What year can you remove the catalytic convertor?

My 440 is a Oct 92 car.. does anyone know of any implications of doing this?

many thanks

Andrew.

its okay i've found out.... pre Aug 92 Ah well I'll just have to double my cars value by getting one :)

[Clifford Pope]

It's not necessarily the same date for all cars. There were exemptions and delayed dates of implementation depending on model. Some models were totally exempted because it was impossible to modify them to meet the standards. There is a standard notice to this effect displayed at MOT testing stations. It might just be worth checking.

It's not just a matter of removing the catalyst. You have to maintain the correct back-pressure, and make a fitting so that the Oxygen sensor is still inside the pipe.

[Al115]

"What year can you remove the catalytic convertor?" - never! Else you'll be causing a whole heap more pollution than you'd need be...!

Sorry but it had to be said :-)


Alastair

[vjck_uk]

Surely the pollution from diesels is far worse.

[Peter Milnes]

Surprisingly, in spite of what the Government would have us believe, NO. Diesels are far greener and cleaner than petrol engines as they burn the fuel more completely than a petrol engine. Even the amount and size of particulates is less from a diesel than petrol. The other advantage of diesel engines is that they can run on totally green fuels such as cooking oils which are derived from vegetable sources.

All the best, Peter.

Providing they get enough air, otherwise they smoke like a chimney :)

It's amazing the amount of people who don't maintain their cars, and when they bury the peddle I can't see the end of my bonnet...

With you on the green fuels though - shame about the cost per litre 3p, and the cost of tax per litre 23p (ish). And if they do check your fuel and your not registered to be using green fuels they do nasty things to you... Grr...

Surely with the cat's taking them off is the best thing to do (if legal!) as most older cars the cat just has to be in place to pass the MOT as they didn't work correctly!

Stu

[Major Look]

I can't just fill my diesel tank with Flora Sunflower oil then? }(

[warthog]

I think I read in a previous posting that there isn't actually a year issue with having a cat. fitted, just the level of emissions allowed.

The point was made that there is nothing stopping you (legally) from removing the cat. but you would probably find it impossible to meet the emission targets without it, not to mention screwing up the fuelling of the engine due to lack of pressure/temp difference expected by the lambda sensor.

On the green issue of diesels, purely from a thermodynamic point of view, a diesel will always be more efficient than a petrol engine due to the greater energy differential through the operating cycle - that's the reason they burn less fuel for a given power output. If you're really concerned about their megre emissions, you can fit a cat. to a diesel.

I think the biggest emission problem with them is sulphur as there are higher levels of sulphur in diesel fuel than petrol and it's costly to produce low sulphur diesel fuel. Sulphur of course is the major contributor to acid rain which did a good job of killing off the Scandinavian pine forests.

Given the choice I'd have a diesel over a petrol almost every time.

[Peter Milnes]

It would be very prohibitive in cost and would have no great advantage over ordinary diesel. However filtered used chip oil with a drop or two of white spirit (I will not give the correct ratio here to protect you) would probably work quite well. Just keep a lookout for the Customs and Excise sniffers should you forget to tell them.

All the best, Peter.