Is it a bad idea & illegal to remove the catalytic converter?

[SportscarBruce]

A little o/t but if anyone here has a old v8 car of little collector value and you're in the market for a new car KEEP IT REGISTERED AND DON'T GET RID OF IT! Clunker bill is on the way. Last year I passed up a practically free 1982 Oldmobile.

[Mark]

A little o/t but if anyone here has a old v8 car of little collector value and you're in the market for a new car KEEP IT REGISTERED AND DON'T GET RID OF IT! Clunker bill is on the way. Last year I passed up a practically free 1982 Oldmobile.

Already in place in the UK. Daniel has already got £2,000 for a very old car traded in for a brand new one. A few people I know are looking at buying a new car too now.

[Daniel]

Already in place in the UK. Daniel has already got £2,000 for a very old car traded in for a brand new one. A few people I know are looking at buying a new car too now.

My car isn't/wasn't that old! My 406 is an early 1998 car I would say that's not old.

As for the problem the OP has I'd put money on the check engine light being on because it has a post cat O2 sensor and it's throwing up a message because there's no cat there.

[Magnus]

Nope. Cars registered before August 1992 do not have to meet such stringent emissions regulations and subsequently don't have to have a Cat. I know this because I was considering getting a de-cat for my car but it was registered in October '92 so just misses out There are also a lot of people who fit the Cat just for the MOT and then change it back over, although obviously this means it would fail emissions tests and voids MOT, insurance and is properly illegal

http://www.jap-spec-performance.co.uk/mr2/faq.html

Didn´t know... In Sweden it´s from 88. I more emant that if the enginelamp lits, it could be because of faulty lambdameter, generally speaking

[JSH]

Sorry for any confusion, but this is a question for the North American guys. I've heard that it is illegal in certain states for a car not to have the converter. And also does it decrease MPGs?

The situation is that the car wasn't working right, kept stalling. So the car was taken to the shop and the guy took the converter out thinking that was going to fix the problem. However, the car started acting the same way as before, and took it back. Came to realise that it was the fuel pump instead. He replaced the fuel pump and now the check engine light is back on. I was wondering if it had ANYTHING to do with the removal of the coverter.

Thanks for any feedback.

Ignoring the fact that any half decent mechanic would check the fuel pump before tearing out the catalyst.....

Yes, removing the cat probably has resulted in the MIL lamp coming on.

[SportscarBruce]

Have your friend go down to the auto parts store, ask them to plug in a scanner, and post the diagnostic trouble codes here along with year, make, and model.

[steve_spackman]

Have your friend go down to the auto parts store, ask them to plug in a scanner, and post the diagnostic trouble codes here along with year, make, and model.

She went to the local auto parts store..they did the diagnostic. The guy said that the reason is that the guy who worked on it never replaced the CAT. He said that by law a car shop has to replace it if he removes it.

Its a 2003 Chevy Cavalier coupe

[SportscarBruce]

If you don't mind ask her if the repair bill shows a four-digit DTC code of some kind in the narrative. Some shops forward along the mechanic's notes, but not all. Hopefully this one does. The engine model or at least displacement in liters will also help.

[Mark in Oshawa]

The mechanic who did this is a BUTCHER. Any mechanic with half a brain would NEVER touch the Cat. Any misfire or stumbling usually is a computer issue having to do with the fuel metering. It is either running rich or the timing is out, and with all the electronics on modern cars and that Cavalier in particular, it should have been caught with a plug into the car's OBD.

In short, she should report this guy to the state for masquerading as a mechanic because it is obvious he is clueless and at the very least, she should stop giving this guy money once he puts the Cat back on at his expense.

If this was Canada, there would be hell to pay. It is part of our certification when the car changes hands that the Cat is there. I also know the car is designed to run with that thing there so removing it just adds problems, not solves them. That, and the car in Ontario and most of the bigger provinces has to pass a tailpipe emissions test once every two years and I can guess that without it, it would NOT pass.....

[steve_spackman]

The mechanic who did this is a BUTCHER. Any mechanic with half a brain would NEVER touch the Cat. Any misfire or stumbling usually is a computer issue having to do with the fuel metering. It is either running rich or the timing is out, and with all the electronics on modern cars and that Cavalier in particular, it should have been caught with a plug into the car's OBD.

In short, she should report this guy to the state for masquerading as a mechanic because it is obvious he is clueless and at the very least, she should stop giving this guy money once he puts the Cat back on at his expense.

The 'mechanic' never put the CAT back on her car. Her mpg has decreased and the car sounds and smells bloody awful