My car is throwing engine light code ( p4020 something etc) catalytic conv. below threshold. I have emission coming up next month which means i have to replace it very soon. I have two choices either go with magnaflow cat ( 320$) which has 2 year warranty or with Wagner cat ( 400$) which my mechanic is gonna put on for me.(warranty on wagner is appearantly 5 years on cat and 1 year on pipe? :S pretty confused on that since never heard of a after market catalytic convertor having 5 year warranty)

Not sure which choice would be better. any opinions.?

P.s Dont want to go for Honda part because part itself is costing me almost 1200+tax. Not looking to spend that much on a car which i m probably not gonna keep for longer than 2 years.

Thanks for responses

 

I have had good luck with Magnaflow components, so based on personal experience I would go with them.

 

EPA requires that all catalytic converters come with a 5 year/50,000 mile warranty. OEM catalytic converters all come with 8 year/80,000 mile warranties.

http://www.epa.gov/otaq/cert/factshts/catcvrts.pdf


I'd go Magnaflow because it's cheaper, but I usually install Wagner stuff on customer cars because it fits more like OEM.

 

slomof, that warranty is just for the part not the emission. Emission warranty for aftermarket cat comes with only 2 years. After 2 years they dont guarantee that it will pass emission for the state

"Any converter which meets EPA requirements must be properly labeled and warranted to
meed Federal durability and performance standards. New aftermarket converters are required to
have a 5 year/50,000 mile warranty on the converter shell and end pipes. They are also required to
-3-
be warranted to meet EPA's emission performance standards for 25,000 miles when the vehicle is
properly used and maintained. "

 

I removed mine altogether and went with a 4-1 header, put a spacer on the 2nd O2 sensor and no CEL. But we dont have any emission testing here so i wasnt all to interested in spending almost $1000 for something i dont need.

 

so FML. changed the cat and drove car for 2 days and guess what. LIGHT IS BACK ON.

 

You change the O2 sensor as well, or just re-ran the old one?

 

re run the old one. but the light that came on was for O2 sensor lol. So i had to replace that aswell. Now all good. Cleared the state emission aswell

 

I bought a cat delete that has holes for o2 sensors. It actually increase hp and mpg. It's obx racing brand. We don't have emissions test here.