HI am looking at the eastern and walker cats on rock auto and the EPA eastern one for my car that comes with new gaskets and mounting bolts is $20-$50 less than the Carb variants of eastern and walker cats. IS there any reason for me to get the Carb cat if I live in an area that doesn't do emission testing?
Catalytic converter Carb vs EPA
- Thread starter Sid6.7
- Start date
No
Because of the higher standards the CARB cat generally has more wash coat on the catalyst matrix meaning it will keep the money light off longer usually by a few years. Look at the warranty, the CARB cat will have a longer warranty on functionality. For such a small difference in price it is a good way to go. JM2C
eastern warranties both for 5 years and 50k miles and walker does 25,000 Miles for the epa and 50k miles for the carb so it is kind of a toss up.
Eastern
Walker California
EPA
would a california cat flow worse tho? ID prefer not to hurt my MPG any. I am from canada and we don't even do emission testing in my province so i doubt we have CARB cats from the factory.
I bet that they the same guts just one is stamped with a carb #.
Flow will be the same. Only the amount of wash coat is more, size and everything else will be the same. It is the precious metals in the wash coat that provides the catalytic action and keeps the $$$ light out.
edyvw
$50 site donor 2025
Go CARB.
Carb cat needs to pay ransom to CA to be on the approved list.
And NY follows all the CARB guidelines. When my cat got stolen and another went bad even PA and CT places wouldn't do an EPA cat since I had NY plates.
yah I am from canada, I am just wondering if it is worth it to spend $50 more on a cat for my car that i plan to get rid of in 3 years. I might just because i plan to put 70-100k kilometers on it in that time give or take.
JTK
$100 Site Donor 2025
For sure on that. No one will touch a NY registered vehicle unless you are using OEM/CARB replacements. Obviously you can DIY and hope whomever is doing your yearly PR of NY state inspection doesn't catch it (which they likely will not).
I know in the case of my V6 Nissans with 4 catalytic converters, you are talking nearly $8K worth of OEM CCs. Insanity. A turbo 4-banger with a single CC starts to look attractive
.
JHZR2
Staff member
BTDT with this. Go with the carry one if you’re keeping the car more than one inspection cycle.
I had high NOx on my 1991 BMW 318i. An aftermarket epa cat dropped it to a few ppm below failing. Call it 1000ppm. The next year it failed again. Call it 1041ppm (iirc).
Getting a proper car dropped it by 1000 ppm! Down to around 14.
I had high NOx on my 1991 BMW 318i. An aftermarket epa cat dropped it to a few ppm below failing. Call it 1000ppm. The next year it failed again. Call it 1041ppm (iirc).
Getting a proper car dropped it by 1000 ppm! Down to around 14.
With some vehicle specific cats, the cost difference is huge between CARB and EPA cats. If the cost difference is only $25-$50, I'd go with the CARB unit without hesitation.
PA. was the first state (outside Cal.) to adopt Cal. emissions with the 2001 MY cars. There is no requirement to use a CARB approved replacement cat here. A few other states do so.
PA. was the first state (outside Cal.) to adopt Cal. emissions with the 2001 MY cars. There is no requirement to use a CARB approved replacement cat here. A few other states do so.
If you are not in a location that requires CARB emissions testing, be sure to inquire with the cat. manufacturer about their warranty process before purchasing. Walker explicitly advised me to not buy the more expensive CARB version since I don't live in a CARB state. Walker requires you to produce a failed CARB emissions test certificate to honor a warranty claim on a CARB rated catalytic converter. I can't speak for Eastern AP's policy.
JHZR2
Staff member
Regardless of the mandate, the other cheaper units are just not up to par. They’re so poor they’ll pass by a few ppm new, and fail not much after.
The real determinant I think is if your exhaust is tested, and/or if you care/wish to do the right thing.
Underhood sticker says CA emissions then CA cat. My brother cheaped out with a Federal cat in a CA emissions Impala sold in NJ at a local shop in NJ. A shop that I wouldn't let them empty my ashtray BTW, P0420 every week, until he finally got a correct cat in it.
Yeah I could have put the spacer in but he had to learn you get what you pay for.
Yeah I could have put the spacer in but he had to learn you get what you pay for.
A CARB aftermarket cat might reduce it well below 1000 (say, 3-500), which is better, but still not as good as OE (14, in your case). It's better than EPA aftermarket but not as good as OEM, and priced accordingly.
Even so, the CARB cat will still have more wash coat and more precious metals, and it will still last longer.
JHZR2
Staff member
interesting. I thought the CARB approved ones had to have the actual activity/coat weight and surface area as OE.
At the time when I stupidly got the magna flow (IIRC) non-carb one, I would have been happy with a few hundred ppm. Alas I paid the stupid tax on a worthless piece of junk, then had great stable performance for years and probably 100k miles before I sold the car.
