Can i pass an e-test with no cat

[sexeclipse]

hey all,
i have tot ake an e-test this week and i have no cat. The place im going to does not do a visual inpsection so thats not the problem and since im all wheel drive i just have to do a 2 speed idle test.

I have dsmlink and am wondering if i just lean it out will i pass?
if anyone has any experience or tips or anything please lemme know

thanks

 

[ECLIPSE4x4]

With your mods, no.

 

[sexeclipse]

what do i need?
i have dsmlink wouldnt that be all i need to lean it out?

 

[PaleDSM]

With cams and no cat I couldn't pass emmisions no matter what I did with my DSMLink.

 

[sexeclipse]

i dont have cams
would that make a diff?

 

[Quasimondo]

No. When you take your car in for emissions, the sniffer looks for three things. Hycrocarbons (HC's), Carbon Mononxide (CO), and Oxides of Nitrogen (NOx)

High concentrations of HC's is the result of unburned fuel. High concentrations of CO is the result of poor combustion, both a result of running rich. When you lean your car out, you will drop your levels of HC and CO, but with a leaned out mixture, your combustion temperatures increase. Combustion levels above 2500*F produce NOx (as an off topic issue, EGR's were designed to lower combustion temps by rerouting exhaust gas back into the intake)

You can keep your HC and CO levels low, but then your NOx would shoot through the roof. On the flip side, you can drop your NOx levels, but then your HC and CO levels would be too much.

To balance everything out, the catalytic converter works three ways:

1. It seperates the nitrogen atoms from the NOx emissions turning NOx into seperate N2 and O2 molecules.

2. The CO and HC's are burned off by the second stage of the converter. Remember, CO and HC's is the unburned fuel mixture. What remains is freed up carbon atoms that bond with the free oxygen atoms to form carbon dioxide (CO2), and freed up hydrogen atoms that bond with free oxygen atoms to form water (H2O), part of the reason why water can be seen dripping out of your tailpipe at times.

3. To keep everything in check, the ECU, with the help of the O2 sensor make sure that there is enough oxygen present in the exhaust for the carbon and hydrogen atoms to bond with to keep the converter working happy.

Basically, because you cannot tune out the HC and CO emissions without raising the NOx levels and vice versa, there is no way that you will pass an emissions test without a catalytic converter. Furthermore, with the construction of today's honeycomb catalytic converters versus the old pellet type converters, there really isn't any reason to run without one.

As quoted from Car Hacks & Mods for Dummies:

While in the 70's and 80's tremendous power gains could be seen from removing catalytic converters, those days are long behind us. As technology marched forward in the design of catalytic equipment, catalytic converters became increaingly efficent. In fact, catalyitic coverters have become so efficent that removing them in favor of a test pipe yields relatively minimal gains in all but the most extreme applications. As such, you would be well advised to look elsewhere for power gains, rather than trying to hunt down a couple of horsepower by removing equipment that serves a very important purpose: keeping our environment clean.

With that said, even though the stock catalytic converter is restrictive because of its narrow inner diameter, you would see the same amount of gain from switching to a high-flow 3" catalytic converter that you would see from putting in a test pipe.

One thing is for sure, you will not be able to tune your way through a smog test without a catalytic converter. While it's possible that you may still fail even with one in place, it is impossible for you to pass without one.

Sources:

How Catalytic Converters Work, from howstuffworks.com
What the sniffer looks for, from troublecodes.net

 

[xcelr8n]

well good news is that in canada at least they dont test us for nox, awd cars I mean...
I honestly think you can pass the 2 speed test... Ive seen it done many times locally.
good luck

 

[4G63 GST]

my friend passed emissions on his 90 laser and his 95 awd .. both with 3" turbo back exhausts .. no cats .. 93 octane in the 1g .. 112 in the 2g

only problem is now in ohio at least if your 96 or newer the will do an OBDII test. Which is especially ### if you have hidden codes being thrown or sensors bad that wont throw an engine light.


Luke

 

[yugotdonkey]

Not to hi-jack the thread, just wanted to add my situation in. I am due for emissions this month, and I'm also running a test pipe right now. I am getting a cat from a friend and I will put it on, but my car is running rediculously rich right now, I'm shooting flames up to my trunk occassionally. I just got my logger today so I can start to safely tune my MAFT and lean out my mixture, but I wanted to know if the residue in my piping from the car running so rich (if there is any such thing) will have an affect on the emisssions readings? Also, how about lowering the boost when I go in for the test, will that help?

