why I was asking, I didn't remember (mornings lol).
You're right, though. Since the cat was in the Y on 00-01 it deleted it. 02-03 only bolts to bottom of both precats.

Aftermarkets should have made a version that bolts to the manifolds directly. That would have a been big seller. A Y pipe alone is pretty useless if the cats are still there (unless you gut) LOL.

Both cats should have been in the Y (or nonexistant), then all of this disintegrating precat crap wouldn't have happened. But we have useless emission laws for automobiles. Thanks non-functioning govt!

 

Its ok man lol, Yes you are right someone should have came up with a y-pipe that bolts right up to the manifold, that way we would not have to worry about pre cats at all. In my case ive been to several shops that wont even bother with the rear pre cat, only 2 said they can replace it if i buy the part, for $200 bucks.