Quote:
Originally Posted by neanderthal
Nice work.
I'm sure you know the aftermarket cats don't have as much precious metal in them as the factory ones. Might be wise to remove the new one, box it up, and install it again in a couple of years.
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Thanks, I am pretty pleased with how the smog results looked... I put a ton of work into getting there!
As far as the Magnaflow cat goes, I too have heard that, but my experience has been very different, and I want to post MY experience..
I put a Magnaflow Cat and 3" system on my 454 powered '87 Suburban in 2001, at 100k miles. It passed smog before, but I wanted to free up some power, so replaced the whole thing.
It passes smog every year with such low readings... and now has 168k on it. The exhaust on it always smells very hot, and clean, and in fact while I was working on this Mercedes smog issue, I parked them close and compared the smells. Peachy smelt wrong in comparison, but now after putting on the new cat, it smells the same.
The new reading confirm they are similar.
In fact, here is the last smog test I did on the Suburban... and its the full ASE rolling road test, not the static test that the Mercedes has to pass, and I am told, much more difficult as the engine is under load on the rollers..
For the record, I just took it down... didnt fiddle or tune it... I bet the plugs and leads are at least 5 years and 40k miles old, and I did not warm or do anything like I read is needed to get the Mercedes to pass!
There is another issue to take into account on aftermarket cats sold in California...
I am under the impression that CARB certified cats are made to much more stringent standards, and cost more than the 49 state cats which is why they have to have a ID number. The Magnaflow cat I just put on has a SS body, and looks very well made.
Also, My cat was inspected visually, and the number noted and filed when the smog test was done. I seem to have read that they have a long warrantee too.
Also, I am sure that modern cats are much more efficient that cats made in 1990, and even tho the M103 is not the most smog complient engine, and well know for burning oil if the valve stem seals are hard, so I am wondering how many of these aftermarket cats are in fact killed by the same oil burning or injection problems that killed the original OEM cat!