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Now, this may just relate to aftermarket but there are certainly specific catalytic converters for "California Emissions" clearly labeled as such on sites like RockAuto, eBay, whatever. New York also shares similar standards.
All I know is that I have helped two friends with PZEV/SULEV vehicles and it was a pain sourcing components as these options are far from the norm.
California and I think New York mandate aftermarket cats to be CARB approved (California Air Resources Board). Other states just care that a Cat meets their emissions standards, if they have any.
From what I've seen, that CARB approval adds a hundred dollars normally at a minimum to the cost of a cat.
I don't know if this applies to the 'pre-cats' that seem to be common on the exhaust manifold now. A California or New York mechanic might be better able to answer that.
Its the Cats
Living in New mexico,you can pollute as much as you want and get rid of the cat or any extra cats you have and have a free flowing exhaust to open up the HP .Catalytic converters fail eventually anyways.
Less parts=Less problems.
Is it a gizmo in your car that regulates it? Is it just a number of particulates required by the state DMV? Is it some kind of special catalytic converter?
I'm asking because I'm probably buying a used car in California, and I live in New Mexico and will be driving it back.
In short, do I need to be worried about it? Especially about future repairs, performance, etc...I keep reading it in the car ads and seeing it.
Thanks all.....
Many of what was formerly unique equipment that was due to the "California Emissions" is moot now since more and more manufacturers make 50-state vehicles that all meet the stricter CA emission standards. The requirements for regular passenger cars are mostly met by the same kinds of equipment present on other cars that don't meet the standard, but just with greater number and/or more effectiveness. Like for example additional catalytic converters or O2 sensors, plus the OBDII (On Board Diagnostics) support for monitoring and managing that extra equipment.
You can register used cars that don't have "California Emissions" as long as the car is used by CA DMV standards, meaning it was sold with more than 7500 miles on it to the CA resident that is attempting to register it.
So if its a relatively new used car just be wary of that.
See,s like back in the 80s California cars had smog pumps, while the rest didn’t. Is there still such a thing as a smog pump?
Actually that was a 60s thing that lasted about 10-15 years and just referred to air injection, which means that you pump fresh air from the engine compartment into the exhaust manifold in order to help reduce the amount of unburned hydrocarbons, since at that point the gas is still hot enough to support a little additional combustion (and it just needs some additional oxygen to do that). On my dad's Ford, it was called the "Thermactor" system. There was of course, a pump that was powered by an accessory drive belt. In all it was actually kind of a pain in the butt, because it added a lot of extra tubing/clutter to the engine compartment. It also was parasitic, robbing a little bit of power from the motor...so car guys hated it. On a non-CA car the engine was much cleaner looking and easier to work on because you had less stuff getting in your way. And, MORE POWER!! ARGH ARGH ARGH!
But, this was mostly rendered moot by the introduction of catalytic converters, which do basically the same thing.
So modern cars use a variation on the old "air injector" system, but its really just a part of the catalytic converter system now. And since 1975, all cars sold in the US have been required to be equipped with catalytic controls.
I remember watching The Price is Right during summer breaks from school (the pre-cable era). Whenever they offered a car as a prize, they would always emphasize "CA Emissions" as one of the 3 or 4 gee whiz features they had time to rattle off before getting on with the bidding. As if it was something to brag about to your neighbor back home in Little Rock.
"Yep, this here baby has a sunroof, cold A/C...and the CA emissions!"
"Well hoooeyy!"
I remember watching The Price is Right during summer breaks from school (the pre-cable era). Whenever they offered a car as a prize, they would always emphasize "CA Emissions" as one of the 3 or 4 gee whiz features they had time to rattle off before getting on with the bidding. As if it was something to brag about to your neighbor back home in Little Rock.
"Yep, this here baby has a sunroof, cold A/C...and the CA emissions!"
"Well hoooeyy!"
It's the first thing I thought of when I saw the ad for the car I was looking at and read it.
Its the Cats
Living in New mexico,you can pollute as much as you want and get rid of the cat or any extra cats you have and have a free flowing exhaust to open up the HP .Catalytic converters fail eventually anyways.
Less parts=Less problems.
Actually, that is NOT true.
It is against Federal law to tamper with or remove any emission device from any vehicle so equipped.
The fines if caught are something on the order of $10,000 per vehicle.
The fact that New Mexico does not perform an inspection is irrelevant.
California and I think New York mandate aftermarket cats to be CARB approved (California Air Resources Board). Other states just care that a Cat meets their emissions standards, if they have any.
From what I've seen, that CARB approval adds a hundred dollars normally at a minimum to the cost of a cat.
I don't know if this applies to the 'pre-cats' that seem to be common on the exhaust manifold now. A California or New York mechanic might be better able to answer that.
It’s not just New York. Most heavily urban states with smog problems have adopted CARB pollution law. Everybody in the Northeast Corridor. The whole left coast and the right coast from Maryland northwards are PZEV. I think Delaware and New Hampshire aren’t there yet but dealers in NH don’t buy non-PZEV inventory because the cars can’t be registered in any of the adjoining states.
I’m old enough to remember Boston and NYC smog that looks like 2018 Shanghai photos. I kind of like drinking clean water and breathing clean air.
Its the Cats
Living in New mexico,you can pollute as much as you want and get rid of the cat or any extra cats you have and have a free flowing exhaust to open up the HP .Catalytic converters fail eventually anyways.
Less parts=Less problems.
The problem is when you eliminate the cat(s), you must then reprogram your emissions system or the sensors will tell the computer there is a problem and the computer will adjust fuel mix, timing or whatever and your car will not run properly, you will lose HP or MPG or both. You may even get sputtering, backfires, or other more serious problems. The car is designed to run on a computer system calculating in a Cat, usually with sensors on each side of the cat, but always on the down-flow side. Reprogramming the computer to function without a Cat is seriously complicated. I have seen chips that claim to do this, but I have also seen articles saying those chips do not work at all. For me, in the few instances I had to bypass a cat, the car was on its last legs and we just lived with the check engine light on all the time and the terrible MPG and reduced performance. It did not really matter, we just needed to get some more months out of the vehicle so we could prepare to replace it.
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