California catalytic convertor advice

[mrblaine]

I get the Cali hate from a political standpoint, but it's hard somedays trying to decide whether to make the 20 minute drive to the beach, the 45 minute drive to the desert, or the 90 minute drive to the mountains... The struggle is real.

Take politics out of it and regardless of which direction you drive that is still in the State you can't escape the inflation, real estate, gas prices, and food costs. You can't escape the idiocy that is unfettered illegal immigration, you can't escape the homeless problems, and you certainly can't escape all that is our delightfully idiotic governor. I realize that the last bit is somewhat political but he's hard to like even in a non political manner.

 

[mrblaine]

I think us early year TJ guys get a bit of a break only having one cat compared to the late models that I believe had 3?!?

99 has 2. One of them is a slight bulge in the down pipe just in front of the oil pan that you can't buy, find, or source and they will fail you without it even though no one can tell you where to get one.

 

[GregBelleville]

99 has 2. One of them is a slight bulge in the down pipe just in front of the oil pan that you can't buy, find, or source and they will fail you without it even though no one can tell you where to get one.

Whoa, that's news to me. My TJ is a federal emissions model originally from Texas, and only has the one cat.

Are you saying that I'd likely fail the visual inspection with only 1 cat? I already failed smog test, but it was failed due to emissions not the visual test.

 

[mrblaine]

Whoa, that's news to me. My TJ is a federal emissions model originally from Texas, and only has the one cat.

Are you saying that I'd likely fail the visual inspection with only 1 cat? I already failed smog test, but it was failed due to emissions not the visual test.

As a 49 state rig, it shouldn't need the second cat.

 

[Paradiddle]

Two identical rigs, one passed, the other one was having issues. Smog shop owner is friends with both owners of the rigs. I told them that this is an easy one, pull the passing one in, scan the VIN label of the problem child, presto, everyone is happy. They all politely told me to fuck off.

LOL. That sounds about right Blaine.

 

[Paradiddle]

Whoa, that's news to me. My TJ is a federal emissions model originally from Texas, and only has the one cat.

Are you saying that I'd likely fail the visual inspection with only 1 cat? I already failed smog test, but it was failed due to emissions not the visual test.

That is the one that the smog guy didn't believe me about. He didn't believe that bulge was the second cat. Even though I found a picture of it online.

Needless to say - I don't do business with him anymore. My current guy "loves Jeeps" and did not crawl under, which is good, because I do have a cat but it's from a mercedes V8 and wouldn't pass. LOL.

 

[Rickyd]

Googled the forum and found older articles and a bunch of recommendations for "normal state" cats.

Who has replaced their cat recently and what brand did you go with? 1998 TJ 4.0. Must be Calioforinia legal/compliant.

Thanks,

Jeff

Out of curiosity why the new cat? Did it fail smog?what part?

I used a cat from napa when my 97 barely failed the hydrocarbon portion. When swapping it out I noticed the cat had almost completely disintegrated.

 

[Paradiddle]

Out of curiosity why the new cat? Did it fail smog?what part?

I used a cat from napa when my 97 barely failed the hydrocarbon portion. When swapping it out I noticed the cat had almost completely disintegrated.

Rick,

Jeep runs perfectly and easily passes the sniffer, but it won't pass a visual. It has a cat spec'd for a Mercedes V8 on it as part of the past build.

It has two very small spin tech mufflers that have no "stuffing" and they have an annoying drone at freeway speed. Since I no longer tow and will be driving it to the trails I'd like to get a quieter muffler installed.

So, since I'm spending that money I might as well replace the cat with a legal one at the same time just in case someone climbs under during a smog test.

I'm emptying every pocket....LOL.

Jeff

 

[GregBelleville]

That is the one that the smog guy didn't believe me about. He didn't believe that bulge was the second cat. Even though I found a picture of it online.

Needless to say - I don't do business with him anymore. My current guy "loves Jeeps" and did not crawl under, which is good, because I do have a cat but it's from a mercedes V8 and wouldn't pass. LOL.

