Date: Sun, 30 Mar 2014 10:19:09 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis Haynes <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: Quick fix exhaust job-Catalytic Converter
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
I ca assure you the van did not leave the factory with the Catalyst
intentionally left empty. For markets that do not need the Cat they have a
straight pipe. Also if intended for no cat there would also be no o2 sensor
or worse it may have had a carburetor. The empty cat was the result of a
failure. This was not an uncommon event. Even my father in laws Audi 5000
needed a cat at 42k. That Cat should have been replaced under the emissions
warranty, (his was), unless you didn't have it maintained (O2 sensor test
and replacement) or abused such as overfilled crankcase and/or worn oil.
All the Water-cooled Vanagons came to the US as a "50 state" version.
Nothing unique for California.
As for your passing emissions keep in mind that all the state programs are
designed to find the "gross" polluters. Idle or unloaded tests will usually
pass as they can only measure HC, CO, and CO2. NOx is only created under
load so that is why the IM240 (dyno) testing was required in many areas.
That test will find the defective and missing cats.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Stuart MacMillan
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2014 12:37 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Quick fix exhaust job
Your cat may well have come from the factory empty. When my '84 had the
heads replaced at 45k by the dealer under warranty (yes, they replaced the
heads to fix the dreaded leak!) the cat was empty, and this was a California
spec car! Passed emissions just fine. The tech told me he had seen that
before. If your rig was made for the Canadian market maybe that's why it's
empty. Cats were very expensive in those days.
Stuart
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Alistair Bell
Sent: Friday, March 28, 2014 8:22 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Quick fix exhaust job
Rocket j squirrel will accuse me of having too much time on my hands, but
jeepers, it was Friday afternoon and I had finished all my paying work.
Had to do a quick fix and do a temp replacement of cat converter. As is my
habit, I thought I'd make this chore into a little fun job.
http://shufti.wordpress.com/2014/03/28/vanagon-jury-rigged-fix-for-deceased-
cat/
Alistair
