Passing Emissions With Headers

[docs302]

Was looking at adding LTH's since my K-member will be out and from what I read Kooks seems to be one of the favorites. Then I asked American Muscle, since they are right down the street, if the catted mid-pipe would pass PA emission testing. They could not give me an answer.

There is no way I am going to spend the money on LTH's if I can't pass inspection with a catted X-pipe. Has anyone here passed and with what brand?

What about shorty headers? I can buy an off-road mid-pipe for the track then just pop in the stock cats for inspection. Are the gains with shorties and a tune worth the cost?

 

[RodS197]

Sorry for the long post, but here is my experience with Kooks LTH and getting the smog check.

I have a 2006 GT that I purchased 4 years ago. Sounds like you may have 302, but I would guess there are similarities in the logic of the smog systems. When I bought my car, it had several engine mods, among them, Kooks LTH and Kooks non-catted X pipe. I bought it from Grand Junction, CO (no emissions testing) and I live just south of Salt Lake City, UT, which has emissions testing. The car had an SCT Bama tune, but the tune ignored the rear O2 sensors, so the CEL does not trigger with this tune and the non-catted X pipe installed.

The car would not pass my local emissions as purchased without cats so I found a Kooks catted mid pipe online for a decent price, about $400. I obtained a tune with the rear O2 sensors enabled, thinking this would do the trick, and sometime after the drive cycle, but before I got it in to test, the CEL triggered. After a call to Kooks, they told me that the only catted pipe they sell that would pass emissions was the “Green” cats, which they said should be able to be run with the O2 sensors on, and not trigger the CEL. Something about the Ford computer being to narrow for the standard Kooks cats. At the time the “Green” cats were over $1K, not to mention I had already spent $400 on the non “Green” model. Maybe it has changed in the last 4 years, but you might want to call Kooks directly. I would also verify that you can get a tune without the rear O2 sensors enabled as I have talked to some canned tune shops that will not do it anymore.

Long story short, I can get the car to pass emissions, but not without effort. I bought an OBDII blue tooth unit and an app that I can do the readiness test with. Basically, I have to install the catted tune, then get through the drive cycle, usually about 55 to 75 miles. If I can test it myself and get the car in and have it testing before the CEL, then it will pass as Utah allows one test to fail (usually it is the vapor recovery that is ready last.) If the CEL trips, I just reset it and do it again. This has worked every year since.

Luckily all this happens for me in November after our track season, and when I prep the car for the next season I install the non-catted X pipe and tune again.

Others would have to say if the “Green” cats and LTH would work on the Coyote setup, so maybe this doesn’t answer your questions at all. Otherwise the off-road mid pipe may be the way to go and just continue to use the stock shorties.

PS. Last year I ran my catted X-pipe and the non-catted tune at the track all year. Frankly, I didn’t notice any difference performance wise from my seat dyno…

 

[docs302]

RodS197,

Thanks for that information. I did see a "green" catted Kooks pipe listed but as you said....big bucks. I really want the long tubes but I don't know if I want to risk having over 2K worth of exhaust that I can't get past emissions. The short headers don't seem to make much power but maybe with an off-road pipe and tune it will be the best compromise. Damn emissions testing!

 

[scmscout]

I just installed Kooks long tubes with the green cats thinking I was doing the right thing and would not have issues with emissions testing, at least according to their information, seems Boss's are the 10% that throw the codes. I drove a couple of hundred miles and threw a p0420 and a p0430 code specific to the cats, I contacted Kooks with no answer back. If you do a Google search you will see there are a lot of unhappy people out there with the same problem.
Check this out, copy and paste into the search at the top of the page
Long Tube Headers & Check Engine Lights Explained

This post will answer a lot of questions, basically it can't be done with long tubes, now short tubes might be a different story.

 

[Grant 302]

hyperlink:
Long Tube Headers & Check Engine Lights Explained

https://trackmustangsonline.com/threads/long-tube-headers-check-engine-lights-explained.2452/

 

[docs302]

I spoke with Shaun at AED and he agreed that LTH and emissions compliance are for the most part mutually exclusive. He has not seen a CA car with LTH and cats pass emissions. So I am unfortunately not going to enjoy the benefits of LTH's. Horsepower gains with the shorty headers aren't too impressive, even with a tune, so I may just do a quick cat delete for the track and save my money for something else.

 

[Opolis]

Back in the SN95 era, I passed CA smog with Magnaflow catted x-pipe and my tune in place.

Did a lot of reading on the S197's and long story short I will keep factory manifold/headers and cats.

It would be possible to get a mid pipe with removable cat delete and swap between factory cats/tune and no cats but the OBD ready procedure is not the easiest thing to accomplish.

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

I was also under the impression that headers don't give much bang for the buck on the Coyote.

 

[docs302]

Did a lot of reading on the S197's and long story short I will keep factory manifold/headers and cats.

That's my plan.

I was also under the impression that headers don't give much bang for the buck on the Coyote.

Shorty headers...yes. But I have seen many members report dyno gains of 30-40 rwhp with long tubes, off-road pipes and a tune. That's big bolt-on HP.....that I can't have.

 

[Opolis]

Good to know. I can only dream of LTH's here in CA.

 

[BigTaco]

Cooltech was working with Kooks and came up with a boss h-pipe that would not trigger a cel. It was deemed to expensive to be viable...

 

[2012Boss302]

I don't know where in "Philly" you live but I found this on the Pennsylvania Emissions web site:

Year: 2013
Vehicle: Car
Tests: Onboard Diagnostics and Gas Cap Check
Note: Brand-new vehicles and vehicles driven under 5000 miles annually may qualify for an exemption sticker. Ask your service provider for more details.

Looks like the same test we have here in Texas. No sniffer up the tail pipe, just plug in to the OBD2 port and look for codes/monitors run.

I have Jeg's cat delete pipes and an AED tune that ignores the post cat O2's. It runs all the monitors and will pass no problem. Give Shaun a call at AED.

You could also run the foulers on the rear O2 sensors.

I had a Pontiac with Kooks Cats, it would fail a sniffer test all day.....

 

[06mach1]

I just ran cat deletes with the factory headers. Ignored the MIL. Every fall after track season I would re-install the factory cats, clear the codes, drive the car and set monitors, then pass our OBD emissions inspection. Once inspected, the cats came back off and I re-installed cat deletes. This is easy for me to do as I have a lift. Probably not so easy if this has to be done on jackstands.

 

[docs302]

Tests: Onboard Diagnostics and Gas Cap Check
Note: Brand-new vehicles and vehicles driven under 5000 miles annually may qualify for an exemption sticker. Ask your service provider for more details.

So I was picking up some fasteners from my local Ford dealer yesterday and figured I would ask the service agent about this. Told him my plan for long tubes with a catted mid-pipe and tune. I asked if I would be allowed to skip emissions testing if I drove less than 5K miles. He went out to the service bays and asked a technician. Came back and confirmed....as long as he sees catalytic converters on a visual check and I have driven <5K miles I am good to go. So long tubes here I come!

Anybody have any Kooks lying around they want to sell me?

 

[BigTaco]

Better check to see if they connect OBD as part of the inspection. Any tune = fail.

 

[docs302]

That's the thing. I asked about OBD. Seemed it was going to be a visual inspection and I would not need to pass OBD emission if miles were compliant. I will confirm with the dealership before I buy.