heavyp08

Whats up prelude owners!

i live in Indianapolis and my check engine light came indicating catalytic converter problems...the autozone guy said im gonna need a new one! im a BROKE college student (really broke lol, im trying to graduate with 0 debt hehe) and i really, really cant afford to purchase a new one...my friend told me that i can save money, raise hp, and better fuel economy by doing a "straight-pipe"

i looked this up and it sounds good on paper...but will this ruin my car? is it legal in indpls? will my check engine stay on if i take it off? is there anyway to turn it off if i remove the converter? im sorry for the long story but people online seem to understand!

thanks for your help everyone!!!

chubbs

I can't quite answer all of your questions, but my car has a gutted cat on it, and I have no CEL. So i'd imagine it'd be pretty similar. Also, if you straight pipe it...be ready for it to be loud.

indylude18

First off, never take advice from the "autozone guy" serioulsy. Do you know what the CEL code was? Do you have a stock exhaust?


Straight pipes are illegal here in Indy, but they are still pretty common. The only challenge is finding a muffler shop that is willing to weld one on for you, because supposedly they can be fined for working on cars without catalytic converters. A test pipe still isn't free though, and magnaflow cats are not all that expensive (~$100). It would be a lot less trouble and not that much more expensive for you to just get a new cat, if that is actually the problem. If replacing it is absolutely not an option, look up the spark plug non-fouler mod, which will make the light go off but not actually fix the problem.


Just curious, but what college are you attending?

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Bluetop H23a Vtec Swapped NHBP '99 Base

Solid

Tell us the code that they found. It could be a bad O2 sensor or clogged cat. There are cheap fixes for both.

A straight pipe with throw a CEL unless you do a work around.

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extinct

i threw cat related CEL a long time ago and just cleaned my o2 sensor. no more check engine light

i also ran an ebay test pipe with an o2 sensor spacer for awhile with no problems but too loud

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wrathofshampoo

no cat is illegal anywhere in the u.s. for a obd2 car. that means lots of prelude owners are CRIMINALS