The catalytic converters attach to the exhaust manifolds with studs. Looking around this does not seem uncommon at all for many car manufacturers. My experience replacing the cat in my 05 X-type was that the nuts come off the studs because that is what the factory service manual says, then the studs have to be removed because there isn't enough space to drop the catalytic out with 2 inch long studs in there (Why doesn't the service manual just say to take out the studs in the first place?!). Assembly is the opposite, put the catalytic into position then thread a stud into it, then tighten a nut onto the stud.

Scratching my head over this, why do car makers use studs for this connection? The threaded catalytic converter has to be put in position to get the studs on...why not just use a bolt at this point and skip the step of adding a nut onto the stud? Couldn't the expensive, custom Jag stud (#19 in the diagram below) and the nut be replaced by a standard bolt for less money and less assembly cost?

 

I don't have any input on the stud issue, but curious, are you replacing both cats yourself? I mentioned in the Cat-a-lid-it thread that I'm quoted $1,000 in labor alone for both cats from Midas. Also, can you suggest a source online to purchase converters that bolt on, no welding?

Thanks!

 

If you go to SNG Barratt's website you can download there catalog for free for te X-Type. All OEM convertors will be bolt on. No welding, as shown in the excerpt from the SNG Barratt catalog.

You can also do a forum search for Dr dome. he parts out X-types and probably has a couple of good used ones.

 

Thanks Avern, that picture says it all. Is it the upright converter that is hardest to get to and req's subframe drop?

I'm going to spend a fair sum to get this done, it's way beyond my pay grade. I'm a meticulous shade tree mechanic, the spark plug change on this car is about the most I can be trusted with.

I found a mobile mechanic company that has a great website, looks like a national co. They quoted $1,800 to come to my house and replace both, that's parts and labor with warranty since they are supplying the parts for $1,000. I need California compliant cats and I found them for $475 each online. I can tell the car should not be driven until this is fixed.

https://www.yourmechanic.com/

The car has been great and runs like a top when not sick. I have a new brake booster and newish AC compressor. I replaced the shocks and struts a few years ago, still has a great ride. It also has a new radiator and replaced that kinda famous T hose for the coolant system. I figure I'm going to need wheel bearing soon. I'm willing to spend some money on repairs if it will get me to around 200K miles before it needs a rebuild. I've had this car as a daily driver since 2007 when it had 80K miles, she now has 150K miles. I'm not sure I'd really rebuild it anyway, maybe if by then there is some sort of kit for rebuilding it. I weighed getting a much newer car considering the expense of cats and wheel bearing is a good down payment on a $16,000 car or so. But no! I'm diving in here

 

I replaced only the bank 1 cat, the one against the firewall, because I only have the P0420 code for that cat. I would have done both but the front one is so much easier to get at I am leaving it alone until it is a problem. That one can be done with the subframe in place. I did the work myself and would NOT recommend it but it might be much easier for you. The majority of my time was spent dealing with bolts that snapped or had to be cut off due to rust. We have salt on the roads in the winter and higher humidity year round than you have in AZ. Dropping the subframe is time consuming but not difficult if the nuts and bolts aren't seized.

As far as replacement parts I bought the cheap one on eBay made by a company called DEC and probably the same company makes the same part under the name of BEN. Interesting that they manufacture in California but do not sell in California because they are not CA compliant. I wouldn't recommend that part. The steel where you need to clamp the exhaust Y pipe on is thin which makes me worry about that joint over time. Also that part of the pipe is about half an inch shorter than the OEM part. The overall size of the catalyst area is smaller and the outlet tube is much smaller so I'm sure it costs several HP. The O2 sensor threads were full of crud that I had to clean out. Worst of all the mount tabs where that rear cat bolts to the engine at the cat outlet...not even close. It took 4 or 5 different attempts to bolt on the cat and unbolt it and adjust the mount tabs with a big hammer and some vice grips and pliers to move the bend (do this before you attempt to use the gasket between the manifold and the cat!). I finally gave up on one of the two and only bolted on one mount tab. The quality is awful but...it was $1300 less than an OEM cat.

