Mark_r

Hello,
I recently purchased a 04 Civic Ex with 164,000 miles. I got the CEL the other day, and found out that the catalytic converter has gone bad. My local shop quoted the replacement at $700. That's quite far out of the budget. I thought about straight piping the car, but the converter is part of the exhaust manifold. Anyone have a cheap solution, without much DIY?
Thanks

guitarsnlikker

pull a young one from a junkyard.

GusBuz

An easy and cheap solution would be to cover the check engine light with a sticker lol...

Depending on where you live, the junkyard wont sell you a used cat. Call muffler shops around and try getting the best price. Or else you can convert to the EX exhaust where the cat is under the car, it is cheaper to replace these converters. Pick your poison

ezone

No, an EX-VTEC has the cat under and behind the engine .

DX/LX (non-VTEC) have the cat integrated in the manifold.


Open your hood to verify this,

5.0Thunder

Why couldn't OP just get a $100 magnaflow standard cat to weld in?

ezone

Does OP have to pass emissions testing? What type of testing will be done?

How long would anyone expect a $100 cat to last?

The cheap cats usually can't keep the computer happy for very long.
Many fail before the warranty period is over, and even if within warranty most people would still have to pay to have it installed each time it needs replaced.


What's the COST of that cheap price?

5.0Thunder

I was under the impression the standard magnaflow cats were a higher quality piece that lasted. Can't say for sure though because i've never actually replaced a cat.

ezone

I'm guessing they have a price range for everyone, regardless of actual needs or the parts ability to do the job it was purchased for.

I saw a picture of a 'racing cat' posted in this forum a while back that looked like an empty shell, for about the same price.


You probably aren't going to get a California C.A.R.B. compliant cat for anywhere close to that price.

5.0Thunder

This is true, although magnaflow does sell C.A.R.B. cats as well, for roughly 3-4x the price. Sucks for californians lol

Lilman420

Hey what if I no longer want the catalytic converter manifold on my 2004 honda civic lx anymore. Is there someway I can convert it to something similar to the vtec model. Or just slap a header on it with out the catalytic converter. I would much rather do it to were I could have the catalytic converter under the car. Just don't know witch way to go about it. I live in the US so no emissions test. I just don't want to mess up my engine without having a catalytic converter on it. Any suggestions?

sdaidoji

iTrader: (1)

Wrong.
It depends on state, county.
My state does not require, but the county i live in requires.

BrotatoChip

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/2...p-version.html

ezone

I think swapping the oe header and cat from a 1.7 vtec engine would be simplest, probably just need a o2 sensor wiring harness adapter long enough to connect the stock rear o2 sensor in the (newly relocated) cat.