haydeon

I'm working to get my "new" car smogged. I thought all I'd need was a catalytic converter under the car and a stock air cleaner assembly. I called NAPA to price the cat. The guy said there are two cats, and the one I didn't know about costs almost $500. Now I'm worried that I've bitten off more than I can afford to chew.

Can anyone tell me if I am indeed supposed to have TWO catalytic converters? This exhaust manifold definitely looks different than the diagrams I've found, but none of the diagrams on the parts sites show what comes after the exhaust manifold. I'm guessing it's the first cat.

Do you think I'll pass a California sniff test if I just put in the second cat and the tester "overlooks" the missing first cat? I'm starting to think maybe I'll just drive this car until the registration expires and then sell it to someone for a parts car, even though it runs and drives great.

I just don't want to start sinking tons of money into getting the thing smogged. Maybe the previous owner did some other things to the engine that will cause it to fail. I don't know.

ezone

It probably only gets one cat, the question would be "which one?" Which version did it leave the factory with?

Maybe the parts store has no idea what your car is. I know I sure don't.

Enter your VIN into a parts catalog website and see what cat parts come up listed for your car. Enter VIN to get the correct car, look in exhaust areas like manifold and pipe.

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...artsSearch.jsp

http://estore.honda.com/


Um, that header shown in the pic should not be CARB legal IMO. Does it have a CARB number?

haydeon

1990 Civic Dx Hatch with SI swap, which is what I told the guy. Apparently he got it wrong. According to two other Honda guys there is only one cat on D16A6 engines.

I already looked up the exhaust system on parts sites and found the diagrams. I was thrown off when the NAPA guy said there are two cats when everywhere else I only saw one. I decided to check with some people who might know more about Civics than me.

I don't see a CARB stamp on the headers. Nothing else the previous owner installed will pass, so I'm not surprised. I'm hoping a friendly local smog guy won't be too critical doing the visual, but I'll go get a stock header at a junk yard if I have to.

ezone

Right.
But each car may have different versions which can make for different choices for the cat, so the parts store might be seeing more then one choice in their lookup.

Parts stores are not equipped to deal with swaps. They can only look up stock stuff, just like most dealers.
YOU have to know what year, make, model, etc. for each of the parts you need ahead of time Nobody else knows what mix-n-match parts went into any swap job..

You're in Cali, doesn't the SELLER have to get a passing emissions check BEFORE the sale can go through?

From another forum:
In Ca, it is the sellers' responsibility to make sure it passes smog. The seller either has to pay for the repairs to pass smog or refund your money from what I had read in the Legal Forum.


You want a licensed facility or tech to jeopardize their license and livelihood JUST so you can pass a smog test?

haydeon

I understand all that. However, after further research I know the NAPA guy didn't know what the heck he was talking about. All three possible engines from my year/make/model/trimline, including the one swapped into my car, had the same exact headers and cats installed. The guy was just flat out wrong. I gave him the information he needed, and he pulled up something erroneous. It threw me off.

I paid $600 for the car and made an agreement to work out the smog issues. The seller agreed to pay half of anything over $200 that I have to spend to get it smogged. It's a handshake agreement. People in California do this all the time despite what the law says.

I already talked to the owner of a shop. He said if there's nothing blatantly wrong on the visual and it passes the sniff test, it'll be fine. He's been in business for 20+ years and has an excellent reputation. He understands what he's doing. If it looks like trouble, he won't pass it.

ezone

I just entered "1990 Civic 3 door (hatch) DX" (no engine choice) in Hondas USA catalog and got 5 different original cat numbers.
Only 2 of those listed are 49 state cats.
I didn't try to see if they all supercede to one or two part numbers though.


There are 6 original cats listed for a 90 Civic sedan, and I did not choose any of the DX/LX list options.

haydeon

Are you a defense attorney for the NAPA sales rep or something? I think maybe you misunderstood my original point. The guy said there are two cats on my car. He wanted to know if I wanted the one closer to the header or the one under the engine.

I'm not sure how you're searching, but if you follow the link you provided:

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/...artsSearch.jsp

you'll find that the STD, DX, and SI versions of the 1990 Civic Hatchback with CA emissions all have the same Manifold part number 18100-PM6-307 and Converter part number 18160-P06-A10.

All of the diagrams show only one catalytic converter per vehicle. None of these cars had two cats built into their systems. But the guy was trying to tell me there were two cats built into my one car. It's just not true. Somehow he screwed up. Or maybe I accidentally told him I have a 2001 Mitsubishi Galant. Stranger things have happened.

ezone

Nope. Just trying to point out to you what they may have seen in their catalog. I can't actually see their catalog.

Like I said, I see several possible choices in my catalog.

He may have had the wrong year entirely. That sounds like later cars.
Quick glance: 92 CX and VX are the earliest Civics I see with a cat right at the manifold.


I'm using an actual Honda dealer catalog, not any online dealer website.

I was looking at original part numbers.

I said I had not checked to see if the various numbers supercede or consolidate to something else.


Meh. We're all Human at times.

haydeon

True that. I wasn't mad at the guy. Just trying to verify what he said. Thanks for the feedback!

haydeon

I just found out if the car is transferred to a family member you don't have to smog it. I got the car from my brother, so now I can worry about the transmission. All I had to do was fill out this form http://www.dmv.ca.gov/forms/reg/reg256.pdf and sign it.