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Let me start by stating I'm an old car guy, I'm a 70s car era fan... So with that being said I know nothing about newer car short of normal maintenance. Okay, onward... I'm in the middle of buying a 2003 civic ex, its in fantastic shape, runs good no noises or knocks. Anyhow, I'm use to v8's not a 4 cylinder,(b17a2). I know they are not fast motors. I'm not planning to race, just a little added "umph" so to speak. I'm looking at headers and a new exhaust, possibly a new intake. My issue isn't with installing or finding the correct parts.. My problem is I live in ohio with E check. I know I need a cat, that's obvious.. whats not obvious is with the new intake, the new headers and exhaust will it throw a CEL? I hate those F*&*ing lights.. if it throws a light It will fail e check.. If i cant get around it I'll stick with stock stuff and just be satisfied with what i have i guess. Anyway any help would be greatly appreciated!!! I also did a search for E check and Ohio i didn't find much, if someone else knows of a link I'd be just as grateful. Thanks.

 
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Welcome to the forums!

That's ok. Has the timing belt been changed before?

Good car! I currently have been running a Weapon-R Secret Weapon intake for a year and I just installed a DC Sports 4-1 header a few weeks ago. The D17A2 motors we have aren't great for performance gains unless you want to put a turbo in, or change out the camshaft for a Crower Stage 1. At least we have VTEC.

I've NEVER seen a in my car. Knock on wood.

I found this but you might have see it before. Most likely, they just hook a scanner up to your OBDII and make sure everything emissions-related is good. It's a waste of time and money, but there it is. If you're REALLY worried about it, you can buy a Bluetooth scanner and Torque Pro app for your phone for maybe $40 total. You can see exactly what they see.

 
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Welcome to the forum!

There are guys in Cali running intake/headers and they have strict emissions there.

Unless they take them off before they go through. I don't think you will have any issues with the CEL coming on. The headers could cause a o2 sensor code but that can be fixed with a de fouler.

 
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Hey thanks for the quick replies you guys, @poopies <<great name.
Yea the timing belt was recently changed, i think less than 200 miles ago, the car has 150,000 ish miles on it. this is off the top of my head repairs that has been done all within 1 year, breaks/rotors front and back, front calipers, tie rods, ball joints, tune up, clutch, and alternator.. now again there could be more or less thats just off the top. I know there is approximately 2 inches of order sheets since the car was bought brand new in 2003. Also I'm not planning on a turbo unless something falls in my lap.. (has been known to happen lol) I always worry about longevity of a motor and I "assume" (since i have no experience with) that turbos would decrease the life span of a motor. If I'm wrong by all means lol. I was looking into cold air intakes, i like the look of that "Weapon-R Secret Weapon intake" looks killer.. I also found cheap headers on ebay, but I can only assume they would break under heat, "Cheap" and "Headers" rarely go well together in my experience. Any tips on name brands I should look for. I assumed Hooker would make some headers but I'm not finding them. Maybe they are for old cars only. Also thanks for the link Poopie, I did read over that quite extensively, I just had my truck E checked recently, and when they did my test they did a visual check for the cat, a what i can assume is a pressure check on my gas cap, and an OBDII scan for codes. somehow I passed with an extremely leaky manifold leak, (for those of you who are familiar with dodges 4.7 magnum manifold bolt problems.)
Anyhow thanks for the replies, when the paper work is all done and its sitting in my garage I'll post some photos.

GolNat, I had heard of people actually swapping exhaust but I never really paid any attention to it.. lol I just couldn't imaging the extra work every year or two LOL. but if those guys in Cali can pass n E check I'll be fine thanks for the reply!

I sure am glad I wont need an E check with my 71... Oh yes Sir, shes stock I promise....cough... LOL

 
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Thanks! No one ever suspects a guy named Poopies!

That's what I love to see: good documentation. That's a great find!

They can, but if you upgrade the valves, springs, and other stuff around the turbo you won't be shaving too much life off the thing! Personally, I'd rather start with something more powerful if I was gonna plunk down that kind of money.

It's pretty cool, although I think I am one of the few here I know of who has it. It's considered a "short ram intake" instead of a CAI, but I like that because I don't have to worry about puddles and hydrolock as much.

Agreed. Like I said, I'm using DC Sports (not particularly cheap) but there are plenty of other users here who swear by other brands. I usually go to carid.com for inspiration, and then to other sites to buy if they're cheaper.

 
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Its nick named "water sucker" for a reason . I have a CAI and have never had any issues driving it in very rainy storms. It is annoying sometimes if I have to turn around because a street is a little to flooded for my liking. Not many people have the Weapon R, it's a nice intake.

Lol, yea Hooker is for older cars. DC sports is about the only option. It actually doesn't take to long to swap out the headers and wouldn't be to bad to do every 2 years. With you being in Ohio though, that's not the best for no rust.

 
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I've gone through some moderately deep puddles and have even found some water drops on MY filter, as high up as it is! I used to love splashing, too...

 
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thanks again for the replies, i'll check out dc sports.. sorry I knew it was a short ram I just had some sort of brain fart.. the only fuel injected car I've ever owned I had one on was my mustang.. it was a regular CAI never had any water problems..but i never drove through big puddles with it either.. and yes ohio is the antichrist right now for rust... they started using this awful liquid salt.. not only does it do nothing for the roads, it attaches to your car way easier.. I'm looking for stainless headers to prolong their life, as well as a stainless exhaust system.. luckily I have a lift at my disposal and the amount of videos on youtube tells me headers are not bad to install in my civic.. so thankfully i've got that going for me lol.
Speaking of valves and springs, I'm looking for forged internals.. again thats an older car thing but I assume that has crossed over to the newer cars.. All of this is of course assuming my wife lets me have this one... She took the truck I bought for myself 2 months ago for herself.. lmao so who knows... luckily she doesn't know how to drive a stick LMAO anyway thanks again for the replies going to check out DC sports shortly when I'm done with work!

 
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If you need some pics, you can look in my sig. As long as you don't snap a bolt like I did, changing headers is a breeze!