I am Charles. let us look at what happened to the catalytic converter of my Honda Accord. I started my car and suddenly there was a very aloud noise. The exhaust and engine lights were all on. what's hell, I I looked around the car, saw two screws on the ground , the exhaust pipe was cut, my God, the catalytic converter was missing. I just parked my car in front of the garage. the catalytic converter was stolen. I did not hear anything , and neither did my neighbors. I called the police. The police told me that they would not come to investigate this kind of thing because of a lot of catalytic converters stolen in the San Francisco Bay Area. what a damn shame! I looked into how to repair it, at first I called the insurance, the insurance can not pay me to fix it, because I do not have a comprehensive coverage. Then I asked the car dealer. The dealer told me to repair is for about $4000-$5,000. If I buy original parts only for $2900. I called couple of auto repair shops, the price range is about $3000 to $5000 with aftermarket parts. The reason why it is so expensive is there are not many parts meet the California’s emissions standards, the highest standards in the world. Generally, cheap parts do not meet the California standards, Therefore, the alternative parts are extremely limited and expensive. If you use a part that does not meet the California standards or meet the California standards but not in its official part list, even meets the federal standards , you will not be able to pass the California smog test, and you will not get your California plate renewed. a lot of hassle, isn't it? let me share with you what I did to find aftermarket parts, where to buy, installation and finally passed the smog test.
What parts can be used in your car? First of all, you need to know the engine family number your car belongs to, open the hood, and EFN (Engine Family Number) is located under your hood on the Vehicle Emissions Control Information (VECI) label, it displays the engine family number, the EFN for this car is 5HNXV02.4ECV, the ARB is SULEV. Based upon EFN and ARB , you can find the part number from California vehicle website. go to asktheref.org , then drop list. Select stolen catalytic converter. Then go to EFN section, the ARB is SULEV, the ARB ending with ECV, you can find which part is in its list. There are two parts one is part number the other is EO (Executive Order) number. The part you are purchasing must be exactly same numbers. After you install your new catalytic converter, go to the smog test station to smog test. Because the California official record of your vehicle do not match the part you install , the smog test will fail. After the expected failure in smog test, you need to call the California vehicle officials asktheref.com or call 1800-622-7733 right after the smog test. provide the California officials with the information on your new parts, also schedule appointment with California vehicle referees for verification on your new part. Since the waiting time to referee is very long, you should schedule your appointment as soon as you complete your installation and failed smog test. After verification , the referee will issue a label containing your new catalytic converters. Finally you can go back to the smog test station to pass the smog test.
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