I discovered recently that I have a special truck.[:@] Special, but not in a good way. It was built to California emissions standards, which means it has three catalytic converters.
I did some internet searches and can't find anyone that sells the cats for my truck. All the cats I saw said except California. I even found one website that said they don't sell cats to people with a California address. Whoa!
So, two questions:
Do Cali emissions trucks come standard as detuned, gutless bricks?
Do I have to go to the stealership to buy the cats?

 

You could gut it and put true duals on it. IMO,one of the few upsides of ca emissions is that you're prewired for duals. Or, you could find a usedstandard emissionpcm at a junkyard, have it flashed, and have the exhaust reconfigured with one cat.

 

mopowar, thanks for the options.
I don't have the time or the motivation to modify the exhaust system. And here's a statement, I would rather go to the stealership than the only truck junkyard near me. And I really don't like going to a dealership.[:@]
I'm wondering if Cali emissions vehicles must have an authorized service shop replace cats?
Anyone know a place to buy the special Cali emissions cats so I can install myself?
Thanks for the help.

 

Alrighty then.
http://car-part.com/- most of these yards ship

Buy the time you pay to have yourthree cats replaced, you could have yourself one nicely modified exhaust. Relatively speaking, it would probably require the same amount of time and motivation either way.

 

3 cats ???? or 3 o2 sensors ?? or both ???
i would think that the only real difference between a California cat and a non-California cat would be either size/fit and/or CARB certified/not certified. As far as i know, a cat is a cat, containing internal mesh that gets real hot and super-burns the remaining exhaust gases. not really that hi-tech. so, if you really have 3 cats, maybe they are a little smaller than a standard version that only has 1 cat. more than likely, the reason you see the internet parts say 'not for california' is because they lack the CARB certification required for california aftermarket parts. http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/cert.htm
you didn't say why you needed cat(s). i'm guessing you suspect they are clogged, or else they are rattling of falling apart ? heres a few options.
1. go to a local muffler show where they should have every imaginable size and shape of cat. you could buy parts and full install, or parts only and install it yourself.
2. if you are in an area that requires emissions testing, then be careful not to remove the cat(s) such that you fail testing. most muffler shops will not remove cats because its a federal crime.
3. if no testing required, you could cut off the cats and replace with straight pipes, and keep/leave, the o2 bungs. this would be illegal so don't notify the epa or anything.
4. another option is to cut off the cat(s) with a saw, punch them out, and then reinstall. this makes it look like you have a cat, so it passes the visual test. it may or may not pass a tailpipe test. it may or may not set a check engine light. an o2 simulator can fix the CEL. also illegal.
5. like mopar suggested, the wiring for the dual o2's is a blessing in disguise, as it supports true duals. you could have a cat and muffler on each side and still pass emissions testing. (except california)

 

My curiosity now is about my 3 cat system having more restriction than a standard 1 cat system. I dunno how cats are made. If I had one off the truck should I be able to look thru it or is it like a chambered muffler?

 

no you cannot see through it unless its rotted out, or punched out. its a sort of honeycomb structure.
here's some diagrams

http://www.lcengineering.com/TechNotes/TechNote68.htm
http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h64.pdf
http://www.o2simulator.com/howconverterworks.pdf
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Catalytic_converter
http://www.krioma.net/articles/Catal...0Converter.htm

 

really you have 2 cats and a resnator , only thing the resnator does is help to keep the exhaust note down..

 

I can only speak to the Magnaflow h/f cat, and several factory cats off of 1500 and 2500 Ram vans, but, yes you can see through them if you hold the aforementioned comb at a 180* orline of sight. Basically, the concept is that when the heatedco gas(carbon monoxide) flows over the platnium catalyst, it picks up an extra oxygen molecule and becomes co2 (a green house gas). The problem with the whole concept is that, once the surface molecules have become oxidized, the resulting surface acts as a sort of shield to the layers below, then becomes hardenedand carbonized. At this point, the catalyst becomes nothing more than a restriction in the exhaust system. With wideband 02 sensors with quicker heating rates, the whole cat converter thing is becoming a technology of the past. If you have ahealthy stock motor, youare running at or near 14.7:1 most of the timeandthe catalyst isn't doing squatexcept for at start up and wot.

So, either gut them and feel guilt free that you are not harming the enviroment or pissing off al gore, or live with the restriction in your exhaust.

My old man always calls california the land of fruit and nuts.

 

Thats odd, I live in California and only have one cat, as far as buying one they have one on summit th at you can order or just go to any muffler shop and they will be able to help you but they are expensive. I called a few muffler shops and they wanted 400+