I am new here so please bear with me. I have a 2004 Nissan Frontier XE pickup truck. It has 210,000 (yes 210,000) miles on it. I have always done routine maintenance but I think I have a problem that is not routine. I believe that my FRONT catalytic converter is shot. I have been reading up on this, and many sources say look for extreme discoloration. Well, it has that so I took it out and ordered a new one. What a job that was. Please take a look at my three pictures of the cat:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3736785/catalytic1.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3736785/catalytic2.jpg
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3736785/catalytic3.jpg
Since I am not a mechanic, I do not know if this is normal discoloration after so many miles, or if the bottom half of the catalytic converter was extremely overheating, telling me that something isn't correct. To me, it looks like the bottom was getting "white hot." There is severe white discoloration.
But I am not a mechanic so for all I know it is normal looking. Can anyone tell me if this looks like normal wear, or possibly a bad cat. Thank you in advance for any input.
Just a joke... I honestly have no idea. How did you determine that you needed a new catalytic converter?