Hey guys I was curious as to how difficult it is to access the catt and remove it on our cars. Once I get a tuner I want to decat my focus, also are there test pipes available?
The cat and exhaust manifold are all on piece on the 08+. To remove the cat you will end up removing the exhaust manifold also. You could get a header and install it in place of the exhaust manifold. You could then run something like a FSW racing exhaust (it'll be loud as ballz though)
yes it bolts to the head and the catback exhaust. and can be reinstalled if needed (i did that on mine). if you do a header then you def want the stealth exhaust. even with that it's still loud, but much quieter than the race exhaust.
What kind of emmisions testing do you have down there? Do they plug in to the obd2 connector & check for codes? Or do they look under your hood for mods? Or what? It depends on what they do for emmisions as far as which way you go for mods.
you'll just need sockets and diff extensions and a wrench for a couple of the bottom row bolts. not bad to get to, but you will need to get stuff from the bay and from underneath. should take 2-4 hours first time.
I am in Cali, they check everything, and I am willing to put alot of time into it! I want to take it off because it sounds sick, and it does help the preformance. I am buying a tuner before I decat it.
Why dont you gut your 2nd cat , and get a catback exhaust . The second cat doesn't have any sensors in it , and gutting it will free up some airflow while retaining the look of having a cat . Plus no codes thrown !
First is a manicat , the header , which has a cat on it with all the sensors , second is the one your probably thinking is the first , just had mine removed and oh boy what a difference in sound . Much nicer lol.
The problem becomes in cali, is they like to set up portable smog traps. you do this and roll through one of those and your toast! You'll be walking home!
Hmmmm some people here are saying things that are un true such as the second cat being a bolt on too lol
There are two cats on the second gen and 2 mufflers.
one of the cats is in the exhaust manifold as mentioned above and the only way to get rid of it is to go header. You can turn off the sensor that causes the CEL light with a custom tune on the SCT.
The second cat is attached to your stock exhaust pipe along with a round muffler and a lunchbox muffler at the very rear of the car.
The coupe only has 1 muffler and the two cats while the sedan has two mufflers and 2 cats. that is what makes the difference for the "sport exhaust" on the coupes.
All of the mufflers are welded into the stock pipe.
In order for you to simply bolt on without new welding you would have to get the full exhaust from Fswerks or comparable bolt on. This will replace everything exhaust on your car from the exhaust manifold/header back.
I hope this clears things up for you.
Those who have older cars that aren't 08-11 or those who do not honestly know, please don't confuse him by just throwing incorrect info out there. What if he buys something based on your suggestions and can't even use it or gets him in trouble... I have wasted my fair share of money changing things on my focus lol
I think my exhaust has been changed close to ten times and I finally have it where I like it. But I wasted over a grand in the process on just my exhaust.
All Duratech's had the mani cat from the get go in 04.The cats can flow far more than what these engines can push out.You will not see any consistent or measurable gains by deleting the cats.If you want to get a header then pick up a small Magnaflow universal cat and put it in right after the header flange and relocate the o2 sensors.You will still have a fully functioning cat monitoring with no emissions worries and get the performance boost with the header.
I know where i live every smog shop checks EVERYTHING!!! they look under everything i even had a shop put a car on a lift to make sure cats weren't moved from factory location or o2 location.. the old unplug battery or clear codes right before going doesn't help either they can see if that has been done and u have to drive 40 miles for the computer to go through all its tests again.. sniffer dyno test sniffer idle test evap test timing check obd check all vacuum routing has to be factory its stupid! luckily there is still a few people in town i know that have there own machines and r willing to dirty smog for a 12 pack and 100 so when turbo swap is done don't need to worry about that i have seen a few smog stops on the side of the road and as u drive by a peace officer directs u to the portable machine... some peace officers even will have u pop your hood and check stuff out for even a tail light out if he wants to he does if not he sends you to ref anyways...
i believe last year california denied i bill wear 2000 and newer was obd only test but it was denied of course!
im uncertain if we have to have second cat to pass smog though? my car is pzev so idk if i want to risk failing and having to smog every year rather then every 5
i thought only pzev had 2 cats? non pzev was just a resonator? i also live in cali and before i got my FSW race catback i just cut my pzev 2 cat out welded in a piece of same size pipe and called it good. have original exhaust still and plan to weld the cat back in for smog reasons next year so i can swap back when need be. plan on getting fsw 4-1 this weekend and see how loud it gets i dont like people in my car atleast back seat so hopefully it drones!! it already does a bit..
Yes, I am curious too because I cut of the cat in between the lunch box and resonator, my car is a SE, but the round thing dident look like a cat on the inside!
If you have to pass a inspection, What are they going to say if you use a 23 st mani/cat & a flex back 2.5'' system? The 23 st mani/cat is the best flowing oem manifold.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
Focus Fanatics Forum
5.8M posts
189.1K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to Ford Focus owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about SVT performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!