If I was to do it again I would probably have the OEM cat rebuilt. There is a company called Davico that you can contact directly or you can buy the rebuild service through Rock Auto. Allegedly you get an exact OEM cat with all new internals for $200 plus you have to send them your old cat.

 

Yea, in my online search for CA. cats, I found that under specs they had a metric for ‘Emission’ and it was designated as Federal, or CA. The Federal ones stated, No shipments to CA. So I guess, that’s how they keep Californians from buying the wrong cats online, Lol.

Btw, I do hope my subframe bolts and nuts are in acceptable shape to be removed as intended. I can see you’ve been thru the trenches in that regard. Up to your neck in stripped broken bolt heads, are there really 50 of them? I imagine the subframe has to be aligned correctly when re-assembled. How do you know when you get that right? Seems like a Black Art to do it yourself while running into so many problems. I.e. drilling thru the steal floor of the car to rectify a spinning ‘captive’ nut. Just one! The F word would be heard from miles around if that were me.

Sounds like outside of the subframe nightmare you had a time with the fit of the new cat. I looked up direct fit cats this afternoon but decided to let the mobile mechanic co. supply them. I may need to tell them ahead of time about your experience with the DEC and or BEN parts. I found MagnaFlow CA. direct fit cats, but appears they don’t make ones for the X Type. The closest to Jag they had was Jeep! Ha ha.

I will look up Davico, thanks for the tip As long as they don’t want the cores first, I could buy those and send my cores to them after the work is done.
You said your cat was $1,300 less than an OEM. How much is an OEM cat thru Jaguar?

Btw, sorry to have hi-jacked your thread! You were talking about removing studs and struggling to fit the cat in place. I hate bad engineering too. I recently purchased the URL inferiorengineering.com. I want to turn it into an expose on bad engineering by big companies who should be ashamed of themselves. Engineers included.

 

The fit up of the cheap cat was insult added to injury but it wasn't so bad. Anything that can be fixed with a hammer is ok. Another issue I didn't mention, the eBay ad showed a gasket but it arrived without one. I went back to the ad and it clearly states no gasket included so my bad, but if you do decide to buy cats check that they come with gaskets, mounting studs and nuts. There is another thread in this forum where PanamaJag recommends the other cheap brand I saw out there, Evan Fischer, as working to finally clear up a P0420 code but also having small fit issues.

The part number I came up with for the rear cat is C2G2095. One website (jaguaroriginalparts) has it listed for $2600! Another (jaguarpalmbeach) has it listed at $1700. I was guessing shopping around would yield a slightly better price. I put in a call to the local Jag dealer and have only gotten back a message saying they are working on that quote and will get back to me. Weeks ago. When I worked at an auto parts store as a kid you opened the paper catalog, found the part, and it had a price next to it. Price quotes took seconds.

The 50 broken/stripped bolts is a slight exaggeration. The front splash shield (under the radiator, needs to come off to get at the big subframe bolts) alone had 12. The steel spring clips they thread into spun out so the only way to get them off was with an angle grinder. Also 8 bolts for holding the exhaust downpipes and Y pipe together all had to be cut off, as did the 2 bolts holding on that rear cat. 2 bolts from the trans shifter cover, those darned ball joint bolts (not stripped but deformed due to pounding them out with a sledge hammer), a few from the various heat shields, a few holding cable and hose clamps,... I'll revise my estimate down to 40.

 

Wow, sounds like a nightmare. Do you ever wish you had been able to see how this would go, and, bought a car instead of fixing the X?

 

Parts Geeks sell the catalytic converters for $200 (non California ones) U.S.D.

 

The Parts Geek cats are the same DEC brand that I bought from eBay. They will fit without welding but if you are paying for labor you will get charged for making those mount tabs fit.

If the X were my daily driver I would have thrown in the towel and bought another car but it isn't so I could afford to pick away at the job over several weeks. My biggest regret is starting the job in the winter. What was I thinking? We had a few unseasonably warm days so I jumped on it, then we had snow and more snow and nearly 30 days of well below average temperature so not many days I felt like laying on the ground and no AWD car for the snow.