C36 may need new catalytic converters

[viejo1221]

Apparently there are no more aftermarket cats available for my 202. Not sure if it's CA specific, but the mechanic and the exhaust shop mentioned some new law that passed restricting the manufacturing of cats. Either way, I'm wondering if anyone knows how to find catalytic converters (50 state) for my C36 that aren't straight from Mercedes. Those are $1400. Maybe if you don't know an aftermarket equivalent, perhaps part number for a universal cat that can be used on our AMG's?? Or maybe even other models with same cats that could be parted out? I don't know. Hopefully someone can point me in the right direction...

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[AMS Performance]

there are plenty of aftermarket universal cats that you can put on your car. If you weren't in cali I'd recommend getting the high flow 300-cell metal core cats. There are plenty of CA legal normal aftermarket cats, Magnaflow definitely has some.

[viejo1221]

According to my mechanic and my exhaust folks, there are ZERO aftermarket cats for the C36. It's definitely bc of some new law but I'm wondering if anyone is familiar with the CA legal aftermarket cats that were made for the C36 prior to this new law.

[AMS Performance]

Wow, Actually you may be right. Magnaflow just changed their website and now their cats aren't even Cali legal anymore haha.

Wow it REALLY sucks to live in california now.

[MarcusF]

Originally Posted by AMS Performance

Wow, Actually you may be right. Magnaflow just changed their website and now their cats aren't even Cali legal anymore haha.

Wow it REALLY sucks to live in california now.

Isn’t that kind of harsh? The guy needs cats and he’s laughed at?

Viejo1221, here’s some useful information: The State of California grants exemptions to companies to market new aftermarket catalytic converters every year. In January of this year, the State’s official list included two cat manufacturers for a 1995 C36. The AirTek (Catco) 410000 series cats are CA legal for 1995 - 2002 Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The California executive order for that cat is D-280-78. The Miller Catalyzer 12000/11000 series are CA legal for 1995 – 2004. The executive order for that cat is D-353-61. If you want, I can post the PDF as supplied by CARB. Now for the bad news; in March of this year, the State dropped AirTek’s certification for the 1995 C36. If you find an old cat on a shelf (part number 412084), it will have a CARB sticker for a 1995 C36. If it's a new cat, the CARB number will be for a 1996 C36. Catco may have another cat next year, but unless they just released a new list, AirTek is out. The Miller cat can be seen at this website -

http://www.millercat.com/obdii_parts.shtml

click the "OBDII Passenger Cars and LDT1 Trucks" link, and you’ll see the application guide in PDF format. Page 17 lists your car and ANY muffler shop can install it (part number 11212). The application guide also lists California phone numbers.

As an aside, Magnaflow DOES have California legal cats for a C36, but they are for 1996 cars. There are plenty of California legal cats for newer Mercedes Benz', but you have to look them up by CARB executive order number. The info in most catalogs isn't always correct, and the manufacturer websites are frequently wrong. The CARB EO number is what counts.

[AMS Performance]

Not at all, I was not in any way laughing at him. I am laughing at how ridiculous the state of california is getting. Not only are they going broke but they are coming up with more and more ridiculous regulations.

[viejo1221]

Originally Posted by MarcusF

Isn’t that kind of harsh? The guy needs cats and he’s laughed at?

Viejo1221, here’s some useful information: The State of California grants exemptions to companies to market new aftermarket catalytic converters every year. In January of this year, the State’s official list included two cat manufacturers for a 1995 C36. The AirTek (Catco) 410000 series cats are CA legal for 1995 - 2002 Mercedes-Benz vehicles. The California executive order for that cat is D-280-78. The Miller Catalyzer 12000/11000 series are CA legal for 1995 – 2004. The executive order for that cat is D-353-61. If you want, I can post the PDF as supplied by CARB. Now for the bad news; in March of this year, the State dropped AirTek’s certification for the 1995 C36. If you find an old cat on a shelf (part number 412084), it will have a CARB sticker for a 1995 C36. If it's a new cat, the CARB number will be for a 1996 C36. Catco may have another cat next year, but unless they just released a new list, AirTek is out. The Miller cat can be seen at this website -

http://www.millercat.com/obdii_parts.shtml

click the "OBDII Passenger Cars and LDT1 Trucks" link, and you’ll see the application guide in PDF format. Page 17 lists your car and ANY muffler shop can install it (part number 11212). The application guide also lists California phone numbers.

As an aside, Magnaflow DOES have California legal cats for a C36, but they are for 1996 cars. There are plenty of California legal cats for newer Mercedes Benz', but you have to look them up by CARB executive order number. The info in most catalogs isn't always correct, and the manufacturer websites are frequently wrong. The CARB EO number is what counts.

Wow. That's a lot of useful info. I really appreciate it. I'm gonna do some more research tomorrow and make some calls. Thanks!!

[viejo1221]

Exhaust shop is doing a back pressure test on Monday to verify that there's a restriction in one of the cats. MarcusF, thank you again for that info. The Miller cat is available and indeed legal for a 95 C36 in CA. My mechanic priced the Mercedes cat at $1400 and the cats from Miller are $250 each. Huge difference!!

[MarcusF]

Glad to be of help, and I hope it works out well for you.

[viejo1221]

Less than 0.5 lbs. of back pressure = No restriction = Cats ok

Or so I thought. The concern wasn't necessarily a clogged or restricted cat, but rather that the cats were not functioning properly. Oulet temp should generally be 100 degrees hotter than inlet, and in this case was almost the opposite. About 75 degrees cooler at the outlet. Cats on order.

[M104-AMG]

Any update ?

Do you have to get TWO converters, since our C36's has two of them ?

Thanks,
:-) neil

[viejo1221]

Any update ?

Do you have to get TWO converters, since our C36's has two of them ?

Thanks,
:-) neil

Factory cats are one piece bolt on. So, yes, I would have to get both converters. Actually a strange setup since it's one pipe that Y's to 2 cats then Y's back to one pipe..?

When the exhaust tech found out my cats were from Miller he suggested that I shouldn't use them. He said 75% of cats he puts on from Miller throw a check engine light and every time he calls them they say there must be a leak. My exhaust guy is very good at what he does and thinks their product is garbage. I returned them with no issue for a full refund.

I hadn't smogged it yet so I figured I'd give that a shot since I needed to register it. The car passed VERY clean. My mech that does smog was thinking - If there's something wrong with the cats we should at least see some bad numbers for HC and CO. Made sense to me - so I went back to my mechanic to see if maybe he would drop the whole bad cats diagnosis (this is for random misfire and shutting down injectors - in another thread), and he said - These cars are very clean and they'll pass smog even without a catalytic converter. Anyway, the most common faults for my problems seem to be MAF, plugs, coils. Hoping that's where he goes with this. I don't want new cats for 1500.