just running wise, can i remove my cat and have no ill effects? i dont need to smog and i cant afford a new cat right now so i want to weld a piece of pipe in the cats place. so any problems with the computer?

 

If you are going to do the crime be ready to pay the fine. I would hope everyone here respects our air.

 

A couple of FYI's

1. Removing the cats will really not gain much power.
2. Even though you are exempt from inspections, you are not exempt from the requirement to have them- even US Fish & Game Wardens carry a manual that identifies each vehicle and the required smog equipment, illegal engines changes, etc with pics of how to ID.
3. Any law enforcement officer (including fish & game), EPA inspector, etc. can impound the vehicle and cite it as a gross polluter
4. Once cited, a judge will decide if the vehicle is to be scrapped or returned to the owner- and you do not have any opportunity to speak in court- just required to sit & listen.
5. if the vehicle is returned- guess what, now you have to repair and take the vehicle to a federal referee station for the rest of "its life" for a smog inspection & test.

IMHO, it's not worth the risk versus the little gain.

If you think your converters are partially clogged, you can certainly clean them (in most cases) by adding 1 gallon of lacquer thinner to 10 gallons of fuel....that typically does it.

 

good damn grief!! I get all the legal stuff and I'm not trying to gain horsepower or disrespect the damn air. I don't have the money right now to replace my clogged rattling cat and have a piece to exhaust tubing I can weld in temporarily but wanted to ask it it would harm the computer. Geeeeeze!!!! I'm just a working man trying to get by.

 

The lacquer thinner will clean it just fine... and promptly destroy the O2 sensor in the process thereby taking the cost of fixing the problem up by another $50-75. Something that has been made clear cannot happen.

If you have a non-functioning, catalytic converter on a 1995 or older vehicle, removal is acceptable under the following conditions. It has to either be clogged enough to be causing idle and drivability issues or the internal substrate must be fractured enough to render the efficacy of the substrate useless. Since there is no way to tell on the second issue without removing the unit in the first place, its a moot point.

As for the "power gain" concern that so many folks seem to think is there, I will say for the um-teen-millionth time, a properly functioning and properly sized catalytic converter is COMPLETELY PASSIVE!. If you see a marked improvement in performance after removing a properly sized catalytic converter, then the old one was clogged and needed to be replaced anyway.

Fishindave, you have been around long enough to know what I would recommend. Replace the cat because that is the right thing to do. However, in this particular case, if you simply cannot afford to replace it at this time but the condition of the unit has degraded enough to make driving the vehicle cost prohibitive or dangerous, then current Federal Law allows for the removal of it under the conditions I described above.

Now I don't know if the always-too-high-and-mighty-self-righteous state of California recognizes this portion of the law so you may still have the so-called "visual" inspections to worry about until you replace the cat out there in the land of make-believe.

If you can't afford to replace it right now, gut it and put it back. The vehicle will still pass a visual inspection and won't be "illegal" by any other emissions law unless some CA state trooper is going to crawl under the truck and take a temperature reading of the unit.

 

Basically fishindave11 yes you could cut the cat out and place your tube in. Since you don't live in CA the restrictions aren't as tough so you shouldn't have an issue. If you were at all worried about the legalities then follow what Grey said and gut it like a fish and throw it back in.

As for Beechkid, i think those rules really only applie in CA cause up here in WA after 25 years you don't have to do emissions meaning you can pretty much run open headers if you so desire, the one thing you have too look out for is Noise violations. Being that i have a big truck and a big motor ect, the cops don't care that i have stock manifolds into flex pipe and into cherry bombs, it is quite loud and you can smell the raw exhaust, but they don't care. They won't check your system for a newer engine either unless it is already impounded for something like that.

 

Man what a couple of tree loving hippies! Geez o petes! Fishin dave the answer is no your computee will not flash any extra codes due to a lack of the cat converter.. unless you have a before and after O2 sensor then the after cat sensor may throw a code. I know my 96xlt only has sensor before where aaid catalytic con used to be. The PO removed it in search of space for true duals which he ran out the back in the middle (retard) go witg your original plan or as ive always done remove the cat and use a piece of rebar to crack all that clogged honeycomb out and then reinstall like it never happened

 

I damaged mine going through a pasture and cut it off. It runs good and felt more power but I may just get a hi-flow cat again one day.

 

With regards to damaging the O2 sensors with lacquer....a 10% mix (which is what I recommend) on a 1 time shot will not have any effect on the o2 sensors.....
The cat can also be removed, soaked in solvent or a heavy dish-soap solution and ...soaked for a day or 2, and can be cleaned out............in most cases....

With regards to California...

sorry, it's not california, its fed, that why the US Dept of Fish & Game is also an enforcer.

Cats really can last almost forever providing their guts don't burn out/away......and given the costs of even a replacement, i would try cleaning the cats.

 

Not even close to the truth..........but for a person to be strapped for $ to be subjecting his likely only vehicle to be impounded & scrapped when something as simple as soap & water may likley solve the problem in unconsciable...Check out this scenario....

Goes for a drive down a dirt road, gets stuck, a US Forest Service Ranger comes by, ....impound required! or any State Fish & Gam Warden (Yes even in Wiscon.)...and if you are relying on the local "god Ol Boy deputy who has said ...we don't do that stuff...they are right....but get any involvement from any state or federal agency...Bureau of land management, etc....you're toast!

over what....a bucket of soap and a few hours of work...............

 

You people need to READ what is being written instead of jumping on just words. The state of CA has enforcement methods (of Federal Standards and their own which exceed the Fed in many cases) that exceed every other state in the union INCLUDING most Federal branches. Don't believe me? Ask the folks who have to deal with it.

Higher soot content and lower flash point combustibles will eventually damage an O2 sensor. Believing otherwise only proves you have no understanding of the operational requirements of the device.

1990 models have no O2 sensor downstream of the cat. OBD-II (1996) does.

 

Greystreak, you need to take a valium.....o2 sensors can handle up to 15% mixture varience such as MTB (which has the same burining characterisctis as acetone)....and if you review a MSDS document for the EPA cat cleaning liquids avilable at just about any parts store, it is acetone or lacquer based (though some are ketone as well)

Calif regs as it relates to smog enforcement testing, visual inspections, yes, very strict but that also varies by county/region in Ca...........but what I am specifically speaking here is enforcement of federal regulations, which each state must adopt & enforce.in Calif it is the California Vehicle Code.........
law enforcement (which includes USDA Game Wardens) enforce authority based upon "police power", much different than "Polution Inspection Authority"...that is what every "Law Enforcement Agency" has book (pronted in color) that shows every series of production vehicle by series, common illegal modifications (including engine swaps in Hondas, etc) for what the federal courst had identified as "Rapid Effective Enforcement". Even Fire Investigators (who have "Police Power" or are "Sworn Police Officers") have these manuals to assist during their fire cause investigations.
Even in California, there are lands which the state has no enforcement authority.......federal lands or rpoperty, which the USFS enforces and they have complete authority (and have seen personally) vehicles be impounded, owners cited under federal statues for operating without required smog enquipment.

Ask any , law enforcement officer to see the manual...its actually a small (not too thick) document, color photos, etc.