catalyc converter california approved?

:
2003 Mazda Protege5
Hi All,

So my catalyc converter has fouled, looking into Ebay there's a bunch that are cheap from Canada but are not "Legal" in California, anyone know why? I'm looking into the Walker 31642 direct fit, but its over $400! cheapest was on Amazon for $314 with Gaskets but I just don't have that kind of money right now. I am in Southern California anyone know of any cheaper options? Any links, leads appreciated thanks!
 
I bought one from eBay. I had to trim a little with my Dremel to make it fit onto my MSP's exhaust, but it passed smog no problem, my car sounds great, and I don't smell anything weird.

I think that disclaimer is just a disclaimer. I'm in California and I passed fine with the eBay one.
I bought mine from a user called "muffexpress"
 
I think you should definitely go with what the guy from Canada says.

haha! just playin. I DID pass fine though, and no one climbed under my car for a visual inspection.

Here's what I had to trim. Took all of 5 min.
attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • 20170913_183430.jpg
    20170913_183430.jpg
    107.3 KB · Views: 229
Last edited:
I think you should definitely go with what the guy from Canada says.

I was under the impression that being California compliant was a BIG deal in California maybe even with criminal consequences. Same goes with the non-fouler trick.

Here in Ontario, they just plug into the OBDII port and that's it.
I could pass my smog test with no secondary cat at all.
There is no code for the secondary cat and it's after the O2 sensors.

I guess it's where you go and who you know in California and what kind of visual inspection they do.





A lot (maybe most) companies won't ship a non CARB cat to California... I don't think they're supposed to.

Natey managed to get it all done.
Just do what he did and order from a place that will ship to you.

The crappy part is that all new cats work very effectively.
A CARB compliant cat doesn't make the air any cleaner.
 
Last edited:
Aww man, no quoting the just playin' part? (strike)

Anyway, my car's got 70K miles or so and has always been 100% stock and well maintained. Both cats, stock intake/exhaust, are all in place etc. I put in a new 02 sensor and replaced my old cat and my MSP passed smog inspection fine. Never messed with the pre-cat at all.

It's basically a visual inspection (they pop the hood and poke around a little, I guess to see the intake, intercooler and whatever else looks shady) and a sniffer test.
 
Last edited:
Aww man, no quoting the just playin' part? (strike)

Actually you posted that part after I posted...

But,... I am curious as to what would have happened if you were "caught" ???

Would you have simply not passed your e-test ?? Would you be fined ?? Would they take your car ?? Would they ship you right off to jail ??
 
Here in Ontario, they just plug into the OBDII port and that's it.
I could pass my smog test with no secondary cat at all...

This is my smog results from the last year that Ontario sniffed the tailpipes. (2011)

The guy had a big smile on his face and said he had to do the test twice because he though his machine was broken.

Turns out my car almost doesn't pollute at all. He said it pollutes less than when the car was brand new. He'd never seen anything like it before.

I probably could delete my cat and still pass a sniff test.

Too bad my car is a rusty turd worth about $300 as scrap.
Maybe I can sell my engine to someone on the forum when my ass falls through the floorboards

 
I was under the impression that being California compliant was a BIG deal in California maybe even with criminal consequences. Same goes with the non-fouler trick.

Here in Ontario, they just plug into the OBDII port and that's it.
I could pass my smog test with no secondary cat at all.
There is no code for the secondary cat and it's after the O2 sensors.

I guess it's where you go and who you know in California and what kind of visual inspection they do.





A lot (maybe most) companies won't ship a non CARB cat to California... I don't think they're supposed to.

Natey managed to get it all done.
Just do what he did and order from a place that will ship to you.

The crappy part is that all new cats work very effectively.
A CARB compliant cat doesn't make the air any cleaner.

the problem is finding a seller that is willing to ship to california. I'll contact a couple of sellers and if none of them budge I'll have to figure a work around. It seems like the cats I've seen on ebay are direct plug n play units so I might not have to do any mods. Also, the guy that I've gone to for my smog has only done a visual inspection and has never gone under the car so I think I can get away with it:
;)
 
thanks for the input,I'm gonne look up this seller and if they refuse to ship to California I have figured out a work around to get it to me:)
 
Actually you posted that part after I posted...

But,... I am curious as to what would have happened if you were "caught" ???

Would you have simply not passed your e-test ?? Would you be fined ?? Would they take your car ?? Would they ship you right off to jail ??

I had my smog tested after I did the non-fouler and they basically told me it was illegal and if I had any information on that. I told them it was sold to me like that. I just didn't pass. I bought both eastern catalytic converters off rockauto and been fine ever since.
 
I had my smog tested after I did the non-fouler and they basically told me it was illegal ...

Did they look underneath your car to find it ??

You can sorta see the second O2 sensor looking under the hood.

It would suck for the OP if the smog guy finds his cat and he's then forced to buy the expensive CARB cat as well.

... I bought both eastern catalytic converters off rockauto and been fine ever since.

Were they CARB compliant ??
 
Last edited:
Rockauto has some pretty cheap ones...
About $170 American.

I don't know what they would be like about shipping ??

 
Did they look underneath your car to find it ??

You can sorta see the second O2 sensor looking under the hood.

It would suck for the OP if the smog guy finds his cat and he's then forced to buy the expensive CARB cat as well.



Were they CARB compliant ??

Yeah they did.

Yes, they were. I had to make sure since I live in CA.
 
I had my smog tested after I did the non-fouler and they basically told me it was illegal ...

There's two reasons to install the non-foulers.
The first reason is because you installed headers and they don't have a pre-cat. The non-foulers prevent the P0421 Warm-up catalyst system efficiency below threshold.

The second reason to do the non-foulers is when your pre-cat deteriorates, it prevents the same code.

If stormkyori had headers when he first went for the smog test, they would have noticed as soon as they popped the hood then on further inspection they would have noticed the non-foulers.

The non-foulers kinda stick out and attract attention.

Then you fail your test and are told you need to buy CARB compliant cats. And,.. I'm pretty sure they would record your licence plate # and Vin # so you can't just throw on any cats and hope to go to a different smog testing place and hope to pass... They will have you on record and specifically look for CARB compliant components.

Natey didn't attract any suspicion when they looked under his hood so they didn't bother looking under his car.

My point being,... There is a chance the smog dudes will look under your car, then you'll still have to buy and install the CARB compliant cats after already spending the time and money on regular cats.

So it's somewhat of a potentially expensive gamble.

Personally, I think you should try the regular cat... It sounds like you have a really good chance of passing.

And remember,.. You're not wrecking the earth using regular cats... Even if you have no pre-cat, the main cat will cleanup everything. (except for the first few minutes when your car is cold).
 
Last edited:
Back