New to this site. Have to say it's pretty awesome and of course I'm here because something catastrophic has happened! Trouble with my rear cat is an understatement. Apparently it has ruptured and will need to be replaced. I have a 2009sv @ 104ki mi. Unfortunately, everything is out of warranty and the dealer said it will be close to 3k to complete the job. 1200 for the part and 1300 - 1400 to do the job as the motor has to be replaced. They will work with me if I can find a cheaper part and I'm sure they're not the least expensive option as far as the installation. Mainly, my question is, "does anyone know where to find a replacement part. I haven't had much luck looking online. Also, does the motor really have to come out to complete the job. The tech mentioned he might be able to fish it out without pulling the motor. I love the car but, 3000 is a bit much right now. I'm waiting to get the car back home and crawl underneath to really see for myself what the damage is. I have another car, plenty of time and motivation. Not really worried about trying this myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!

 

If this is really a rear cat issue just install a Racingline Y-pipe and your problem is solved.
The y-pipe takes the place of the rear cat and is a straight bolt on plus the engine doesn't need to be pulled.

 

+1 to what the good Doctor said haha

 

+1 its car mod time!

 

Might end up doing the y pipe anyway while I have the exhaust apart. I'm sorry, I think I miss spoke about which cat was broke. The tech said it was the "rear" cat but he didn't mean the one on the length of exhaust that is underneath the car. Its the cat that's between the firewall and the motor. I guess it would be the middle cat if you were counting them along the length of the car. Just got the factory service manual. found everything under the sun but how to replace that converter..... On the bright side it looks like removing the motor is only a 33 step process. LMAO

 

If you are only at 104,000 kilometers or miles? If its kilometers your car should still be covered. I had the cat replaced on my Camry years ago when it was out of regular warranty because it fell under the 8yr 80,000 mile Federal Warranty. Check this link out http://www.epa.gov/oms/consumer/warr95fs.txt and then check with the dealership again if you are only at 104ki (64,600 miles) you should be covered by this.

 

104k miles... I wish I was under the 8yr/80k warranty. I did check the service manual. Step 1: Remove engine and CVT unit. LOL that's a 36 step process on it's own. I get it back tomorrow, then I'll be able to climb under the car and get a better look. I was able find a cat for about 200$ though. That's a little bit of a relief. I'm just kind of down because its so much and I just purchased the car 7 mo. ago, with the extended warranty. Which of course does not cover exhaust components! Now. I'm looking a potentially costly trouble. I'm sure we've all been there before. Buyer beware I guess. BTW love the look of your Maxima, especially the rims TarmacSL1. They sord've remind me of the CSL type rims on BMW e46 M3's. I'll keep posting. If there's a way to bypass engine pull I'll definitely document. It is sort've silly to put a wearable part in such an inconvenient place.

 

So one of the cats on one of your headers is busted? Maybe ask IFuXwiTuZ what would be involved in getting that header out. I know he installed long tube headers in his max. I would hope that swapping out headers doesn't require the engine to be removed, but it seems that every time a new model is released there is less and less space under the hood.
Also, do you need the entire cat assembly, or just a core? You said it was ruptured, so I would guess the whole thing, which means more than likely your only option is a genuine Nissan part. $200 for a full cat seems almost too good to be true.

 

200 does seem to good to be true. its an eastern cat part that " is a direct fit" yeah right. I was able to find the nissan part at about 600 which is what i expected to pay anyway. the magna flo part is a little less than 500. prolly go with them. I'm very nervous about the the other part. Going to get the car in a few hours I'll know more tomorrow. It seems like no one has the part. with reason. I feel like im the only 7th gen who needs a new cat at this point. hahahaha

 

Just an update. I was able to remove the rear cat without pulling the motor with very little difficulty. In fact the proper procedure is a 13hour job. Just doing it in my driveway I only have about 6 hours into the car at this time. Mind you, I am by no stretch of the imagination a professionally trained mechanic. LOL I do believe that I could also remove the front cat without pulling the motor as well. The front fascia and radiator would probably have to be removed. Back to my issue. It appears our car has a bracket that supports the rear cat from the bottom, as well as the flange that is connected to the exhaust manifold. It appears that my bracket broke, which in turn put all the support stress on the upper manifold flange. The weld on that flange broke separating the cat from the motor. $15 dollar bracket "nissan quote" causes a potentially several thousand dollar problem. LOL S**t happens, I understand, but I'm sort've upset that the bracket broke. It's a 2009, High mileage, but 2009 none the less. I'll post pictures soon. I'm considering welding the flange back onto the cat as it appears to be in good condition and would save me $600 - $800 Pretty easy fix, pretty disappointing cause. Any suggestions as I go?

 

damn man that's crazy glade it seems that you will be able to fix it without going to them as in Nissan

 

GUYS. THIS THREAD IS IMPORTANT!! Does anyone remember what happened with the 3rdgen 02-06 Altima 2.5L engines? Specifically the cat?

One of the welds on the catalytic converter was prone to perforating the canister on the converter - creating an air leak into the converter. Long story short, the extra air entering the converter causes it to overheat and then disintegrate internally. Those little chunks of converter material made its way back into the combustion chamber and destroyed....DESTROYED the engines. That spells catastrophic failure as the piston rings are eroded. I believe a couple years of the Murano and perhaps the Maxima 7thgen.

That's scary to think that our Maximas are prone to the same thing. If it isn't something that's caught VERY soon (it would most likely cause a DTC and CEL), then it'll end up costing you an engine. Let's hope this is an isolated failure. I know that I will be putting mine on jackstands tomorrow and checking it out.

Stewgy, how did you first discover this problem? Was it a CEL with a code for a lean mixture on bank 2?

Late,
Trav