Missing Cat Convertor still passed emissions, was it required?

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RQ Jay

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I recently had a look under my 93 C2500 (light Duty, 6 Lug) and realized the vehicle did not have a cat convertor on it.
I had passed emissions last month without, and a friend had mentioned that for that year certain vehicles did not require a convertor dependent of Gross vehicle weight...
Does anyone know anything about this?
Thanks
 

b454rat

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Any n bout all vehicles off the line since 73 I think came with cats. Only trucks over 8800lbs or something. But for sure ur truck would have came with one. **** I had an 89 1 ton with a 454 that had one. But anymore anything older than 96, don’t think it matters too much. That’s a sign ur truck is running good tho....
 

PlayingWithTBI

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I'm kinda surprised they didn't notice your cat was missing on their "visual" inspection. The last time I had my 88 tested my emissions were ~a quarter of the limits. Your EGR valve helps control NOx and as mentioned by b454rat it must be well tuned.
 

Aparke4

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That is impressive it passed without a cat!

Here in CA, there are less and less under the truck inspections... Its all about the OBD port/ readiness. The only inspection here is an under hood check for proper CA compliant emissions gear/ no non-CARB mods. I always take my volant intake off even though its CARB approved? Inspector would flag aftermarket intake as it doesn't come up in the CARB compliant book they reference which means Volant might have not updated or submitted all intakes... so stock box goes on once a year despite sticker that came with intake.

My 96 passed but even with cats its always a scare as they are making it tougher and tougher to have older vehicles here in CA. Also, all cats have to be CARB compliant so no universal cats :/ and are x3 the price as a universal cat. Seller of a vehicle also has to SMOG the vehicle too... that is tough sometimes trust me haha

GVWR here in CA mostly applies to diesels FWIW:

https://ww3.arb.ca.gov/msprog/truckstop/pdfs/truck_bus_booklet.pdf
 

Knuckle Dragger

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I recently had a look under my 93 C2500 (light Duty, 6 Lug) and realized the vehicle did not have a cat convertor on it.
I had passed emissions last month without, and a friend had mentioned that for that year certain vehicles did not require a convertor dependent of Gross vehicle weight...
Does anyone know anything about this?
Thanks


Vehicle weight does determine if it needs a cat or not. Without the book in front of me I couldn't tell you what or when the cut offs were. Cats are a federal requirement the states just enforce it via their emissions programs. I did notice the testing process here in AZ is less robust during the COVID pandemic. The techs on Saturday seemed more interested in getting the cars moved through then they did about checking everything. ADEQ doesn't even come out the the fleet locations to test us right now. Our biannual inspections seem to be on the honor system with pictures.
 

PlayingWithTBI

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Here in AZ we do not have any outside inspections on the vehicles.
They did on mine 3 years ago (now I'm exempt with "Historic" plates and collector's insurance), they pulled out a mirror on a stick and looked for my cat, popped the hood and looked for anything obviously wrong, before doing the rolling dyno and then gas tank pressure test. Keep in mind, mine is an OBDI system.
 

454cid

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I'm glad we don't have inspections here, in MI..... if it rolls under it's own power, it's good :D

I will admit, sometimes stinky vehicles are annoying. I've followed a smelly Ford F450 most of the way home from work, and there is a guy with some sort of VW diesel that stinks worse than an old dump truck.
 

DerekTheGreat

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I wish they did have mechanical inspections in MI. That POS rolling next to you might only have one wheel with functioning brakes or tires that are bald beyond belief or ready to fold in half. My truck may look like ass but everything functions as it should and can be depended on.

Stinky vehicles are annoying. Nothing like getting all cleaned up only to be behind some POS, those hydrocarbons attach right to your clothes and make you stink pretty fast.
 
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