mortificationrock

Ok im in the market to replace my old OEM 200k mile cat. Im gonna get a custome 2.25" piping and a es tuning muffler welded on next week. But i want to buy a Magnaflow cat from ebay(LoL). But i heard there was a new law about cats. So what the heck do i need to buy? And what if i put one of the universal cats on? Can they not smog me? Cuz i need to do my smog this month. Can i just tell the guy i had replaced it long before the law was in affect? Or that i bought it like that?

Any pointers will be helpful.

mortificationrock

BUMP...so i guess no one lives in cali.

mortificationrock

c'mon someone has to have some input on this.... help a bro out.

boxeocampeon

All aftermarket CATs are illegal in cali now. youll pass smog if the guy doesn't notice that its not the OEM one. You could just put the high flow one on and then put the stock one back on when you smog

mortificationrock

Well i mean how would they know that you did replace it before? I mean if you had it on already before the law came to pass. They cant force you to remove it with a new 09 version can they?

Also when u refer to high flow do you mean test pipe? Is that the same? Sorry for the NOOBNESS but ive never used test pipes. Or so they're called

hi ho silver

The new 2009 cats are car specific. They have a number on them and each number is related to specific cars. I know this because i just bar'd my hatch and the new cat converters are EXPENSIVE! So in the end.. it all depends on the smog tech, if they look at the number you're screwed if they dont look at it, then your golden. Just like every other smog issue in CA. Look forward to paying close to 200 for a brand new cat.

and when i hear test pipe, usually it refers to a straight through pipe in place of the cat.

boxeocampeon

high flow cats have better flow then the stock cats and a test pipe is a straight pipe like exhaust and you can just unbolt it so you can put a cat on when you want to smog it.

mortificationrock

ok....but what if I put on a universal cat on and he asks me and I say I bought it like that. I don't think they can legally tell you that you need to change the cat. Atleast that's what I've heard. Cuz there are many cars out there with old universal cats. I don't think every single car is going to remove a good working cat just cuz of the new law. Or am I wrong?

bigpwr

its your duty as a law abiding citizen to make sure that any vehicle you purchase is road legal....with that being said you might get away with it, but if they spot it you will have to replace it no matter what

boxeocampeon

you might get a fix it ticket cus they dont kno that your telling the truth either

boxeocampeon

just take the universal cat and put your stock one back on when you smog it. its easy its just bolt on bolt off

mortificationrock

fix it ticket? From who cops? LoL..... I've never seen cops stop you for cats. Atleast I've never heard of anyone getting stopped. And even the smog tech has told me that if its a old universal cat there is nothing they can do. That they don't force you to change the cat unless its defective.
seems to me there is alot of misinformation around. As to the hew law. From what I know stores can't sell universal cats anymore. But that don't mean more th probably 80% of cars out there don't have aftermarket cats from before.

mortificationrock

the reason I'm changing the cat is cuz its a 200k mile oem cat. What would be the point of doing the above. I'm not doing it for performance but for maintanance. I'm sure the new will help performance alot maybe, cuz it aint clogged like the one on right now.

xXB18EKHatchXx

Move to Alabama and never worry about smog or any other inspection again!

TunerN00b

They can.

In fact, it is only legal to change a cat on a newer car (forget exact mileage, but there is a limit) with documentation from a mechanic stating that the existing cat has failed. Changing it without that documentation is illegal.

Gotta love California...

While that is true, in California it is entirely on the seller to sell a legal car. If its registered, and you purchase it, and it is illegal, you can force the person you bought it from to pay for correct the issues.

There is no "as is" clause for smog equipment on a registered car sale. The only way around that is to register the car as non-operational first, then sell it. Then, it becomes the new owner's responsibility to bring a car up to complete legality before registering it again.

rehaf

Man ya'll got some crazy stuff going on out there. You can't change the cat until it fails?

98civdx

thats what he said.

boxeocampeon

okay then just put an OEM cat back on if your not doing it for performance

mortificationrock

Well this plan has gone to ****.. i got bigger things to worry about like my recent accident tonight.

mattyv

you should try going to honda. i heard somewhere thats its federal law that honda a manifacture has to replace a cat if it goes bad. but if you go there and tell them you need a new cat they will charge you, you have to tell them that you know the law. someone correct me if i'm wrong. but im pretty sure its correct

93ekg23

honda guarentees the smog system to b good for like 10 years or something like that, not lifetime.
The deal with the magnaflow cats works just like this. They have to be car specific, but if u read what they fit/ work for its not just one car. I just went through this with my 95 gsr, i live in the bay area of ca. we have tough smog laws too. When i bought the cat i welded it on and went to smog it, i had failed twice previously with gross polluter emmissions... they were 2.5x higher than max allowable. so i did the cat swap with the maganaflow one. it passed with flying clors. NEVER once have i had a fat *** smog tech crawl under my car and check the numbers. they dont care!!! swap it out and go smog it. dont even mention **** about ur cat. they wont check!!!!!
now if u are doing a swap and are getting it bar'd u had better believe they will check. this all may be a dead point since u wrecked ur car but for the general population wondering about this, there u go.

boxeocampeon

why would you wreck the car?