Cat's gone... now what?
 

After 80k miles, my cat is vibrating and rattling around like crazy (internally, not just the heat shield) and I need to fix it so I can get rid of this annoying P0420 SES light.

Im out of a job so throwing in a new TBE and getting a tune seems like a bad idea. I looked into replacing it with an OEM one and it was over $700 for replacement cat (ridiculous).

Any ideas? Should I just be looking for a used stock cat that someone is parting with for cheap?

Thanks for the help.

If you want a stock cat, I'd advise against it. In fact, you can get aftermarket HFC's off here for $75 or less, test pipes also. In addition, there is a non-fowler mod that you can do to protect the cel light from every coming on. I actually have a couple non-fowler mods laying around my house, let me know I'll send u one for cheap.

For the time being you can gut the stock cat. If you have a tactrix cable you can disable the rear o2.

Remove the cat and install a defouler.

Hmm
 

Double post

Hmm
 

Test pipe would be fun but I have to keep the car as stock as possible. I might also have to register it in CA soon.

Any ideas the best place to find a used cat in the Eastern Sierras of California? I'm guessing somewhere around Reno Nevada since that's the closest city...

make a post on your local forum to see if anyone is willing to sell you their stock cat for cheap...

test pipe/ spark plug anti-fouler. No check engine light and more power. win-win :)

Just did that. Doesnt look like many people use the West Private Sale Forum though.. might just have to put a post in the 1-9 Private For Sale and hope I hear something.

to be honest man your makin it a lot more difficult OEM CATS suck they catch up more emission and break your pocket. If you threw in a cheap HFC like someone posted above, itll be cheap flow almost as good as a test pipe, and still pass emissions. If you drive mostly responsibly you shouldnt get pulled over, I havent in over a year, and my car would prolly get crushed for all the mods thats in it. Driving style reflects attention with cops. Thats why I do 65 sometimes on the freeway when there in sight.

If you are moving to california..you will need a cat for smog. You may want to find out why you melted your cat first, or its going to happen again. You may want to use a test pipe until just before you smog it, then figure which way you want to go from there. If you move outside of a major city, depending on how far out you may only have to smog it the first time for registration.

N

You can turn off the code and use the rear O2 sensor patch to trick the ecu. If you are registering your car in California you will need a some type of cat in there though.

So a high flow cat with a fouler to elevate the O2 sensor will pass CA inspection?

no you dont need a fouler unless its a test pipe in there...regular rear 02 sensor with the high flow cat will pass ca inspection. Once thats done its every 2 years u need to smog it, me I just get it done. To be honest of all times ive ever been pulled over here in cali having my hood popped is one thing, but ive never had a cop look under my vehicle...so take that with a grain of salt.

Case in point hfc, get smogged and then buy a test pipe, swap that in and only put the hfc in come smog time. idle and 3500 rpms are our two tests we have.

Hmm Im thinking if I can pass inspection with a HFC then I might go that route.

Seems like the Ultimate Racing HFC is the most affordable:
http://www.ultimate-racing.com/Produ..._Exhaust.shtml

Anybody running this HFC on the stock MR exhaust? How's it sound? Any noticeable changes in performance?