shodobe

I haven't been here for awhile but have a question. I have a '92 with a 3.0. I have one catalytic between the engine and the muffler. It has a rattle so I think something has broken off inside. I don't really need it because I live in a county in California where emission testing is only required IF I sell the vehicle. If I was to bypass this conv and just put a straight pipe in between the engine and the muffler, will it damage or do anything to the engine? I just don't want to put out a few hundred bucks for something I don't need legally. Thanks

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Have you ever been to LA?

Fix the Cat.

shodobe

Not an answer. I use to live there and live in NorCal. The vehicle gets driven maybe a few hundred miles a month. Do you have any constructive answers or what?

stagger_lee

Legally you need a CAT whether or not your county requires emission testing per the state of California and per federal law, so I have been told. Being that I am all for the environment I would like to see a CAT on there to reduce the amount of harmful gas going out into the atmosphere. Your car will stink and be a loud, but wont hurt your engine You will also have to get used to staring at your CEL. You will probably have a bad O2 sensor after awhile and would need replacing before smogging to sell. That will be your responsibility as the seller. I hope that answers your question. Cheers!

I think DeathCougar was referring to wonderful brown skyline in LA.

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

I was thinking "fix the cat" was about as to-the-point as I could get....but you need more words so...

FIX THE CAT PRETTY PLEASE. Yes it will affect the running of your engine, although it may not "hurt" the engine. It will run rich. You can buy replacement aftermarket cats for about $125, so it makes sense to fix it right the first time.

and yes, i am referring to the brown LA skyline. That place is nasty from pollution.

algranger

emission testing or not its illegal to run without a cat anywhere but its up to you i, personally, prefer to run mine without the cat
sorry for the jack but dc do you know if the alternator from my 85 22r will work on the 80 20r?

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

No, it will not. The 80 is externally regulated, the 85 is internally regulated

shodobe

Well, sarcasm isn't your forte but I appreciate the straight answer instead of the vague one. Also. I have lived in the brown stuff and that is why I live in a county that might have 40,000 people. I also know it is illegal to run without one, but the only way anyone would know is if I smog it which I will never do again.

stagger_lee

Its hard to type, or read sarcasm for that matter. Not ever trying be an a$$ sometimes I come off as one.

You could get pulled over and sited or sent to a referee, because thats a possibility too. Sometimes the authority in those smaller towns like to pick on us off-roaders because our rigs aren't always pretty, anything to bring revenue into the county. It will start with the mudflaps and then the license plate light and then, what do we have here, no CAT...to the ref. I lived in one too for a while, only 10k residents and got f-ed with all the time.

bruzer1123

Just as a thought...you can get some aftermarket Magnaflow or Dynomax cats for around $60-80 on summit racing...that is the route I am headed in a week or so...

mnmontana

check out Maremont, decent prices, and can sell you a simple bolt on cat, you can buy the actual products through kragen.com

I got my entire exhaust (cept manifold, which is by dorman) from maremont piece by piece for ~500 when all was said and done.

As for the enviromentallists... heres what ya do, put the cat on to make them happy (and to avoid a nasty ticket/bad engine/etc) then pour a big old jug of used motor oil in a lake

DeathCougar

iTrader: (23)

Surely you can't..........ah hell. Motor oil for everyone!

stagger_lee

your killing me montana^ lol.

Just put something on there. I just try to follow the rules more to avoid conflict. I do like to breathe though too.

abecedarian

Like mentioned before, legally you need the cat. Whether or not you have the typical California required bi-annual testing is of no concern.
If you don't have the converter, you will be dumping lots of unburned hydrocarbons into the atmosphere thus contributing to 'smog' and global warming. If you do have a converter, you will be dumping CO2 into the atmosphere thus contributing to global warming.

Any other questions?

iamsuperbleeder

either way, we're all doomed


Step 1, unbolt and remove cat. Step 2, grab a rotory tool and a cut-off wheel and remove a good size window out of the top half. Step 3, pull all the catalyst out. Step 4, replace and weld the window you remove back on the cat-carcus. Step 5, bolt back into place.

-no more rattle, look's stock from a glance, but don't try an emmesions test or you'll be found...


Although illeagal, it works. But really, I'd just replace it with an OEM style replacement one. Replacing it with just a pipe will gain you little to nothing, aside from a little $$$ at that moment...

stagger_lee

A bit less effect on the the latter there, huh?

abecedarian

not sure I get what you mean.... a converter catalyses HC into CO2 and CO. So a modern converter releases less HC into the atmosphere and more CO2... and some extra formaldahyde and H2O while it's at it.

86Toyrunna

honestly id put a cat back on it, i have cut them out put a section of pipe in.. all that does to my oppion is make the truck sound like crap...and actually on my friends old danger ranger it made it hessitate and run crappy. i have also taken a punch and just broken up and beat out the guts and put the housing back on... yea all that did was make the good ol 3.slow sound real.. REAL BAD...well that my 2 cents

stagger_lee

Abe - yeah. lol. I'm not a scientist, but I can only assume that does more good than harm or it wouldn't be there. Thats all.

abecedarian

it's all good.
but apparently, my cynicism was lost....

...let's take the HC out of the exhaust because it makes acid rain, and convert it to CO2 because it causes global warming.

and if you look at the statistics, an early 1970's era V8 engine without a converter produces about the same level CO2 emissions as a 2000 era 4 cylinder engine, considering the common measurement of grams per mile.

So can you really say that old cars contribute more to global warming than newer cars? My '91 toyota pickup emits as much carbon dioxide per mile as my '72 firebird does (which does not have a catalytic converter, by the way), in spite of the approximate 10 miles per gallon difference.

I know that because of the print out that comes with the smog test.

What is different is the NOx emissions, of which my firebird emits more of... and which studies show NOx helps plants grow....

So by reducing NOx, we are hurting plant growth and thus impeding CO2 sequestration and contributing to global warming...?

umm... wha?