2004 Ram 1500
4.7 engine

I just failed inspection and was told the cats are not good and it would be very expensive to fix. Since I have almost 282k miles on the truck, I didn't want to go for the bucks. The truck runs great, so the mechanic told me to try and re-register the truck for over 6400 lbs and the CEL being on will not be a problem, but I'm not sure how to go about this.

The truck is registered in NYS and if anyone has any advise on how or what I should do, please let me know.

Thanks in advance ...

 

What code are you getting?

 

What's the minimum age for classic vehicle tags in the communist state of NY?

 

I don't know about NY, but in VA you would need to re-purpose the vehicle and get it weighed and re-tagged. Most common re-purpose is as a camper.
You then would need to understand how NY laws would apply if you remove the camper in the future.

 

My scanner is showing the following codes and description:

P0155 - 02 Sensor Heating Circuit B2S1
P0420 - Catalytic System Efficiency Below Threshold B1

As far as re-registering the truck to avoid CEL problems, I would need to classify it for over 8500 lbs., which would make it a commercial vehicle/plates/insurance.

Registration and plates are only $154.50 for 2 years, but the minimal insurance for just liability per year is about $936.00 versus the $433.00 I'm paying now. Still cheaper then putting in cats, as per my mechanic.

 

25 years ... and the truck is only 17 years old.

 

Thanks, I'll have to look into that.

 

Fix the O2 sensor issue, reset the codes, and see what happens. The cat code may be due to the O2 sensor not doing its job.

 

Well, here is a short back story on that sensor ... A few months back the truck was throwing a P0150 code pointing to the B2 S1 O2 sensor. When replaced, the mechanic said the old one didn't look too bad and the wiring looked okay, but he replaced it anyway with one I supplied him with. Shortly thereafter, the truck started throwing the P0155 code pointing the same sensor, then the other code pointing to the cats.

I wanted to replace the sensor again, but was told because of the age and mileage of the truck, the cats were running too hot, according to their scanner, and the cats would need to be replaced. I was told it wasn't the O2 sensor tripping the cat code, but just the opposite, in that the cats were tripping the sensor code.

The mechanic said he would put some kind of spacer between the sensor and the cat on that side, which should eliminate the problem if it was the sensor, but stated that the cat was too bad and it would not work. He could have pushed the issue in replacing the cats, but instead recommended changing the wt. class to commercial, which would then eliminate any inspection failing due to a CEL being on.

I did want to change the O2 sensor myself anyway, which I can get to, but I cannot get to the wiring connector for that sensor, as it's up over the trans and I cannot reach it.

One concern I have is that if the cats are actually running too hot, what problem is that going to cause down the line.

 

Cats will eventually melt, and plug the exhaust, so, performance will diminish, or, choke the engine off completely, and it simply won't run above an idle.

Age and mileage has nothing to do with how hot the cats run though. That's a product of what's in the exhaust. Make sure the O2 sensors (front) are doing their job properly, and the cats should operate within their acceptable range of temp.