I might need the info for your smog guy.

 

[Rickyd]

I might need the info for your smog guy.

Go to pm's. Or even phone calls. After the diesel fiasco it became all too clear that alphabet agencies use forums in court

 

[Paradiddle]

Go to pm's. Or even phone calls. After the diesel fiasco it became all too clear that alphabet agencies use forums in court

We did. What diesel fiasco?

 

[Rickyd]

We did. What diesel fiasco?

Epa crackdown on diesel tuning and performance

 

[4BY4ADV]

You’ll want to double check… but I believe the one I bought for my 97 was certified for more than just that one year. I printed out the EOD paperwork showing it was compliant and took it in when I re-smogged my TJ.

$353 shipped from PartsGeek
Local shop welded it up for $175 cash and even rewelded my muffler that was starting to crack at the seams.

Brand	AP Exhaust
SKU	912005R

 

[GregBelleville]

You’ll want to double check… but I believe the one I bought for my 97 was certified for more than just that one year. I printed out the EOD paperwork showing it was compliant and took it in when I re-smogged my TJ.

$353 shipped from PartsGeek
Local shop welded it up for $175 cash and even rewelded my muffler that was starting to crack at the seams.

Brand	AP Exhaust
SKU	912005R

I was told the same by the exhaust shop my TJ is currently at, I think the cat they're installing on mine was for a 97, but is certified for 98s and 99s too.

 

[BC Moto]

Living in Ca is really hard on the car culture, a old friend of mine keeps a stock motor and exhaust for his car in the garage and swaps everything every 2 yrs. It does not take long its a old corolla and he could do it fairly fast. I would like to buy a set of headers for my TJ and keep the stock exhaust with the cats and just put it in when smog time comes. Although now they just plug into the OBD2 port and no more rollers and I bet I could get it to pass but not the visual. I really cant wait to move out of commifornia

 

[bucky]

When I bought my Frieghtliner I had to pay an extra $80 so they could put a California Emissions sticker on it to make it legal here in Ca. No mechanical changes were done just the sticker. CARB compliant cats are the same way No real difference in manufacturing as a quality cat. The manufacturer has to submit and pay for CARB testing and then stamp the cat body. Then because they have you by the balls they can raise the price and make more profit per cat than the national cats.

 

[4BY4ADV]

When I bought my Frieghtliner I had to pay an extra $80 so they could put a California Emissions sticker on it to make it legal here in Ca. No mechanical changes were done just the sticker. CARB compliant cats are the same way No real difference in manufacturing as a quality cat. The manufacturer has to submit and pay for CARB testing and then stamp the cat body. Then because they have you by the balls they can raise the price and make more profit per cat than the national cats.

Yup. It's *all about the money and not the environment. When I lived/was going to college in Washington for a bit, I met the governor and first-hand got to school him on CARB and how adoption of CARB in Washington state was not about saving the environment but about a cash grab. Asked him questions like, "should citizens be able to replace/upgrade their old engines with newer cleaner engines regardless of what vehicle it came out of?" and some other fun ones that pointed back to everything being about the money.

He stumbled several times after I caught him agreeing with me, but then me telling him that CARB policies prohibit those types of alterations. Oh well.

 

[Andy-WhiteTJ]

Two identical rigs, one passed, the other one was having issues. Smog shop owner is friends with both owners of the rigs. I told them that this is an easy one, pull the passing one in, scan the VIN label of the problem child, presto, everyone is happy. They all politely told me to fuck off.

That won't fly here in NY. Now they have cameras watching the inspection. The mechanic has to show his face into the camera as he starts the inspection. Big brother (or sister since its Hochul) is watching.

 

[TRevs]

Road to Serfdom


When is @mrblaine starting his campaign for CA Governor? This forum would be a goldmine of contributions.

 

[GregBelleville]

Road to Serfdom


When is @mrblaine starting his campaign for CA Governor? This forum would be a goldmine of contributions.

A prior governor drove a Humvee, why not a TJ?