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Needing new cats for 2004 Armada - help!

10K views 30 replies 12 participants last post by  Jerry and Shirley 
#1 ·
My son put a scan tool on my 2004 Armada SE 2 wheel drive with 150000 miles and it is throwing a code that we need new cats. Has anyone replaced cats yet? If so what did you buy? Where did you buy them, and what did they cost? The dealer want's almost $700. each, and while thats being done I thought I might as well replace the rest of the exhaust. That's around $2000. before labor. I'd rather put the new cats with a cat-back system on it.
I'd rather not have a car payment right now, but if I'm going to spend a down payment repairing this one, I might be better off trading it in.
The Armada has the other usual problems that they all have had, (bad power window motors, stuck back door and window, etc.) I'd rather not get rid of it, it still drives nice and runs great. Any info you could give me would be great.
 
#2 ·
Yea that's an entailed project. My exhaust manifolds are cracked again, OEM manifolds are junk and the Cats are one piece with them. My plan is to get some headers and maybe some aftermarket high flow cats. Then from there you can use a Cat back. Doug Thorley is said to be a good brand. Titan guys also like JBA but 2 guys on this forum said the JBA Armada cat back is not as good. One thing you have to research on headers is which ones are less likely to throw codes. Even with NISMO alot of guys grow to ignore the constant lit CEL. I've been reading on TitanTalk and I am still very confused at this point. When I get closer to having money to do this I will post the question over there to gett feedback on other's experiences as well as guys like 9ballrook on here with headers.
 
#3 ·
Bob, let me know what you finally decide to do. I think I'm in the same boat :-(
 
#6 ·
shorties?? I'll give you a call today as all I ever remember reading about is to get long tube headers. I'll have to call Jerry also as he has gone through this.
thanks.
 
#7 ·
From my limited understanding, shorties with High Flow Cats is a good way to avoid CEL codes. The Long Tubes give more performance but take away room for a Cat so I think this is why alot of guys get used to the CEL being lit. At least that's the way it appears to me from reading through a couple threads.


Whambino, sorry for jacking your thread but my situation is similar to yours so I'll keep you posted.
 
#8 ·
I'm using Doug Thorleys long tubes and the rest of my exhaust came from SCR (b-pipes & Gibson cat back). Then UpRev tuned on the dyno, I pass Maryland emissions, get NO codes and can whoop most hemis. I'd definatly go the long tubes & not the shorties, if for no other reason than easier install, although low end performance is the better selling point. Either is an expensive proposition, headers $600-700, cat back $300-500, b-pipes $100, UpRev $500-700, install 8-10 hours @$75-100 an hour, you're looking at around $2500 and if you add dyno time about $200 more. If you can get it done on the 80,000 mile emission warranty, you should! Just to save a few bucks!


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#12 ·
Ya that's me. If you give a good enough notice I might be able to make it down there to help too. I'd like to see what's involved in case I can ever afford them on the Titan.

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#14 ·
definitely subscribing to this thread!

Bob, when you do this be sure to take LOTS of pictures!

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#16 ·
After some research I have found some prices on the exhaust parts.

Dougthorley.com has long tube headers for $797.00
Part # THY-481Y-LSO-C

Stillen.com offers long tubes for $699.00
Part # 508560
both are stainless

Summitracing.com offers Magna Flow direct fit aluminized converters for $165.00 ea.
Part # 23990 (stainless is more)
and Gibson Aluminized cat-back exhaust for $445.01 (stainless is more)

If you go cheap you could buy Stillen headers, Magna Flow converters, and Gibson Cat-Back exhaust for a grand total of $1474.

Then you need to add labor from somewhere or attempt it yourself.
 
#17 ·
Stillen are less than DT? I would not have expected that.
 
#18 · (Edited)
You might even check out the new JBA long tubes just being released, they look mighty impressive!
http://www.ajusa.com/JBA-Long-Tube-Headers-c2a9d.html

By the way Bob, if I was closer to you I'd be happy to help!! Make sure you get a few cans of PB Blaster and some gloves, cracking those bolts loose will definatly bust a few knuckles!!
 
