[larlar75]

I would not recommend removing the cat, if you live in a state that does emissions testing. Cost of the repair may suck, but spread out over the next year its cheap.

I'm getting rid of the car early next year, I don't have to get smog done until the end of 2017/ early 2018. I really would rather remove the cats and be able to drive my car and enjoy it until I get my next new car early next year. I just don't want to spend $300+ on a new exhaust manifold if the cat is welded on to it.

 

[larlar75]

Hey guys thanks for the concern but to clear a few things up, this car is and always will be a lemon due to having over 20 repair bills with some parts being repaired 4 times. The only reason I wasn't able to file was because unfortunately I had a very strict work schedule getting my career to start and had no time to deal with it.

I WILL NOT SELL THE CAR, IT'LL BE PARTED OUT NEXT YEAR. Chevy themselves wanted to buy my car off of me (because the engine) when it had 100,000 miles and I took it in for service they said the engine was in pristine condition and would like to make an offer. I refused because I didn't want some poor soul to deal with my car without a warranty.


The ONLY reason I want to remove the catalytic converter is to be able to drive my car without it refusing to start due to the clog(which is starting to hinder my acceleration and gas mileage by 2mpg) until early next year when I buy my new car, while having a bit of fun too.
*EDIT* Chevy just replaced the up and down stream O2 sensors last month btw.

I understand the laws in California and I'll gladly pay the fine or anyone else's fine if they get caught which is next to impossible.

Thank you again for the concern but I just wanted to know if the catalytic converter was on the down pipe and behind the downstream O2 sensor.

*EDIT#2* The car has 130,000 on it btw. I won't make it to 200,000 and it only got this far because I baby the **** out of it fluid and part wise but drive it like a bat out of **** every single day.

 

[larlar75]

If sensor 1 is throwing the code, it's usually for the one under the car. That one could be removed and replaced with a straight pipe easily.

There are 2 cats on the 1.4, one near the exhaust manifold and one under the car. This is a fairly common setup these days, so I expect the 1.8 is similar. If the front one is clogged, which is more likely, you'd need a new downpipe.

Thank you sir, I guess it won't hurt to spend the $60 that my local shop wants to straight pipe the cat under the car, do most people straight pipe both cats or just the one under the car?

Can you get one from a salvage yard? Maybe something off of a 2015 with low mileage?

If the 2015 manifold fits my 2012 then yea its a possibility, ill look around and see how hard it is to pull it off of another engine

 

[larlar75]

The fine cost more than replacing the Cat, I've heard anywhere from $1000-$2500 if your caught.

I know that's fine, it's the cost of a set of tires for my cruze.

 

[larlar75]

Well my biggest problem is getting the CEL to go off after removing the cat.. I had him put it back on and the CEL went off for a few days and then came back on yesterday evening. The car started to bog down but I think that is also paired with my bad coil pack. The car is having issue after issue at 130k miles.. I've spent nearly $1500 in the last 2 months

 

[larlar75]

I am going to part it out in the beginning of next year but I have to keep it drivable until then. I use this car to get to work because my truck(2500HD) would cost me $40 a day with my 30 mile commute each way in rush hour traffic... I'll spend $500 more for a total of $2000 in repairs and then that's it, I hope it lasts until next year because otherwise I'll let the first person that's interested tear the car down.