Removal of Cat

[SteveR6]

Ok, just a question on something that strikes me as odd. The cat was removed when I bought my car, however as I've spent basically the last week under it I happened to notice something interesting. My secondary O2 sensor is still there and appears to be hooked up, yet I'm not throwing a code. Why do you think that it. I also noticed my plugs looked as if I were running a tad lean, perhaps this has something to do with it?

 

[andymoraitis]

Not running a cat has nothing to do with a rich or lean condition as this is mostly dependent on air/fuel ratios fuel volume, injector duty cycle and timing advance. As far as not throwing a code, mine had no cat and didn't throw a CEL, but then again my CEL doesn't even light up when turning the ignition on. It could be that your bulb is disconnected, burned out, or it's simply not tripping a code. Either way, a CEL for cat removal is nothing more than an annoyance as it won't harm performance in any way. If it does come on, you can use an the O2 simulator mod found on http://www.vfaq.com to make it go bye bye.

As far as your feelings that the plugs are showing lean, I'd like to see some pictures to better verify this. A tan to light white is allowable and many people misconstrue this as being a lean condition when it's actually within the realm of normal operating parameters. If you're running fairly high boost, you can switch to a colder plug like an NGK BPR7ES and that should bring the color to more of an even tan if, in fact, you really are lean.

Hope that helps,

Andy

 

[SteveR6]

Man that makes me feel alot better about it, I checked and the check engine/engine service soon light definitely works it's just not throwing the code for some reason. Kind of strange.

 

[SteveR6]

I posted the pic of the plugs in a separate thread to get some more opinions on them.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?p=50448394#post50448394

 

[Eastwood95]

Man that makes me feel alot better about it, I checked and the check engine/engine service soon light definitely works it's just not throwing the code for some reason. Kind of strange.


Its not that strange really, some cars just dont throw that code when the cat is removed...
mine does, he he

 

[skinnykenny84]

Andy, do you know what exactly that code is? Im not shure if mine is coming on because of no cat or another problem. Seeing this thread just made me think about it, .

 

[NewTurboTuner]

Yeah I saw the plug pics. I'd say you're doing fine for now. Nothing to worry about.

Even though the plugs look OK. I'd go ahead and try some cooler plugs... just to see what happens. They're not too expensive. It never hurts to have different sets of plugs to experiment with. Also if you know you'll be doing more mods later, then it wont be a waste of $$ at all because you'll probably need cooler plugs at some point.

 

[andymoraitis]

Andy, do you know what exactly that code is? Im not shure if mine is coming on because of no cat or another problem. Seeing this thread just made me think about it, .

Kenny,

Here's the listing of OBDII trouble codes from the tech archives:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=191516

That should get you started, but it looks like it's the P0420 or P0422 code.

Andy

 

[skinnykenny84]

Man I forgot we had those!