kkonen

I am considering adding sone Random Tech cats. Is everyone happy with these? Also, is there any chance of passing a sniff test without them?

What is a good source for these? I also need to find a place in Dallas that can be trusted to install them.

Thanks.

C5Jimmy

I'm about to buy them ( from tbyrne.com) I've heard from countless people that Random Technology is thee company to get replacement cats from, their quality is #1, and so is their performance!

kkonen

Is there any chance I would pass a sniff test without cats?

Perfusion

No. Zero. Zippy. Nada. Zilch. Fuggedaboutit.

mikey whipreck

Depends where you are.

I can and have

bogus

that about sums it up.

If your motor is stock, and you put enough junk in the tank, you MIGHT pass... but if your motor is even mildly modified, there is no chance.

kkonen

I am in Dallas, Texas. My long block is bone stock. I have a SLP intake and long tubes. Nothing that should increase emissions.

bogus

uh, yea... the long tubes might effect the emissions, especially if EGR is disabled.

Also, cats will help keep the exhaust from getting stupid loud.

I just like them. They don't rob power (modern ones, at least) and they keep the air clean. It's a small price to pay for clean air.

Mrcorvette91

Take them off, Brother! You will LOVE the better sound, and it will actually breathe. If you have emissions testing where you are, clamp them on, so you can run them to the center with cats, drive home, remove clamps and cats, put in straight pipe, and you are set!

93 ragtop

I have a 90 model ford f250 with a 351. It has a gutted cat and it passes.

kkonen

I didn't pass. My NOx was too high on the low speed test (1270 vs. 907 allowed). I am thinking that my low temp thermostat is hurting emissions. What is the consensus, low or high temp for lower emissions?

I bought some Guaranteed2Pass fuel additive that supposedly helps emissions. Does this stuff work? Any other advice is always helpful.

As a side note, my gas cap failed also.

bogus

Dude... you are smoking dope.

Modern engines need an element of backpressure, and I want my children to have clean air.

Your desire to save $300.00 in cats (max, btw) and gain a whopping 5hp, is going to ruin our air.

Do us all a favour and put something on that car.

I can't wait for the day that the feds require us to maintain emissions on cars - then all the folks that have gutted them will be scrambling.

bogus

trucks have different standards.

bogus

If you NOX is high, check your EGR system. If it's disconnected, then you are hosed, bro.

The EGR is the 1 and only method on an older engine to reduce NOX. Perhaps that fuel additive will help, but I won't promise anything. EGR sends a small amt of exhaust gasses into the intake. This then lowers combustion temps so that NOX isn't produced.

Get a new gas cap. Simple solution there. be thankful they don't test the entire fuel system.

Your cooler Tstat will NOT help, or hurt, at this point. What would cause you a problem is if the fans are programmed to come on super low. You see, modern engines require heat to remove pollutants. Additionally, modern metalergy is so much more reliable, that the heat will not lead to premature failure.

I suggest using a 180* stat, and a manual fan switch. This will allow you to run it cooler when needed (such as the DC beltway in July) and normally everywhere else. If the engine does not reach operating temps correctly, then you have a chance of accelorating wear - rings/cylinders/bearings, cause the metals are all designed to work their best at a certain temperature. If it isn't getting there... well, you see my point.

kkonen

What I was told by a friend:
"One quart of Denatured Alcohol from Home Depot. You find it by the paint thinner. Make sure the car's gas tank is as low as possible and then add the quart. Don't drive around far but do drive enough to mix it up in the tank. Maybe do it in a parking lot close to the inspection place. Immediately after the test, go fill the car up regular gas. "

Has anyone ever heard of this?

Both of my fans come on at 160. The car was at 170 when they started the test and 190 by the time it was done.

Bad news was the tech heat soaked my starter and the car wouldn't start after the test. After it cooled, no problem. The worst part was he had never heard of a heat soaked starter.

Mrcorvette91

Bogus, I am not worried at all about the money...common sense tells me that anything in the way of flow, either in or out, will not only decrease the power, but will also kill the "muscle" sound of a V8. The first thing I do anytime I buy a vehicle, is remove the cats and all the emmission controls I can. As for the "clean air" you speak of...well...mother nature has taken care of herself since the beginning of time, she will always continue to do so. If testing is ever passed here, I promise..I will always have a way to get around it. I paid for my property, and no one will tell me how to maintain it.

bogus

Well, your common sense is smoking crack.

It's attitudes, SELFISH attitudes of your nature, that give Americans a bad name.

How dare you presume that your right to a loud car supercedes my right to clean air? That is so arrogent. I am speachless.

If you ever lived in an area where the air got so polluted, it caused your lungs to hurt, you might have a different opinion. My gf's mom grew up in the LA Basin during the 1960s, and she experienced that on a regular basis.

I grew up in Delaware... and I remember summer days where the haze was so thick, you couldn't see 1/2 mile... or snow storms where the snow turned black within 24 hours, cause of the soot in the air. And we breathed this ****.

How dare you take this so lightly... This is not the "good old days" where you can buy something and it doesn't have effect on something else. Sorry, bud... those days are long over.

You can lock yourself into your little compound... just don't go anywhere...

Damn. Your myopia scares the hell out of me. Grow up and learn some responsibilty. Not just responsibility for yourself, but for the community you live in.

Mother nature has shown she cannot deal with modern man on her own. She needs our help.

If that means I recycle trash, and use cats on my car, then so be it. They are both small prices to pay for a clean environment.

Ugh. And what scares me more is that you are not the only one in this country who feels this way. Absolute freedom is a fantasy. Freedom is simply the right to choose, and a right to live within a system of civil laws. It is not the right to **** up the air for everyone else. It's paramount to running into a crowded movie theater and yelling "FIRE!".

It's up to us to maintain that civility.

NightFlight

If you use the right cat (i.e. new, high-flow), you won't lose that much power and you'll be helping to keep the air everyone breaths a little cleaner. Had my car dynoed with and with out the cat. Without - 394 rwhp/454 ftlbs rwt; with - 392 rwhp/454 ftlbs rw torque. Different days, different temps, so was it the the Cats or not and if it was the cats, is giving up 2 hp worth keeping the air clean (and my car legal) -- yes.

I grew up in Northern Cali and remember watching the smog reports of LA on the news and the brown cload that seemed to always be laying over the city. I also remember being in LA in the summer as a kid and my eyes burning and my lungs hurting. We have seen how we can over power mother nature. Since the new laws have been in place, the air in LA and other major cities has greatly improved, despite the growing numbers of cars on the road. So we've also seen how we can maintain a good balance with her.

This is not a question of being told how to maintain it, it's a case of doing the right thing for yourself, your family -- as well as everyone else.

zelement

Man...I haven't ran cats on my car for at least 5 years. I think I will buy a set tomorrow and slap them on!!!!

well said!

bogus

get crack'n Paul!!! Thanks!