Toyota Camry / Solara 2.2L 5SFE - Exhaust Downpipe / Catalytic Converter Replacement
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Older high mileage Camry and Solara vehicles will eventually suffer from leaking (loud) exhaust flex pipes and clogged, non functioning catalytic converters. No reason to shell out hundreds of dollars at a muffler shop to fix them. For around $100 and change, you can buy yourself a new exhaust down pipe with the attached flex pipe and catalytic converter. In the long run, it's cheaper than piece mealing the repairs at a muffler shop. The front of the down pipe attaches to the exhaust manifold's 3 stud flange and the rear of the pipe to the two hole flange center resonator pipe. My catalytic converter was clogged and operating below the "efficiency threshold". Years prior, I had the flex pipe replaced by a muffler shop and now the converter wasn't working. Under closer examination with the engine running, the flex pipe was leaking as well. Shopped on line and learned that these replacement down pipes were pretty cheap! Figured why not just replace the whole pipe instead of a muffler shop piece mealing a repair. With a new pipe, there's nothing to cut off and weld. After I installed the new down pipe, the car was running much stronger, quieter and the mpg's went up! I'd say the back pressure from the clogged converter wasn't allowing the engine to breath thereby impacting its performance.
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Parts & Specialty Tools:
Toyota Camry, Avalon, Solara, Lexus ES 300, '97'01 (Haynes Repair Manual)
amzn.to/34wmbXJ
Catalytic Converter for 1997-2001 Toyota Camry/Solara 2.2L Direct-Fit Stainless Steel High Flow Cat (EPA Compliant)
amzn.to/32cti4S
Complete the job with a new center pipe resonator and muffler
Stainless Steel Resonator Exhaust pipe Fits 97-01 Toyota Camry 99-03 Solara 4 Cylinder
amzn.to/38oZKDF
Walker 18903 SoundFX Muffler
amzn.to/3inY55I
Walker 31374 Exhaust Gasket
amzn.to/2VeBzTR
Loctite 51147 C5-A Copper Based Anti-Seize, -30 to 1800 degrees F Temperature Range, 8 oz
amzn.to/2SRdrVx
Lisle 12230 Oxygen Sensor Thread Chaser
amzn.to/3a26UwX
Thank you for this down to earth, to the point, and simple how-to sir. Very nicely down for the world of camry/solara owners. This has given me the courage to perform the job on my 2006 model.
You bet! I'm all about keeping it simple.
This video is really helpful and fast and easy to replace.
Thanks!
Thanks for the video! I'll be doing this task on my 97 Camry to get it ready for emission inspection "(
Good for you! Cheaper and more satisfying than dealing with a muffler shop.
@@hardlymovingpro Absolutely 👍 Hope I’ll get better gas mileage after replacing the old exhaust system.
The whole piece for $150 a guy can only dream to to get that good deal. I bought just the cat 15 years ago in California.(bolt on, not welded) the cheapest one I could find was $900 at oreillys had to pay $200 for the installation. It was giving me the below threshold code on the scanner. The car failed the emissions/smog test after the installation. I was mad I went back to O'Reilly's for another part the mechanic recommended. I was making small talk and mentioned to a guy about the price I payed for the cat while in line ready to pay for the other part. The lady at the check out counter (oreilly worker) over heard the conversation and laughed she said "wow you payed how much for the cat? Man you got ripped off .Where did you buy that from" Then I said "here at this store" she quickly shut up as her other co-workers and other customers in line were laughing their asses off.
Thanks for sharing and buyer beware! Unfortunately a lot of ebay vendors will no ship cats to California.
I waited until the very last second for the "and we're done!" ha ha
Had a flex joint blow out while away from home. Took the Camry 4 to a Lou's exhaust shop (mistake). They installed an oversize flex and WELDED the pipe from the downpipe back (I was pissed!). Would never go back there, the exhaust is louder but the engine breathes a lot easier and it picked up some horsepower with the bigger flex and thru-piping. Cat was not deleted.
Bandaid repair?
@@hardlymovingpro It was an emergency prior to a 1400 mile trip. It's a "custom exhaust" shop so they used all new SS pipe. They did a good job for what they do, it's just that I wanted to keep it original so I could replace sections myself. I left it up to them which was the wrong thing to do.
You're so right.... I paid $150 to get the flex pipe repaired after the previous owner had a shoddy flex pipe job. Now my cat converter is so poor I can hear it make a rattling noise. Ebay has this part for $85 wow!
Live and learn.
@@hardlymovingpro Well the exhaust shop welded the flange together because it was rusting apart so I can't exactly bolt a new cat on.
Replace everything. Downpipe, center resonator pipe and muffler. Can do it all for under $300
Really amazing
But simple!
Thank you!!
You bet!
Very helpful
Thanks!
Hello, I have a 2000 camry 2.2l with high postive long term fuel trim at 20% at idle, but at higher rpm it drops to 5%, but I cannot find a leak, would a exhaust manifold or intake manifold leak would cuase this? I also have do NOT have check engine light on.
Ditto my previous response.
sorry your manifold studs broke off. Toyota dealership wants to charge me $390 to replace my threaded studs since because of them the exhaust pipe isn't making a good enough seal to pass emissions. DO you think i could tighten enough to seal it up to pass, or if I gotta replace them how hard is it to take out the studs so I can put new ones in?
$390?! Go on eBay and see if there's a used one for sale.
@@hardlymovingpro haha thanks, but I'm just trying to fix the seal between the exhaust and the manifold, the exhaust is actually pretty new. I'm going to try and tighten it to see if I can seal it back up, just took a look at it and they were completely right: two of the three studs and nuts aren't tightened enough and the exhaust pipe and manifold connection is open like a mouth.
