CA Exhaust Question

Karlm · Jan 31, 2004

Ok, so I have a new header and a new intake manifold on my Jeep. I want to get the exhaust from te header back replaced, but the muffler shop that I just talked to won't touch anything from the cat forward. Does anyone know what the deal with this is? They are telling me that just putting in new pipe, even if I keep all of the sensor fittings and everything, not even changing the diamiter of pipe is an no-no. That doesn't make sense to me. How could that affect emissions? What if my pipe had a hole in it? What would they do then? I know Banks sells a new crossover that is 50 state legal for the 4.0L how do they get away with it? I'm not looking to cheat smog or anything, but this sounds BS to me.

xtremewlr · Jan 31, 2004

It is BS but it is CA law that the muffler shop is going by. They cant touch anything in front of the cat if there is nothing wrong with it or they can get fined if caught. You might try going to a few different shops to find one that would be willing to do the work for you. If no one will, then its a good time to learn how to do it yourself. You can pull the crosspie out and take it to a shop and have a new one bent up for you with any bungs welded in. They will do that since they arent doing the install of the peice. Or get the Banks part and use that. That would be my choice.

xjhm · Jan 31, 2004

xtremewlr said:
It is BS but it is CA law that the muffler shop is going by. They cant touch anything in front of the cat if there is nothing wrong with it or they can get fined if caught. You might try going to a few different shops to find one that would be willing to do the work for you. If no one will, then its a good time to learn how to do it yourself. You can pull the crosspie out and take it to a shop and have a new one bent up for you with any bungs welded in. They will do that since they arent doing the install of the peice. Or get the Banks part and use that. That would be my choice.

so if the pipe in front of the cats had, lets say "an accident" like the owner ran over a piece of metal in the road and cut a hole in the pipe in front of the cat would the shop do the repair with the parts this guy has?

xtremewlr · Jan 31, 2004

Yeah they would do that since it is a damaged part that would need replacing to maintain smog legality

Karlm · Jan 31, 2004

So, would the fat dent where my stupid driveshaft hits the exhaust pipe count for this?

xtremewlr · Jan 31, 2004

I would say no. If a hole somehow appeared in the pipe that was too big to weld shut or if the pipe somehow got mangled beyond repair and was affecting performance, then you would probably be safe.

Karlm · Jan 31, 2004

I just talked to a national chain muffler shop and they said that they would replace anything I told them to. I've never heard that before. They said that the only thing they couldn't do is omit any emmissions stuff. I've heard the "if it ain't broke we can't touch it" bit before regarding cats, but I didn't know that extended forward to the manifold as well. Thats good info to know.

Xjman1 · Feb 1, 2004

Karlm said:
Ok, so I have a new header and a new intake manifold on my Jeep. I want to get the exhaust from te header back replaced, but the muffler shop that I just talked to won't touch anything from the cat forward. Does anyone know what the deal with this is? They are telling me that just putting in new pipe, even if I keep all of the sensor fittings and everything, not even changing the diamiter of pipe is an no-no. That doesn't make sense to me. How could that affect emissions? What if my pipe had a hole in it? What would they do then? I know Banks sells a new crossover that is 50 state legal for the 4.0L how do they get away with it? I'm not looking to cheat smog or anything, but this sounds BS to me.

Sounds like you went to the same shop I did. I have a bad feeling my pipe in front of the cat is hanging low and may get damaged really soon. That would suck to have to get it replaced

Planetcat · Feb 2, 2004

Find a new muffler shop.

I had a muffler shop in CA make a new downtube for me to connect to my Banks header. Find a new shop. Also, you might want to consider buying the banks downtube for the TJ and having a shop cut it to fit the XJ (They only sell TJ ones and they're supposed to be just longer). They are nice mandrel bent and free flowing and shortening it shouldn't affect the performance. The muffler shop I used had a hard time making all the bends needed for the tube and they charged me $100, but I'm happy with it.

CA Exhaust Question

Karlm

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xtremewlr

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xjhm

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xtremewlr

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Karlm

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xtremewlr

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Karlm

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Xjman1

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Planetcat

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