CriminalKillJoy

Hey guys/gals....I am pickin up my 06 TL and I have been researching on here alot of things. I am interested in upgrading the exhaust system, but is the TL setup like every other car in terms of cat's, etc. I need to stay smog legal to avoid future problems. Which parts of the exhaust system can I upgrade without failing smog.

CriminalKillJoy

Actually...this site sums it all up....I was too anxious to look for myself.

Disregard!

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

You should be able to replace or upgrade anything but the Cats. So J-pipe (connects the front bank of cylinders to the back bank) and a cat back exhaust.( like the name suggest this replaces all the exhaust from the third cat back)

The TL has 3 cats one on each side or bank of the engine and another where the J-pipe connects to the cat back. The TL engine has the headers cast into the block, so no headers.

The two primary cats are attached directly to the block and the third cat is down stream at the end of the J-pipe and connects the J-pipe to the cat back exhaust.

I hate cars

Technically, the j-pipe would be illegal. Most factory setups use double walled pipe to keep heat in which the aftermarket doesn't. Anything before the cats can't be touched including the distance from the cat to the head. The aftermarket j-pipe in reality won't cause a bit of difference in smog, but they could fail you for it if they wanted to.

To keep it safe, anything from the third cat back is 100% legal.

What you can "get away" with is j-pipe, 3rd cat delete, and cat back exhaust.

jerome736

So to confirm, 3rd cat delete typically doesn't trip CEL, even in California?

I hate cars

Nope. There is no 02 after it to check how it's working. I had a friend smog my car after it's removal and it passes without it.

Hi speed

iTrader: (3)

I would put the 3rd cat back on for smog just incase they look under there, but the two primary do most of the clean up. The ATLP test pipe comes with brackets for the OEM heat shield, so that is another way to go.

Opel

its a ULEV ...... u could use the cars exhaust to mask a dying person's face so he could breath.... u could breath into the tail pipes and nothing will happen to u.... removing 3rd cat doesnt even come close to failing emissions.... 3rd cat is there to help at idle, nothing more, nothing less...and its a much higher flow than the primary cats....thats why u dont even notice anything when u remove it...not even less back pressure. all these ulev's are too clean...u could remove the primary cats, and leave the last cat in...and still pass.

Maddizm

iTrader: (5)

^ That's the question I've been asking and wondering about for a while... you can run the precat deletes with OEM 3rd cat and still pass the sniffer? How are NYC's smog standards compared to Cali?

Opel

not as strict.

I hate cars

You can'r remove the primaries and still pass but you can with the third one removed.

If I had it to do over again, I wouldn't remove my third cat, it just doens't make a difference. Of course if it was supercharged or turbo'd it would make a difference.

I pulled into my garage after a brutal day at work. I was having a hard time staying awake on the drive home. As I closed the garage a song came on the radio that I wanted to hear so I decided to listen to it..... with the engine runnning and the single car garage closed.

Next thing I know, I was getting woken up by a pissed and crying girlfriend over an hour later. I had fallen asleep, she saw me sitting in the car and thought I was trying to do something bad but luckily the TL is clean enough that I didn't even have a headache after that.

Maddizm

iTrader: (5)

^ DUDE... for reals!?

subinf

If you are going to leave the third cat off just go to a shop that won't do a thorough visual. Most smog techs won't really bother with a close inspection, especially looking under the car, but if you do get the one shop who is anal about everything it isn't pleasant dealing with the hassle of making everything right again

Opel

what shops actually look underneath and under the hood? u kidding me? u guys out there in cali got it bad man lol...... isn't it supposed to be a sniff test? wtf they doing looking ....i dont care what u have under the hood...u could have a turbine for all i care...if u pass the sniff test...it shouldn't matter.

Opel

come on man....figure of speech lol..... of course u couldn't pass removing the primaries....damn... i get beat over the head on every post... lmao

I hate cars

That's what I get for posting while half asleep. I can barely make a complete sentence much less understand humor lol.

Opel

btw...what happened to the OP.... had a funny name too.... i think he was a cop!!! lol

Opel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KihHfbQ9h4U

pffpffpass

iTrader: (2)

What the french toast?!

subinf

There is a visual aspect in addition to the pipe test. Big fucking deal

I hate cars

Cali is terrible when it comes to smog. They will do a thorough inspection of the vehicle. I got failed for my intercooler one time. I told the guy intercoolers are exempt yet he failed me and the burden was on me to prove him wrong. I printed out the info, brought it back, and had to pay for another smog check. This is why I get some kind of sick joy out of screwing the system now.

subinf

I never had to deal with idiot smog people. The garage I worked at forever was also a smog shop so everything was fairly easy. It was kind of funny watching my friends go through the smog process when they would drop new motors into the cars they were building. One had to go to a state referee and spend two days going over the entire car/engine with the guy.

As for screwing with the system - one of the greatest mufflers I ever created was a FlowCat. Took a 70 Series FlowMaster, cut it open from the top, then welded in a cat. Put it on a jeep that was being sold to some off-road racer but he needed the state smog for the sale.

Sal's Type S

iTrader: (1)

why go through the hassle of doing that why hide the CAT. If a car dont need one and you install on it is not illegal. I do testing for a living.

subinf

The car needed it. It was a street jeep. The guy had plans on turning it into an off-road only vehicle. From what I understood the smog was needed because a) jeep was being sold and b) not yet an off-road only vehicle.

thisaznboi88

iTrader: (7)

high flow cat and J pipe? that should do the job. I know some gen7 accord did that and still passed smog.

cbkxomp

passing the sniffer is not the problem, it's the visual that will get you. catbacks are legal. if you cut off any cats you better have a "hook up" smog place that will ignore that part of the visual inspection. any "legit" smog place will not pass you unless they're lazy and assume the exhaust is stock.