Hi I have an issue here with the said car. The car cannot start. I top up the fuel. Checked the fuel relay, fuse and fuel pump all okay but now power going through the fuel pump cable. There is power in the fuel relay connector. Please assist.
Broken timing belt? Pry open the top timing belt cover to confirm.
@@hardlymovingpro Yes you are right. The radiator fan belt is worn out and is not torn off. Some parts of fan belt came off.
dude… what year is that? My 1996 camry and the 1999 solars have the catalytic converter immediately after the manifold. Then comes the down pipe, then the flex pipe, then the resonator
1999 4dr
You have CARB emissions model. He has a Federal emissions model in this video.
I have a 2000 toyota solara 2.2. My question is the muffler and the resonator will properly mate without the walker gasket. When I add the walker gasket the is about 1/2 inch gap. Should I just tighten the bolts as much as possible?
Yes. Tighten the bolts. The rubber hangers should give enough to accommodate the slight difference.
Excellent Video. Very good. I need a help. While removing exhaust component especially the connection pipe down stream, there are lot of spring bolts. can u pls tell me if i can replace the exhaust bolts especially with any other bolts or i should go with same spring kind of bolts that is used in OEM. where can i found those exhaust bolts especially after market.
You should be able to re-use the spring bolts unless the threads are no good. The important thing is to replaced the flange donut gasket. The flanges are purposesly spring loaded to allow the flanges to flex against each other. The "donut" is the flex point and they eventually wear out and will cause a exhaust leak. Here's a link to new bolt, nut and spring replacement kit: amzn.to/37Tmmds
Hardly Moving Productions thank you so much. It make sense more now about the spring and donut gasket putpose
@@sivucit Good for you!
What size nuts and bolts did you use for the down pipe
Sorry. Don't recall.
So the 97 2.2l doesn't have Cat1 on the downpipe like a 99 2.2l does. That's interesting.
Believe they both do.
When installing the gaskets, how do we determine which side should be facing up or does it not matter at all?
From my experience, doesn't matter
@@hardlymovingpro I'm considering to replace the resonator on my car. It appears I have the option to replace it with a silencer assembly or a resonator assembly. What is the difference and which one do you recommend, and is there an advantage to one over the other?
Believe they're both the same. They reduce the sharp exhaust pitch sound before it hits the muffler.
How much did this part cost and from where?? Thank you
Around $100 on eBay
So what aftermarket brand are you using here? Seems so inexpensive!
They're all made in China and are sold at the retail level by different vendors. If you go by a name brand (Bosal, Walker, Eastern Catalytic, AP, Davico, etc.), you'll pay around an extra $100 but you'd get a decent warranty. So far the one I got off of Ebay is holding up just fine. My best MPG, with the new catalyst, went from 33 to 38. These converters, with high mileage and age, eventually clog up, disintegrate and set off an MIL code. Last month I replaced two down pipes on an Audi Q7. The guy was quoted over $1,700 per pipe. I bought a pair on Ebay for under $250. Only problem was that the flanges to the resonator pipe didn't match up. Local muffler shop fixed it for $125. Customer noticed a instantaneous improvement in engine power and acceleration. The clogged converter was causing back pressure that was backing up into his intake manifold. You can see the carbon soot build up in 3 of the 6 intake runners. Strangest thing I've ever seen!
@@hardlymovingpro I've been sitting with a P0420 code for some time on my 99 Es300, so I might have a similar thing going on. California emissions here. I'm thinking of going with Walker. OEM prices are a little insane 😭. Haven't brought it to a muffler shop yet, but also might want to tackle it myself.
@@nikovandh The V6 is a weird setup. One exhaust manifold has a cat attached to it ... the other doesn't. On the downpipe side, the manifold that doesn't have the cat has the cat on the down pipe. And I think there's a third cat that's in front of the center resonator pipe. Also, some of the flanges are spring loaded; not a nut and bolt setup. The flanges are designed to flex on an exhaust donut. With mileage, the donuts wear out and cause an exhaust leak.
@@hardlymovingpro I wish I was only dealing with 1 converter lol. The repair manual says to replace all 3 after testing sensors / exhaust leaks, and doesn't give any instructions for differentiating which need replacement. Definitely makes it more interesting for someone who has never replaced a catalytic converter before.
Usually, it is not the catalytic converter has gone bad; they are supposed to last for the entire life span of cars.
There are 3 usual reasons. The first, the gasket at the joint of the exhaust manifold and catalytic converter or the gasket at the joint of the engine and exhaust manifold has gone bad. The second, the oxygen sensor at the exhaust manifold often goes bad first before the oxygen sensor downstream of catalytic converter goes bad. The last, the air intake hose has a loose fastening or ripped opening. In any of the cases, the upstream oxygen sensor gives a funny reading outside the range, and p0420 code pops up.
If the owner of a car does not take care of fluids, coolant may seep into engine while engine oil seeps into the cooling system. In such cases, catalytic converters will really have problems; a handy person can have a contaminated catalytic converter cleaned.
After market catalytic converter assemblies don’t last long unless built of stainless steel. Walker Exhaust products or similar ones made of aluminized pipes typically start falling apart at welded joints or vent pipe.
Replacing the broken flex pipe and the upstream gasket is the most economic fix. If you want to keep your car for a long time, you could get your parts at a local dealership. Parts prices are high, at least you can supply your own labor; in the long run, you don’t need to replace it again. You can sell scrap catalytic converter for $100-$200.
Recently had a friend say the same thing to me about his ES350 converter. He replaced the downstream sensor but the 420 code kept coming back. Just last week he said "we have to replace the converter".