95 Jeep Cherokee 4.0, 4x4, federal standards, automatic, 175K, OBD I. Falls under the STAR program this year.
Catalytic Converter (rattles pretty bad)
Can I just get a federal one?
Why does it require a "professional smog tech" to have one installed?
The (new) guy where I go to get smog tested is anal retentive and will probably ask for the shop that did the repair. First time I've brought a vehicle there and it failed. It's also a Star tests center and does repairs now and not a pass or free retest anymore. ASAP here in Imperial Beach. Time to find another place.
I have a high flow banks cat that isnt CA legal. If you can find a smog guy who crawls under your jeep to look at a cat that dude WANTS to fail you BAD. Ive had that cat for 13 yrs now and it passes w/o issue. Im OBDII. not sure if that helps you at all.
Yes
[/QUOTE]Why does it require a "professional smog tech" to have one installed?[/QUOTE] If you DIY, it doesn't. If a shop does it as an EMISSIONS repair, it must be a licensed smog repair shop and tech. If it is done as a MAINTENANCE, any shop can do it.
[/QUOTE]The (new) guy where I go to get smog tested is anal retentive and will probably ask for the shop that did the repair. First time I've brought a vehicle there and it failed. It's also a Star tests center and does repairs now and not a pass or free retest anymore. ASAP here in Imperial Beach. Time to find another place.
It looks like it is running pretty rich. I fix that first (probably O2 sensor). I highly recommend the Smog Tests Only on the corner of 11th and G, downtown. Ray and Mary are long time friends and colleagues. Tell them I sent you.
Thanks for the responses. When the son gets home with a gutted but trussed D30 for his Comanche, I'll run a check on the O2 sensor to make sure it's not lazy or not working. I put a NTK O2 sensor in about 3 years ago. 2 years ago it passed with all the numbers around average.
Hey Moose - what would you recommend to someone with a TJ that needs a new cat? When I first got my Jeep it needed new cats, and all I could find was the OEM part. $1800 installed. Do you know of any aftermarket cats that are CA legal? Or perhaps any workarounds to get a Federal part to work and pass?
I'd recommend going to a yard and pulling a cat off of a cherokee. 20 bucks or so. Assuming they are allowed to sell which I wouldnt see why not but who knows in CA.
Hey Moose - what would you recommend to someone with a TJ that needs a new cat? When I first got my Jeep it needed new cats, and all I could find was the OEM part. $1800 installed. Do you know of any aftermarket cats that are CA legal? Or perhaps any workarounds to get a Federal part to work and pass?
If your Jeep has a FEDERAL certification, then you can use a federal cat. If it has 50 state cert, it must be a CA cat.
Jeeps are funny about smog. Call me.
I bought a Magnaflow California legal cat for $250 +/-, and had it installed for $50. Went right next door and had it smogged. Passed. I've never had a tech crawl under the car. If you didn't mention it they would never know it was ever changed. Sorry about the $1800. Hope the karma circles back around to whoever charged you.
If you have too many issues trying to get your Jeep to pass smog like I did, find a friend in Imperial County and register out there. They do not use the dyno test out there. They only rev the engine for the test. I replaced the CAT (twice), the O2 sensor, temp sensor, thermostat, pressure regulator on the fuel rail, also did a valve job, new plugs, dist cap, rotor and wires. There wasn't much I didn't replace under the hood and I still couldn't get it to pass here in SD.
Did it fail for Nox? I'm assuming so since it passed a TSI (Two Speed Idle) test. If the head was surfaced, it may have raised the compression ratio just enough to cause high Nox. Also, was the O2 a Bosch?
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