I spoke with a shop owner today who told me a story about a Spyder he had worked on recently. The customer brought the car in a poor running condition, running rich and dumping raw fuel. This was apparently caused by previous work done by a non-expert (many problems have started that way). By the time this was put right, the cats were bad. The OEM cats are no longer available, but one of the two continues to show backorder status with no ETA. Customer had to take the car to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair to see what replacement cats they would authorize. The answer was: none, because the OEM cat is still showing as available (although in practice it is not). End result: Maserati ship anchor. The car can neither be repaired nor registered in California.
Horror story
SeanFulop
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I spoke with a shop owner today who told me a story about a Spyder he had worked on recently. The customer brought the car in a poor running condition, running rich and dumping raw fuel. This was apparently caused by previous work done by a non-expert (many problems have started that way). By the time this was put right, the cats were bad. The OEM cats are no longer available, but one of the two continues to show backorder status with no ETA. Customer had to take the car to the California Bureau of Automotive Repair to see what replacement cats they would authorize. The answer was: none, because the OEM cat is still showing as available (although in practice it is not). End result: Maserati ship anchor. The car can neither be repaired nor registered in California.
Yeah this is how California law works. No car can pass a smog test without its OEM cats, unless those are obsolete and certifed NLA by the manufacturer. When car makers screw around with "backorder no ETA" then the whole car goes into purgatory. The lawmakers never anticipated that a car part could be theoretically still available while being obsolete in reality.
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189 Posts
Yes 100%, just fit used cats. Loads of these available used surely
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693 Posts
How can they tell if the cat isn't factory?
I believe the cats have to be brand new or they are not allowed. This has been a problem for many people because of the new trend in catalytic converter thefts. The issue for shops is that installing non-OEM or used cats is illegal work, risking the business license.
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10,363 Posts
If you use a a non OE catalytic it has to be CARB certified...We run across this on the Land Rovers...There will be 2 cats listed in the parts catalog...Federal and California...They just over regulate the shit out of everything...My family has a home in Lake Tahoe..It is grandfathered in to have a fire place...How the hell you have a place in Lake Tahoe without a fireplace is beyond me? There is snow everywhere and bears walking around at night..J
You're supposed to convert your fireplace to natural gas like mine is... prevents all that smoke. Most of my neighbors still burn wood in their fireplaces, making it impossible to take a walk around the block on a winter evening.
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8,645 Posts
I meant, 😪
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10,363 Posts
The smoke goes up the chimney..I don't know..I'm in the South..We have a lot less rules and still live OK with a clean environment..No one likes dirty water or air...J
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