Check engine came on on my s2000, it was the catalytic converter. Any suggestions on which kind of cat to get I was looking into the berk high flow cat,cant go straight pipe because I live in California. Any other suggestions? My plans are to go full exhaust upgrade with headers and exhaust system. Thanks guys

 

OEM cat back, just get a fresh OEM cat. Aftermarket cat back, get a Berk cat. Just make sure to match up the diameters, whether that's 63mm or 70mm (never get a cat back with a smaller main pipe than the cat). I have a 70mm Berk cat mated with a 70mm Greddy SE dual and love it. With an aftermarket cat back, the Berks reduce drone and make it slightly louder/crisper at most RPMs... and you might gain a couple horsepower, who knows.

 

I don't know about Berk's catalytic converters as I've never used one, but I've had their headerback exhaust on my car for over a year and it's definitely a decent quality piece and performs very well.

 

How many miles on your OEM cat? HFC and test pipe won't help you pass smog...

But Berk makes very good quality products. I am running the Spoon N1 Muffler Kit (test pipe with cat back) and thinking about putting my Berk HFC to get rid of the smell.

 

Looking to add a berk 63.5mm hfc to my stock exhaust. Worth it for daily and track?

 

Oh yeah, HFC is definitely worth it. Had never had a test pipe before my Spoon. With the HFC I didn't really smell anything, maybe just a little bit. Now with the test pipe, gosh...I get paranoid when I have a police car behind me.

 

If you want to pass smog without fuss, skip the HFC and get OEM.

 

You do realize there is no CEL that says you have a problem with your cat, right?

The CEL says there is a problem with the O2 sensor.

There are 3 things pretty much that could be happening in order of likelihood:

1. The nose of the 02 sensor have been chopped off by the innards of the cat coming loose sliding around

2. The O2 sensor has gone bad

3. The catalytic convertor has gone bad

Also, the Berk HFC is not legal in CA. That said, if you go to one of the new stations that only plug into your OBD port, it'll pass, as long as the guy doesn't look under the car.

If you go to a place that has a sniff test, it will probably pass, as long as the guy doesn't look under the car.

If you have to get another OEM cat, be aware they are around $800 list. You can find used ones, but if it rattles inside that means the innards have broken loose. Very common problem. In the unlikely event your car has under 80,000 miles on it, it's covered under warranty.

 

I installed my OEM cat to pass smog after running a berk tp for years. I noticed the transmission tunnel/passenger seating area got REALLY hot. It also smelled bad like something was burning or getting really hot. I didn't have a rattle in the oem cat so idk if it could still be bad, once I switched back the tp after a few weeks all the problems went away. Anyone have this happen?

 

Interesting.

I would expect things to get much hotter, and I would expect you to feel the transmission tunnel very warm to the touch inside the car, as the inside of the cat gets up past 1000 degrees. But, my guess is either the heat shield on the cat was missing, or you are missing the heat shielding that lines the transmission tunnel underneath the car.