Smogging Question

[markcjr]

Hi guys,

My car passed the smog test here in Truckee a while back, but then I forgot to send in my registration payment so after 3 months, the smog certificate became invalid. During that time I added a brullen header, no cat, 5zigen midpipe and 5zigen fireball exhaust. So, in order to get my registration, i've got to re smog it. The cel is on due to the deletion of the cat. What would my cheapest options be? 1) put the stock cat back on with the 02 sensor so it passes, but that'll restrict my flow 2) find a hi-flow cat and hope it passes 3) disable the cel (don't know how to do this) and hope it passes

I have no problem putting a hiflow cat on if i can find it for reasonably cheap. The only reason i went no cat was lack of money, but that turned out to be a mistake.

Also, my car is loud! Any ideas on good exhaust shops (tahoe or reno) that could put in a nice resonator?

Thanks for the help,

Mark

[MPREZIV]

What kind of car is it? Year/make/model?

Pretty much, if it's an OBD2 car, ('96 or later) you can't really "cheat" the smog. If you "disable the CEL" by say taking out the bulb or something, the ECU still knows it's ON, and then tells the smog machine =fail. If you have a re-flash that eliminates the Catalyst monitor, then you'll be okay, as the ECU won't turn on the CEL since it doesn't know there's really a problem.

Pretty much, without a re-flash, you WILL need a cat. I don't know if a high flow one will fix your porblem, (again, don't know what kind of car...) Easiest and cheapest: Put your stock cat back in and drive it for a while to reset the monitor, then smog it.

[cody]

Going back to stock is always an option, but if you have a MY04 or later WRX or STi, running catless without engine management can be pretty hard on the car due to a delayed closed loop/open loop transition with the ECU...plus in any year, you really don't see half the gains as you would if you got EM.

There's two CEL's you might be seeing. One's from an EGT in the UpPipe and the other's from the O2 in the MidPipe. Again, I'm assuming you have a turbo Subaru. The UP fix is a resistor and the best midpipe fix is a spark plug adapter thing that pulls the O2 sensor out of the hole a bit. I *think* that doing both and resetting your ECU...and then driving around for a few days would get you through the OBDII scan. They don't do a sniffer test in Truckee?

[markcjr]

It's a 98 2.5RS........Looks like I'll have the stock cat back in.

Thanks for the info,

Mark

[cody]

Originally Posted by markcjr

It's a 98 2.5RS

Doh!

Good luck Mang.

[MPREZIV]

Honeslty, I would argue that you'll make *more power* with a cat in place anyway... The loss of the engine's scavenging effect with too big an exhaust causes you to lose torque. And it'll be quieter too!

[markcjr]

Mpreziv, do you think that a hi-flo cat would be better, or just go with the stock cat regarding the power issue?

[left footed whooten]

What about the CEL fix thing. Would that work on an NA Impreza?
http://www.rallysportdirect.com/shop...el+fix&x=0&y=0

[MPREZIV]

I've heard some good things about the high flow cats on the market for 2.5s, so it may definitely be worth looking in to! No experience with them myself tho. I've still got the stock cats/mid-pipe in my car...


Those 02 sensor bungs that move the sensor out of the exhaust stream I'm unsure of as well. It may work to help the CEL problem people have with headers/stock cat, but I don't know that it'll help the switching rate enough if you have no cats at all...

[markcjr]

Can anyone recommend a good muffler/exhaust shop in tahoe/reno that would be able to put in a magnaflow hiflow cat section with 2 02 bungs?

Thanks,

Mark

[MPREZIV]

We here at Nissan do all of our out of shop work with Mr. Z's Muffler shop. I don't have the number off hand, but I'm sure you can look it up in a phone book, or here on these internets...

[markcjr]

Thanks MPREZIV, I'll give mr. Z a call!