WKD DRGN

Hey all, I had a bad cat. converter and after much research and all decided to "take my chances" and replace it with a Magnaflow cat. converter. Well, before I did this I actually wrote Magnaflow an email and asked if using their converter would throw a CEL since I had read a lot about that happening. They replied to my email and stated that as long as my Civic wasn't a Cali Emissions vehicle it would NOT throw a CEL. It's been about 4,000 miles since replacing the cat with a Magnaflow and it finally threw the dreaded code.

I just got my VIN checked out by a dealership and they confirmed it's not a Cali Emissions vehicle. Next, I want to take it to my mechanic and get it checked out and confirmed that it IS the cat that is causing the problem. Now my question is, with the email and the mechanic's written statement stating it's the cat. converter that is bad, what are my chances of getting my money back and not getting a replacement from Magnaflow? What I plan on doing is getting the OEM cat and putting that on the civic to solve the problem. Now, I've heard there are "tricks" I can perform to the vehicle to cause the light to go off, but I AM NOT interested in this at all. I just want the OEM catalytic converter on the car to fix the problem...Thanks all for your replies in advance!

-Kristy

asianboy781

pull the o2 sensor and see how much carbon has it build up
have you ever thought of replacing the 02 sensor.
using aftermarket parts doesnt ensure you 100% that its gonna work 100%
and have your mechanic do a voltage test on the 02 sensor it self

WKD DRGN

Yeah, my mechanic is gonna check the O2 sensors when I take it to them. I'll make sure they do a voltage test as well. Thanks!

WKD DRGN

Was able to go to the mechanic today, he said the o2 sensors were still good and that it was definately the catalytic converter that needed to be replaced. Got him to write that down and called up Magnaflow, they said the VIN number "was not a surefire way to tell if the vehicle is Cali or Fed emissions..." And without the sticker under my hood (the hood was replaced...) the only other way to check was to get it analyzed at a smog shop which I live in Southern VA, there are none! So is Magnaflow just BSing me so they don't have to do anything or what??

asianboy781

this is hard i suspect the o2 sensor is there to let you know or the law know that you have a cat converter. you can also try the fowler technique and see if that would work
if not then replace the cat. if the cat was defected you would get the cel at least about 100 miles of driving time, if it faults at 4000 then it couldnt just be the cat converter, i had a similar issue when i replace my headers and i get a code for bad o2, and i notice at that the factory o2 sensor the tip is shorter so it didnt stick in all the way to get a good reading, so i use bosch o2 sensor and the tip was longer than the oem denso, and you can also check the height of the oem o2 and compare it with your old cat and see how far it sticks into the pipe