Again, don't want to hijack just get some info without starting a redundant thread.

 

[yoshimitsuspeed]

I don't know what the rules are in Canada or how strongly they enforce them but when I tested emmisions in Colorado we couldn't pass a car if it didn't have a cat no matter how good the levels, I looked underneath and checked every car that was supposed to be equipped.

 

[4G63 GST]

^^

yeah ive known people that simply clamped cat shells around their exhaust so it looked like it was installed .. for the cat check

Its a federal law that every vehicle is supposed to have a cat on it .. not every state has emmisions but ever vehicle is supposed to have a cat. (starting a certain year obviously old school cars might not have them)

 

[nasonax]

My car also needs a new cat converter b-4 TAKING the E-test, I was thinkin about buying a high flow one but Im not sure if it will work the same as stock converter would..

I was just thinking too, my car is a 96 and the new E-test says it has to be OB2 to the states, in order for it to pass, this year my car is going to be 10 years old, does that meen Im safe beacuse its 10 years old? or no beacuse its a 96. Afther all when the car is 10 years old they don't even care about how many miles it has right?

 

[yoshimitsuspeed]

What's OB2? Do you mean OBD2, if so it should be.
What do your miles ever have to do with it passing?

 

[Dan7040]

I passed mine by grounding the timing with DSMLink and leaning it out a bunch. The car could barely make it into the shop under its own power I have a test pipe, stock cams, and 780cc injectors.

 

[Wanted:SWGSXAWD]

Not sure if this will help or not, but this is where I'm going to get my 3" hi-flow cat (only$85) .

www.exhaustdepot.net/catcon.html

 

[1LE]

With cams and no cat I couldn't pass emmisions no matter what I did with my DSMLink.

That's odd. The previous owner of mine got it to pass with sniffer without EGR or a cat and it has a VPC which doesn't allow anywhere near the control of a DSMlink.

 

[MNGSX]

The o2 simulator will prevent the codes..

A highflow cat under $100 is cheap insurance.

 

[Red_Dragon97]

yes,you should need a cat to pass the test :thumbdown

 

[Generation X]

If you live in a state where they do obd2 testing (Not sniffers) on 96 and newer vehicals, and you don't have a cat, as long as a check engine light isn't on you shouldn't have a problem. If you do, just clear it with a logger if you have one, before you go to have it inspected.

 

[chris90gsx]

I passed on my 90 GSX here in Northern VA without a cat. I have 3" cat shields over my exhaust to pass the visual. I then dropped my fuel pressure a bit, then leaned out the lo throttle settings on the afc and watched my egt's at idle and then at 3k rpm. I took in for emissions and passed the two stage emission with flying colors. I have 550cc injectors and a walbro 255 fuel pump. But honestly, running without a cat is not really necessary and risky in areas where they fine big, such as here in the DC metro area. I bought the car with a 3" turbo back with no cat and plan on installing a high flow cat and exhaust cut out that way I can be safe from fines and open it up when at the track or for short sprints.

 

[1LE]

You may find that with the 3" HF cat that it's not even worth it to bother with an exhaust cutout.

 

[theSicKness]

thank god i live in ohio and dont half to worry about that

 

[paranoidTSi]

Ok...my corolla has had a non functioning cat for the last 3 years..and I've successfully passed EVERYTIME. If it is available in your area..go to Checker Auto and pick up "G2P emissions passer" its legal. Put it in your gas tank and run it with a full tank of gas..once it hits around 1/4th of a tank you should be able to take it down and get it passed.

I did this with my talon too..the guy actually tried to cheat at it and it wouldn't pass (by pass the ECU) so I used the G2P crap and it worked wonderfully. In fact the guy asked me how I got the results to reverse so much. The stuff works and is well worth over the $8 asked for it.

 

[1LE]

thank god i live in ohio and dont half to worry about that

Columbus doesn't have e-check??? Weird, I thought all the big cities did. I know that Cleveland and Dayton do for sure. Don't worry, your day is coming (as is mine). Both Toledo and Columbus (actually, almost the whole state) got failing marks this year and are on track for ramped up enforcement by 2008.