going catless

[exindust]

just got smogged so i got 2 years here in california before i go again... ive heard good things about the mustangtuning X pipe and its sounds awesome for that price. My question is i know when i go catless theres a good chance the check engine light will come on ... how do you turn that off once its on?

 

[Cobra Jay]

If you get Mil eliminators or you chip re-programed you shouldn't have to worry about you CEL coming on.

 

[streetstang03]

Mustangtuning o/r xpipe=

 

[bdcardinal]

just make sure you keep your stock pipe and swap it out when you get it smogged. also the BAR is starting to do random mobile smog check stations where they have the cars pass one at a time and select certain cars and do a full smog test on it with BAR experts doing the visual.

 

[Nuar]

just make sure you keep your stock pipe and swap it out when you get it smogged. also the BAR is starting to do random mobile smog check stations where they have the cars pass one at a time and select certain cars and do a full smog test on it with BAR experts doing the visual.

I never heared of this.... what is BAR? where do they do these check points?

 

[bdcardinal]

BAR=Bureau of Automotive Repair. they moniter all the repair shops in CA, and they also run the smog program. the check points are placed randomly across the state. if its an enhanced smog area, they bring out a dyno and smog the cars on dynos. basically the way the check point works is they have what appears to be a survery crew on the side of hte road, and therefore ge tto block off all lanes but one. this makes the cars file past a van with someone standing there looking at each car. if they see a car they want to check, they have a CHP officer get in front and make it pull off into a parking lot. you get out of teh car and they have BAR inspectors look all over it for modified parts that dont carry an EO. they then proceed to run a smog test on the car. if you see it and try to floor it past, they have CHP bikes waiting to pull you over. if they see something illegal, like no cats for example. or they detect that your cats are hollowed out(yes they can detect it), you get your $2500 per missing cat fine, so if you have an OffRoad pipe on your stang, you have a $10,000 fine. ive seen them do this mostly in the LA area, but they can do it anywhere in the state. they also have roadside infared gas analyzers, and if you pass the analyzer and are found to be emitting too high of a HC or CO or NOx level, or you are speeding, you get a letter from the DMW stating that you need to get your car smogged within usually 30 days.

 

[boomshack]

bdcardinal layin down the law...wassup?

Welcome to Cali...hey exindust, let me save you the rant. Just go to this post from last week where bdcardinal and I had the exact same conversation.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=502475

 

[ironmedic]

removing cats isnt exactly a good thing to do anymore, just get some high flows and get them welded or clamped in. if someone questions it, tell them your stock ones fell apart. if u have a letter that comes with your cats, keep it handy in case someone asks if they are legal for some stupid reason. flip out the letter and say "hey it says its smog legal so *** ME!!" LOL

 

[bdcardinal]

nope there arent any legal cats in CA but the stock ones for 96+ cars. magnaflow has some cats that are legal, but there are massive stipulations on their use. you can still make really good power with the stock h pipe.

 

[tomustang]

do those rules apply for out of state drivers too?

 

[bdcardinal]

only cars with CA plates. i have a friend who is trying to start a "corporation" in florida so he can brign over a RHD skyline GTR, use florida plates and lease it from the "corporation" for $1 a month.

 

[Nuar]

thanx for the explanation
No wonder i never heared of it... i live in CT not CA
Wow sounds like it really sucks to live out there... they dont mess around huh??