found cheap rebuilt cats (california legal!!)
 

If your like me, you found a nice deal on a nice b5, and chances are, the cat has'nt been replaced.

if your car is starting to smell like rotton eggs, you need a new cat.

i didnt want to go with a universal cat with lots of messy welding involved, that would just cost me more ( i cant weld)

problem is, at my dealership they quoted me $1100 not including service... (my wrenches dont charge labor)

F THAT!

i sat down a searched for a place to find a cheap cat. I came across lebree's high flow cat, but i called them up and they said that you will not pass smog via sniffer test, ( which is still required by law) if i were to install the high flow. I asked them if they had a replacement cat, and they quoted me 490 for the part ( free labor thanks to MY tools).

this was for a completly new cat, and he said its hard to find good rebuilt cats because the materials are so expensive, and most remanufacterurs dont get the best quality.

After a few hours of goole, i stumbled across Smigh Bro's Converter http://www.smithcat.com/ i called them up and they got me a rebult cat from DEC, which is a reputable company, specializing in rebuilding OBD II cats ( aka california legal cats) and are government approved for reblilding OBD II cats, the down side is that they dont sell to individuals only in bulk to, so i am paying a bit of middleman cost. DEC is located in california. the cost of the cat is $390, plus a $16 shipping cost and a $100 core charge, which gets refunded as soon as they recieve the old cat.

if you send back the core, the total cost comes out to $406 depending on location. This is the best price so far that i have found for a california state legal catlytic converter.

here is a thred that i started a couple days ago, you might find some answers in here https://www.audiforums.com/m_504035/.../tm.htm#504035

RE: found cheap rebuilt cats (california legal!!)
 

You can pass sniffer with anything on a quattro car. So saying you won't pass sniffer with a High Flow CAT is not entirely true. You just won't pass with a Labree (if they say so), but I'd bet you could (pass the sniffer portion only). Labree wouldn't pass an OBD read, but it could pass a sniffer. There have been cars that have passed sniffer with a test pipe, so I'm sure an HFC could make it through. Here is the reason.
[ul][*]With a quattro car, the shops don't have rollers to be able to put a load on a car with the sniffer in the pipe. So it is basically done at idle. Whereas FWD or RWD only cars are done under load. Those cars wouldn't pass under same circumstances.[/ul]But I'd bet some ching that a quattro vehicle with a test pipe, HFC of any make, etc. would pass a sniffer test. Maybe not the visual, and a Labree certainly wouldn't pass an OBD/VAG COM code reading because it throws codes. But I'm almost certain the eruocode guys passed a sniffer with a test pipe before. Yes, in California. So the sniffer test is not the problem, the fact that few HFC have proven that they will NOT throw a code is what the problem is.
If you are spending that much for what is essentially a stock CAT, then find a Milltek used or something. Worth every penny. Are you sure Cali even does sniffer anymore? Most states are just doing OBD now.
If you're going through the trouble of have a CAT rebuilt, then just have one gutted and have a test pipe welded in the internals and flash your ECU. I've seen that done. It looks like a stock CAT, functions like a test pipe, and it throws no codes because the ECU is flashed with the right software, and it will pass all tests including sniffer for above stated reasons concerning a quattro car.
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RE: found cheap rebuilt cats (california legal!!)
 

damn, thats alot riding on the fact that california still requires a sniffer test on ALL smog tests.

because my tags are expred, and have been expired for a few months, i must go to a test only facility, run by the government to ensure no phony tags are issued.

i would rather stay legal, than risk a huge fine and having to spend the money again to get another test.

i'll worry about perfomance later, i just want to drive my car again!

thx for the help, always good to kno its an option