After reading MrTalkRadio's experience with his XJS fire, I've decided that I'm going to mod my distributor cap and rotor per the instructions in Kirby's book. But, since that won't cure all the posibilities of what could happen to cause a cat fire (TalkRadio's was a coil failure, so the mods still wouldn't have prevented his), I'm thinking of just taking the cats out altogether (tree-huggers be damned!). I'm not sure what that would mean for the O2 sensors and ECU, though..... would the ECU try to compensate for the increase in unburned hydrocarbons? Would it cause the o2 sensors to read out of acceptable range and continuously throw a fault code?

thanks,
howlinowl

 

On your car the O2 sensors are ahead of the cat converters so neither they nor the ECU is aware of their presence....or absence.

Cheers
DD

 

more power to you. ive got my Cats gutted on my XJS and so does Mish. i believe Jameyxj6 does as well.

 

Cool. How do I gut these? Or better yet, does anybody still manufacture the old "test pipes" like they used to have back in the '70s? Funny how people would install the "test pipe" and then just continue "testing" their cars for days, months, years to go. They don't have emission testing here in Florida, they used to for the 6 largest counties (Palm Beach County was one of them when I used to live there but St. Lucie county where I am now never had it) but it doesn't mean they can't/won't bring it back. And if I'm caught being the arch-nemesis of Captain Planet running a couple test pipes, what would the penalty be? I kinda thought I'd like to save these cats and shelf them just in case testing comes back and I can swap them back in. But am wondering if gutting them so it looks more "stealth" to the Planeteers and keep me from being fined/towed/jailed would be a better option?

howlinowl

 

There is a fine via the EPA for removing or altering emission equipment. The penalty is something like $25,000 and possibility of jail for a licensed repair facility and much less for an individual. It has been a long time so I can't recall the exact nature. I have been in the auto service business for almost 30 years. I have never heard of anyone being fined and certainly not imprisoned for removing cats or secondary air systems.

Most states that have emissions testing have gone to a plug in test. OBD II systems have monitors for the emissions systems. The state simply plugs in and if the readiness monitors are all set and there is no stored fault codes you pass the test. if the check engine light is on or readiness is not set you fail. In CT a vehicle 25 yrs or older does not get tested. In MA a vehicle older than 1998 is not tested but can fail if there is visible smoke during the safety inspection.

I would not worry too much about the cats. If your car is in a good state of tune go ahead and install euro downpipes or gut your cats. The amount of miles these older cars do is insignificant and that is why states are not testing them. Keep in mind without emission controls you could not breathe in LA and other parts of the country. These systems have significantly reduced smog. The manufacturer I work for now has a radiator with a coating on the outside of the cooling fins that will catalyze ozone (O3) which is smog into oxygen. Some other makers are using this technology as well. It is cheap and works.

 

Ok. I'll probably just gut them. Dunno if LEO's look under your car during routine traffic stops, the last and only speeding tickets I ever got were in my old 1973 Mach 1. Testing here in Florida at the time (early to mid '90s) was for 1975 and newer vehicles, so my Mach was exempt. Only car I've ever had tested was an '77 New Yorker. They'd do a visual and do a sniff at idle. If you passed, you were good. If they put you on the dyno, at least in my case, you were screwed. To make mine pass, I'd lean out the idle mixture screws until it barely wanted to run, get the idle sniff test, pass, then as soon as I was out of sight of the testing facility, pull over and reset the screws.

If I gut them, I can always claim ignorance and say "I bought it that way".

howlinowl

 

its a $5,000 fine if caught. frozen boost makes fake converters that are really convincing.

 

I would be surprised if a cop would bother to check for a cat. Most cops barely want to write the ticket. Ever see a speed trap in the rain, cold or snow? 20 years and out is a cops motto.

 

Add Flint to the list of those about to lose cats...