#19 ·
I like what balllrook has done with his exhaust, DT headers are on sale now. I do have one question though. What is Up Rev tuned, and does anyone know who could do that for me in the Chicago area? I'd like to thank everyone for all your input once again, you guys are great!
 
#20 · (Edited)
#21 ·
i'd look into cajun b-pipes, they are cheaper priced and seem to be made better. nightowl pm him on titantalk.com
 
#22 ·
I got a set of B-pipes from www.prtperformance.com.

They cost less ($386 shipped to NYC) than Berks and are stainless steel, mandrel bent with your choice of either 300 cell(metallic) or 400 cell(ceramic) catalysts.

I'm having them installed tomorrow, and will also be gutting out the OEM converters since the driver's side was already found to be clogged earlier in the year.
And if the shop finds any cracks on the OEM manifolds, then I'll be placing an order for the JBA LT headers which is only a two week wait.
 
#24 ·
oh that would be awesome. yeah i want to do b pipes, then after aircare, do the jba lt or shorties, not sure. so keep us posted if you do the jba lt...
 
#25 ·
**UPDATE**

Let me begin by saying I should've had this done years ago. What a difference in overall acceleration and a key issue was remedied as well. My 04 used to feel like it would not accelerate when I had it around 50-55mp; that is gone now and the OEM b-pipes were the culprit and not the OEM converters.

Also, props to "Magic Al" from American muffler in Westbury, NY. He has been doing all my exhaust work for the last 12-13yrs, on all types of cars from simple bolt-ons to custom exhaust and downpipes. He actually pointed out the b-pipes was the problem when he took them down and showed it to me.
This left me disappointed because the shop who told me they were clogged over a year ago is a shop I patronize since the owner and I go way, way back to our high school days.

Anyway, the PRT b-pipes bolted on perfectly. I will be ordering the JBA LT headers next week only so that I can get it at their current intro price from AJUSA.
After seeing the undercarriage, I've got some rust cleaning/prevention work to do before the winter comes around.

A couple pics of the PRT b-pipes:




Before I forget, I had a vibrant ultra quiet resonator installed last year which eliminated the exhauast drone and cabin resonance. I was afraid with the new b-pipes that it would return but it didn't. Nice and quiet inside the cabin, but a healthy, deep exhaust tone when accelerating.
 
#29 ·
Anyway, the PRT b-pipes bolted on perfectly. I will be ordering the JBA LT headers next week only so that I can get it at their current intro price from AJUSA.
I missed this.. Did you get your JBA LT from AJUSA? Was it a special they were running since these just came out?

Thanks,
 
#28 · (Edited)
The b-pipes are bolt-on components, separate from the exhaust manifolds while the OEM manifolds have the cat-converters welded onto them

If the OEM manifolds aren't crack, you can always replace the failed converters with aftermarket pieces, i.e. magnaflow high flow converters.
If you decide to gut out the OEM converters, a set of b-pipes from PRT, Berk, Stillen have the catalysts inline, with the extended O2 bungs located after them. By doing this, it helps eliminate any chances of throwing any O2 codes.
I chose PRT because unlike Berk and Stillen, the O2 sensors are located near or at the same location of the OEM b-pipes. The other two have the O2 bungs so far down the b-pipe that the wires on the O2 sensors will be stretched to their limit.
PRT also lets you choose whether you want a metallic or ceramic catalyst; in my case, I went with metallic because I was originally going to have the OEM converters gutted. They checked out ok but I still plan on removing the OEM manifolds in the near future for the JBA LT headers.
 
#30 ·
I'm going to subscribe to these post...I have to replace my Catalyst. From these post, do i need to buy new headers? B-Pipe? and OEM Catalyst?
 
#31 ·
Was told at 60,000 that cats had to be replaced.
Warrranty covered it. Now at 80,000 engine light came on. Dealer said air flow sensor, $250 part, had to be replaced and then said cats on one side over heated and inernally melted had to be replaced and material from cat can be sucked back into the engine and will damage engine if not replaced. This does not make sense to me. Car runs great. Just towed horse trailer 600 miles with no problems although once, after light came on, the engine missed twice. Has been fine since. Acceleration is fine and gas mileage is same. Has anyone else had this problem? I didn't think material from cat could be sucked back into engine, either.
 
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