When I purchased my 08 JK I only discovered afterwards that the cats were completely missing. Some genius cut them out and welded a straight pipe where the catalytic should go. A while later after I bought the jeep of course it threw both 420 and 430 codes. I took it back to the guy and told him it's illegal to sell me a car without cats, and so he needs to replace the whole cat assembly at his cost. He did that, but of course he put the cheapest aftermarket junk in there he could find.

Fast forward 5K miles and both codes popped back up, one at a time one week apart. Because this happened right before inspection time and I didn't feel like dealing with it at the time, I put a couple of defoulers on which made the codes go away and got through the inspection. But for this upcoming year's inspection I want to fix it right, I have a guilty conscience driving around with the defoulers.

I know an OEM cat assembly is ridiculously expensive. Obviously though, the ultra cheap alternative is not worth it if it is going to last for 5k miles. The jeep actually runs near perfect, zero oil consumption and zero antifreeze leak so I don't think it's a case of a badly running jeep contaminating the cats, I think they were just really low grade.

Does anyone have advice on a decent non-OEM cat assembly that will actually last for a reasonable length of time?

 

I'd try Discount Converter, and they're in Texas.
https://www.discountconverter.com/di...&CylSelected=6

 

I'm following this. I need mine to pass in February and I'm in CA so it has to be some type of CARB compliant

Anyone know if I can go out of state to a junk yard and get one? What are my options here?

 

At the link above, I'd bet they will ship it to you. They make the disclaimer, and for all they know you are fixing a car registered in another state. I suspect the big difference is the amount of precious metals, which affects it's life-span. In other words, a Mopar or CA compliant cat is going to last the longest (before setting the low cat efficiency DTC).

On the used market from wrecking yards, the original OEM units were the same in every state afaik -- But no matter what state you buy a used one from, you probably won't know for sure if it's a genuine original without a close visual comparison to your original. There's a lot of crappy cats out there, usually sold cheap, that don't last.

If I were you, I'd shop the local wrecking yards and look for a 2007-2010 with low miles and an original set of cats.

 

I just need the vehicle to pass emissions here in SoCal in February. I looked on rock auto and the CARB mopar unit is $2700 right now. With 212k I really didn't want to drop $2700.

I'd buy a used one from a junk yard but it may not last long. If I were to get one of the units from the website and install it myself, would it set off any alarms during CA smog?

Fixing it so it would last another 5 years plus could help the resale value also if I need to sell it. Can't really sell it here with an emissions check engine light either.

Anyone know what a junk unit costs? Are we talking a used junk yard sells them for like $300 and the website sells it new for $1200? Is it that big of a price difference and worth my time? I guess anyone with some junk yard experience? I can weld also so if that helps knock the price down on the repair?

 

No alarms, lights, or DTC's (presuming it's a good part).

These replacements are bolt in, no welding required. It's a decent amount of labor since the trans cross-member, front driveshaft, and of course all the O2 sensors have to come off, so factor that into the equation of how much your time is worth.

CA is weird, so I don't know what restrictions wrecking yards there may have -- suggest calling a few and see what's available. I've bought from wrecking yards over the years; one needs to know exactly what you want because sales are usually final, and don't be afraid to talk the asking price down based on condition, etc.

 

I did mine last year and I went with Walker. I give them a 3.5 star. The welds definitely don't look pretty, and the piece that crosses passenger side to driver side is a tad lower to the ground than the cross member so if you have a skid plate that would not work. I also bought a slightly longer exhaust hanger isolator because the OEM one seemed to stretch a lot with the new pipe. All my DTC are gone and I have not had any more problems.
I just checked online and the one I bought for 600 dollars is now just over a thousand so to be honest I would probably go with something other than walker....

 

Do you happen to have a picture as I'm installing a walker set myself