cat removal

[Allen K. Littlefield]

Chris, I am not sure by your answer that you are completely clear on cat removal. You should also state year of car that you are talking about. My car is an '02, 2.7 and has four cats, the first two are built into the header and have O2 sensors fore and aft. These are the ones that determine if you pass smog or not. The second set can be removed without affecting the smog test but violate it visually. I put a set of 2nd cat delete pipes on for less weight, less heat and more sound. A bit more power is claimed but not enough to get too excited about. So you can remove the set without the sensors with no problem but will fail smog if you mess with the primary header set. Others on this list have experience with putting on aftermarket headers and such and will have to chime in with further advice.

Hope this helps, AKL

[ekam]

I seriously doubt anyone doing emission test on the car knows off the bat the car originally has 4 cats. Do you think they're going to go on to the computer and check? A pass is a pass, that's all it matters. That being said, I know squat about the smog requirements for commiefornia.

[Ofishbein]

I have a 2001S with Dansk headers that eliminate the pre-cats. My mechanic extended the post-cat sensors aft of the second set of cats and I've had no problems at all - no CEL after about 8K miles and a sweeter exhaust note. Passed the sniffer fine and most testers, if they bother to look at all, see the second set of cats and are happy.

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by Ofishbein

I have a 2001S with Dansk headers that eliminate the pre-cats. My mechanic extended the post-cat sensors aft of the second set of cats and I've had no problems at all - no CEL after about 8K miles and a sweeter exhaust note. Passed the sniffer fine and most testers, if they bother to look at all, see the second set of cats and are happy.

Thanks, that was helpful.

[ChrisZang]

Originally Posted by Allen K. Littlefield

Chris, I am not sure by your answer that you are completely clear on cat removal. You should also state year of car that you are talking about. My car is an '02, 2.7 and has four cats, the first two are built into the header and have O2 sensors fore and aft. These are the ones that determine if you pass smog or not. The second set can be removed without affecting the smog test but violate it visually. I put a set of 2nd cat delete pipes on for less weight, less heat and more sound. A bit more power is claimed but not enough to get too excited about. So you can remove the set without the sensors with no problem but will fail smog if you mess with the primary header set. Others on this list have experience with putting on aftermarket headers and such and will have to chime in with further advice.

Hope this helps, AKL

Hi AK,

most of the info is my signature:
2002 S
secondary cat bypass pipes (fabspeed) installed

The whole discussion started one of my buddies told me that I would *never* pass smog in CA with that configuration and now I am wondering to put my fabspeed bypass pipes up for sale and go with new headers and a primary cat delete - because I looooove the sweet sound of a cat delete