Hey Scotty! My 2005 Nissan Maxima with the VQ35DE V6 hitting almost 126k miles has a P0430 code and I've experienced my car jerking and idling like crazy when I was out driving at around 45 miles an hour so I pulled to the side of the road and shut it off for a few minutes and turned it back on and continue driving back home conservatively. I know that replacing the cats can be expensive and I don't want to waste any more money repairing this vehicle at this moment. In the meantime, would it be good enough to at least pour some cat cleaner into the tank and continue driving it especially on long highway trips or it is too perilous to do so? Thanks!
Why not do a bit of troubleshooting before throwing in the towel. If the catalytic converters are bad, what was the cause?
How do you know you have a bad catalytic converter? You might, but there are other things that can trigger P0420 or P0430. It sounds like you have other problems to deal with. Why not check live data for clues as to what's going on?
I wouldn't. I think you have some serious problems that could easily leave you stranded, and cat cleaner is going to do bupkiss.
I have a bad catalytic converter on my 07 Pontiac G6, but it is disintegrated, not clogged. If the cat is clogged, try catalytic converter cleaner. If that doesn’t work and there is overheating, rough idle, misfires, then replace it as soon as you can. I had a misfire and rough idle with mine, but has been better. I have to replace mine since I have emissions due.
