2000 Outback, 150k miles, auto, ltd (if that makes a difference...it does with headlights)

 

I know the adage about only using OEM cats and I'm certainly leaning that way. BUT, does anybody have experience using Bosal cats?

 

I can get them SOOOOO much cheaper and a local muffler shop, that's better than the last one I went to, recomended them. They said their return percentage is very low and therefore worth it to them to use. Let me know your good and bad stories about Bosal.

 

I'm sure things will be fine with OEM cats, but $1000 vs. $500, makes this a question worth asking.

 

back story...

 

I recently posted about my P0420 codes coming from my less than 1 year old aftermarket cats and both OEM O2 sensors. I got confirmation today that the problem is, in fact, the cats. The mechanic spent an hour getting all sorts of readings proving no exhaust leak and perfectly operating O2 sensors.

 

I refuse to allow the exhaust shop that installed my cats to ever touch my car. If you live in the Seattle area, NEVER LET BUCKY's TOUCH YOUR CAR...EVER! Yes, I'm bitter. They sucked, they upcharged, they're lousy welders, AND they sold me crap cats. Oh, and they got grease all over the inside of my car that took me a couple hours to clean up...there was a lot of it.

I don't know anything about the Bosal cats, but I was curious. I found them at: http://www.partsgeek.com/catalog/2000/subaru/outback/exhaust/catalytic_converter.html . Do you know which model you'd be getting, and what the performance difference is between them -- the selling price certainly is different, and not just at this particular website.

Don't know about Bosal, but I had an aftermarket cat, Eastern Catalytic, put on wife's Toyota. Worked fine for about 2000 miles, then the 0420 code came back.

 

Problem with aftermarket warranty, is you have to pay to ship it back and hope they are honest enough to admit it is a problem with their cat. Either way, you are out the shipping for a heavy exhaust.

Eastern is bad news. Google Bosal and see what others say, as i never heard of them.

 

nipper

i picked up a bolt on OEM style cat on ebay for $114 (shipping included) for 96-99 legacy's. 4 bolts to install, i'll go through a couple of these if i have to.

 

a few thoughts for your situation:

 

if you're having a shop install it - ask them how long it's warrantied for and if you have to pay to have another one installed.

 

if the rest of the exhaust is rusty and not in good condition, that would be hard to spend that kind of cash on a dealer unit. i'd be tempted to go cheaper or fix the entire exhaust. might not want $1,000 OEM stuff hanging from rusty pipes that might break next year.

Bosal makes a awful lot of VW exhausts for air and water cooled. I don't recall if I've ever used one of their cats though.

The rest of my exhaust looks great. I suspect that what has forced my exhaust to hang low and look like crap is how Bucky's welded the now bad cats in place. The Bosal unit is preassmbled and, I hope, will tuck things back up into place where they're supposed. I believe it also comes with the bungs properly located.

 

With it built like that, I'd buy new bolts, new gaskets, and do the work myself (or attempt it for a little while, give up once I've wrenched on the bolts with no success, and then take it to my mechanic).

Just an update. I did buy and install the Bosal cats. They were installed about 2 weeks ago. The check engine light came back on this evening. Good thing I got the smog check done today around 1!

 

Because of when the CEL came back on it has not been scanned. I'll update to confirm it's another P0420 code tomorrow. Just my gut telling me it's the problem.

 

Although the mechanic did mention that when he read the codes he read a misfire in the #3 plug. But all the plugs are shiny and new (wires too).

 

We'll see what the OBDII tells me tomorrow.

Just an update. I did buy and install the Bosal cats. They were installed about 2 weeks ago. The check engine light came back on this evening. Good thing I got the smog check done today around 1!

 

Because of when the CEL came back on it has not been scanned. I'll update to confirm it's another P0420 code tomorrow. Just my gut telling me it's the problem.

 

Although the mechanic did mention that when he read the codes he read a misfire in the #3 plug. But all the plugs are shiny and new (wires too).

 

We'll see what the OBDII tells me tomorrow.

mis-fires can be caused from other items, not neccessarily from plugs or wires

Could it be that something's wrong with fuel delivery that's not letting your cat come up to the correct operating temperature?

It was a P0420 code. Took in to the shop this morning and the mechanic found a small exhaust leak. Tightened things up and reset the code. CEL came back on a little later.

 

Not sure if he scanned to run the numbers on the O2 sensors. Perhaps something it off. I'll run it back to the shop tomorrow.