$$$ Finally. Advice needed.
$$$ Finally. Advice needed. Alright, been working two jobs the past couple months and have ~$1,500 I'm willing to put into the car. I need to fix a couple things first though.
Passenger side cat is broken and I'd like to replace it, but keep it CA street legal. Are the high-flow cats worth it, and do they pass smog? Had some problems with the electrical last year, and ended up having to get the PCM replaced. Ever since all that crap I've been getting 10-13 mpg, regardless of how I drive or city/highway. This is obviously crap, think it needs a tune and replacement of stuff like the o2 sensors maybe.
So basically my goals are to replace the whole exhaust back, starting with the cats. Then get a decent tune to hopefully increase mpg a little and add some power at the same time. Also get the plugs/wires replaced too.
Is this doable with my budget or do I need to save more? What are some good performance shops around SoCal(the closer to Riverside the better) that aren't too expensive?
I have no tools and a very limited knowledge of how to work on the car, so installing myself is pretty much out of the picture unfortunately, unless someone here was willing to help me for a reasonable price.
Passenger side cat is broken and I'd like to replace it, but keep it CA street legal. Are the high-flow cats worth it, and do they pass smog? Had some problems with the electrical last year, and ended up having to get the PCM replaced. Ever since all that crap I've been getting 10-13 mpg, regardless of how I drive or city/highway. This is obviously crap, think it needs a tune and replacement of stuff like the o2 sensors maybe.
So basically my goals are to replace the whole exhaust back, starting with the cats. Then get a decent tune to hopefully increase mpg a little and add some power at the same time. Also get the plugs/wires replaced too.
Is this doable with my budget or do I need to save more? What are some good performance shops around SoCal(the closer to Riverside the better) that aren't too expensive?
I have no tools and a very limited knowledge of how to work on the car, so installing myself is pretty much out of the picture unfortunately, unless someone here was willing to help me for a reasonable price.
Yes they are under warranty still and it was extended to 120000 miles. Take them in for replacement. I got a letter from gm stating this, not sure if you need the letter to get the extended warranty or not. good luck
Yeah I got that, but I've been in an accident and the car was a salvage before I got it, so I'm pretty sure they aren't going to honor it. The PCM was under warranty too, but they said no. Plus it has a muffler and tips, that probably voids it too.
I doubt that would void it, seeing thats what the SS has. But yea you might want to save more. o2 sensors are like $80 a piece, full exhaust is about $1k alone to have it done, with stock cats, plugs varry depending on brand and type. Plus if you are going to have a shop do all of this, then yea you need more like $3k or more. most of the work you are talking about doing isnt that hard, just time comsuming...my advice is to use the money to get it running perfect, that may give you the power increase to apease your speed appitite for now.
3k ? 
130 for o2s.
600 for a NICE catback and tips
new cats should be less than 200
that leaves 500+ dollars for a tune. your car will be running stronger, getting more mpg, and have cool tips when youre done
130 for o2s.
600 for a NICE catback and tips
new cats should be less than 200
that leaves 500+ dollars for a tune. your car will be running stronger, getting more mpg, and have cool tips when youre done
Trending Topics
You should be able to get it done for 1500 no problem, cats might be a bit more than 200, what type of exhaust are you looking for, I know of a spintech and magnaflow exhaust available cheap. all yo would be is new tips for the spintech if you don't like how they look.
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
Gas Monkey Built a 6-Wheel Ferrari Testarossa With a Corvette LT4 Engine
Verdad Gallardo
7 Most Reliable High-Performance Engines GM Has Ever Built
Verdad Gallardo
Amazing '71 Camaro Restomod Is Modern Muscle Car Under the Skin
Verdad Gallardo
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo The cats shouldnt be void unless they were damaged during the accident. If they werent you will be fine. Also depends what was "salavged" whole engine or soemthing that has to do with cats you might be screwed hope this helps ya
Had both of my cat's replaced by the dealer about a year ago under warranty with zero problems (along with my water pump & fuel pump). Though my car has a clean & no accident title, it shouldn't matter at all. Smog equipment are not only a state but federally mandated items regardless, some dealers might give you **** on warranty issues but it'd be a good idea to ask the service manager first before handing over your keys.
Originally Posted by Datzneat
High flow cats are legal. At least in cali, and we have it the worst i think.
On OBD2 cars they have to be replaced with OEM parts.
12 Second Club
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 156
Likes: 0
From: lemoore ca,team MASTERMINDS cencal
instead of doing a full exhaust do a cut off...buy the o2 at autozone life time warranty.....check dealer for cat warranty.....and buy a lid,plugs,wires,and have it tuned......buy your self some tools doing it your self should save a lot of money.....
Damnit, well I called the Chevy dealer. They said they'd charge me $90 to have it looked at, and if it was deemed under warranty it would be refunded and fixed for free. I'm very confident they will deny my warranty after talking to them, so I'm not even going to waste my money until I get a better idea of everything that needs fixing.
Anyone have any insight as to why my gas mileage is so poor and what could be done to fix it? All maintenance has been kept up to date. Fuel filter replaced and injectors cleaned recently. Can a broken cat cause such a drop in mpg? o2 sensors? Running too rich? What else?
I just don't know wtf, before the PCM replacement/accident, got 18/26+ mpg. Now it gets 13 mpg if I'm lucky. The power is there, still beat all the cars I should, but the gas is just killing me, don't even want to drive, so I have to get this fixed before I do some performance mods.
Anyone have any insight as to why my gas mileage is so poor and what could be done to fix it? All maintenance has been kept up to date. Fuel filter replaced and injectors cleaned recently. Can a broken cat cause such a drop in mpg? o2 sensors? Running too rich? What else?
I just don't know wtf, before the PCM replacement/accident, got 18/26+ mpg. Now it gets 13 mpg if I'm lucky. The power is there, still beat all the cars I should, but the gas is just killing me, don't even want to drive, so I have to get this fixed before I do some performance mods.
Originally Posted by BeavermanA
Damnit, well I called the Chevy dealer. They said they'd charge me $90 to have it looked at, and if it was deemed under warranty it would be refunded and fixed for free. I'm very confident they will deny my warranty after talking to them, so I'm not even going to waste my money until I get a better idea of everything that needs fixing.
Anyone have any insight as to why my gas mileage is so poor and what could be done to fix it? All maintenance has been kept up to date. Fuel filter replaced and injectors cleaned recently. Can a broken cat cause such a drop in mpg? o2 sensors? Running too rich? What else?
I just don't know wtf, before the PCM replacement/accident, got 18/26+ mpg. Now it gets 13 mpg if I'm lucky. The power is there, still beat all the cars I should, but the gas is just killing me, don't even want to drive, so I have to get this fixed before I do some performance mods.
Anyone have any insight as to why my gas mileage is so poor and what could be done to fix it? All maintenance has been kept up to date. Fuel filter replaced and injectors cleaned recently. Can a broken cat cause such a drop in mpg? o2 sensors? Running too rich? What else?
I just don't know wtf, before the PCM replacement/accident, got 18/26+ mpg. Now it gets 13 mpg if I'm lucky. The power is there, still beat all the cars I should, but the gas is just killing me, don't even want to drive, so I have to get this fixed before I do some performance mods.