Recently a friend of mine went to the local muffler shop without consulting with me and had the stock muffler replaced with a flowmaster. Apparently, they cut the sensor that went on the exhaust and took off the cat. converter. Now since we are in the south...I.E. Alabama. No one really cares about the pollution aspects and all that. And we all know it's illegal. But half the people in AL...atleast where I am from, have it cut off sowe don't want a lecture. They don't give tickets for it and they basically don't care. And as far as I know they stopped testing for it a long time ago. All he wants to know is if it will hurt the engine in the long run. I haven't messed with fuel injected vehicles and computers/sensorsthat much. All my trucks are nice and old and carbd. I've heard different responses from different muffler shops. The only problem he is having is that it smells a little gassy/a little rich. It's not blowin white smoke and the gas mileage is the same. It's been on for about a week. The light is on but I told him it was gonna be. Is it gonna mess up the valves or anything. I told him to put on a high flow catalytic converter but the truth is that it doesn't sound near as good. So he want's to work around it.

 

The sensor down after the cat is the O2 sensor, I don't know what would happen without it but it is their for the richness/leaning of the fuel mixture.

 

Go get a code ran on the light and see if the lack of the O2 sensor after the cat is throwing it.

 

The post cat sensor is there only for emissions monitoring and has nothing to do with fuel delivery.

I find this very interesting that an exhaust shop would just chop off the cat without knowing what would happen... I mean, this is a federal crime that could get said shop into a very good bit of trouble, regardless of the lax enforcement of those laws in your state/area. But then again, you already know that....[&o]

 

I guess this is how you respond back, so have patience. Never done this before. All the muffler shops I have talked to and trust said it wouldn't hurt it but it will run a little rich. they said if it starts running too rich then the cat would have to be put back on. But so far it's been a week and still running really good. I told him as long as it aint smokin it should be alright.

 

The truck will not run rich... I don't know where they get that idea from... The upstream O2 sensors will still maintain the proper fuel mixture.

I don't know how to interpret your post... You start off by saying that you know that it's illegal so please don't lecture us... But you must understand that within the scope of this forum, we cannot condone such an act. For me to blindly say that everything will be just peachy is not an option. To everyone else, by deleting a catalytic converter, you can be fined up to $5000 if caught. But lets not let this turn into an if/then or even "they don't check it so I'm ok..." They don't check it today, but tomorrow can be a different story.

 

and how can they prove your the one that took it off.......just play dumb and say it was like that when you bought it........my cat is gone and I've had no problems

 

Look Swart, I appreciate the response. I aint trying to start nothin.I know you don't condone it as I've read many times on here. And I think you know what your talking about. But there's a lot worse things. Pullin a cat off aint gonna end the world. And Him and Me both would gladly pay the fine. So no hard feelings. Heck, he's even had comments from cops on the way it sounds and they know it aint legal.

 

What the heck! *sarcasm*Lets all pull off our cats and have a damned old party.*/sarcasm* That's a great way of looking at it. Worst things like? Ah screw it, I guess you don't want a lecture or anything.

Man, I wish I had that much money to happily pay a $5000 fine for a $60 catalytic converter...

So, onto the main reason for my objections. I will not let this type of information get someone else in trouble. Just because it may fly in your town doesn't mean that someone else won't read the information and decide to try it someplace where it won't fly. While BF.com cannot be held responsible, I feel obligated to ensure that the whole truth is laid out in each and every one of these types of threads.

No hard feelings at all, I just want you to understand what I feel is my job to do for this community. Regardless of whether you did or did not want a lecture, I am obligated to lay out the facts of the situation. If it sounds like a lecture, fine by me.

And blazinloud, the ignorance part...

 

I wanted my blazer tosound a lot louder so I installed a glasspack, that wasn't anough so I ended up installing an exhaust cutout after the cat (not saying it's legal) but it was loud enough there. But what if your travaling somewhere else and your out of town and get pulled over for not having a cat? They may not check it there but in the next town they might.