Ed Scherer

Oh yeah...?

Take a close look at the right side of the cluster:



... or the corresponding nice white label on the left side of the back side of the cluster PCB:




OK, to be fair, this bulb is actually wasn't factory installed as you can see below before I installed LED replacements, but there obviously was some intent to possibly provide it and it does actually illuminate during the bulb test period at ignition on.

Rob Edwards

And stays on, for some strange reason, if you keep a(n LED) bulb in it. Greg 'fixed' it in the process of idiotproofing all my work on Dan's beastie.

Ed Scherer

That's the "PARK BRAKE" LED that stays on, Rob.

(Mine does that, too. It's noted in the "Instrument Cluster Anomalies" sidebar in my Converting Porsche 928 Interior Lighting to LEDs.)

Sorry about the OT content, Bill.

Bill Ball

Little bit of a research update. I found the label shown below that was taped on my converter package. It shows a part number PO82608 instead of the part number BEN82608 as I ordered. This lead me to DEC (Diversified Environmental Catalysts) in Van Nuys, CA, a manufacturer of Direct Fit CARB-approved converters. Website: http://www.deccats.com/.

So, DEC manufactured this part for Benchmark, some kind of private label which to this point I cannot further identify, and I think DEC dropped shipped it directly to me. The product label has D-193-109 on it, which looks like the relevant CARB Executive Order, rather than D-193-86 noted in the selling vendor's online ad. The product does show in DEC's California catalog and other sites as applicable to 85-91 Porsche 928 (another document shows 85-95, look here: http://download.deccats.com/CA_Catalog/CA_Catalog.pdf). From pictures there, what I received LOOKS different in the converter area. I got a single Magnaflow 336008, while the catalog picture shows 2 separate cat units - note the bifurcating air tube. Hey, maybe the Mangaflow is acting like a quasi-X-pipe. I have the x-pipe drone in the mid-2K RPM range.

Anyway, Executive Order D-193-109 is for Magnaflow 336000 series 3-way cat, which is what I have (see snapshot zoomed of exhaust installed for correct EO number on the converter as California requires)! And DEC claims in a document below, they are covered by Magnaflow EOs. Even though Magaflow's database appears to be in error regarding its universal cats, I think this at least explains the certification for Benchmark's, er, make that DEC's PO82608. As soon as I nail this down to the point where I should be able to get the cat to pass visual as well as tailpipe testing, I'll correct the original post.

Note added: In a capture from their CARB catalog ( http://download.deccats.com/CA_Catalog/CA_Catalog.pdf ), they show PO82608 as fitting 85-95 928s, and they show direct fit cats for all 928s and other early water-cooled Porsches. See last picture.

90 S-4

Great info Bill, thanks for posting it ..

jorj7

Yeah, but will it pass the sniffer test in two(four/six/...) years? That's what I'd worry about.
Seems like a good price, but if you have to replace it every couple of years, it can get more
expensive then a new stock one. I guess time will tell. I bought a couple of the Magnaflow
cats for my car. I was going to have a shop weld them into my stock setup. But then I don't
have the "89" MY problem.

George
90 S4 Grand Prix White (Murf #5)
94 GTS 5-Speed Midnight Blue
06 Cayenne S Havanna/Sand Beige (PASM)
http://928.jorj7.com

Bill Ball

George: Reasonable concern. Hard to find any reports on these cats. Not been around long. The Random Technology "high flow" cats, never CARB approved, but installed often as a "performance" option, commonly fail within 2 years.

Mongo

I'm on year 4 with mine, but we'll see what the sniffer says in March. If worse comes to worse, I may pick one of those up you had posted.

danglerb

Two points I would add;

Many don't put 50,000 miles in 5 years on their 928's.
Many who put on performance cats may have AFR too often out of normal ranges and fry cats or clog them.

dprantl

^^ This. My high-flow cats that came with the X-Pipe have been good for 5 years/50k miles now. I have a wbO2 gauge in the car so know my AFR's are always good.

Dan
'91 928GT S/C 475hp/460lb.ft

x98boardwell

Apparently, DEC (the company above) is not selling these anymore in CA since the executive order that came down from CARB stated their cans (along with many others that companies use) were not up to the required standard that they needed to be.

Also, I asked them what their rating or flow is... I have seen others selling cats which state 150 or 300 regarding either flow or what it captures but I am unaware of what those numbers mean. When I asked them what theirs were he said he didn't have that kind of data. Since I am unsure if it's relevant is anyone educated on whats acceptable numbers such as what separates good from bad cats?

Does anyone have any additional info on companies providing more info?

Thanks,
Bryan

rnixon

Cells per square inch. Race cats have lower values (100-200) and are less restrictive. I doubt that this number on its own is enough to judge a cat though.

Mongo

Magnaflow's 336008 will work for our car. It's CARB approved but with no air tube. If I fail next week, I'm picking up one. It's just a universal one, unlike the complete setup that Bill picked up, although this cat is the very same model used on his application.

danglerb

If they look, best hope the numbers match what they have in the book. I bought a pair of the Magnaflow's out of the Calif only catalog listed for the 91+ 928.

Bill Ball

Follow-up on the aftermarket cat assembly I bought a couple of years ago... It failed after almost no time on the road. It worked to get my car to pass smog soon after I bought it. After a few months I removed it. It later was used to help George pass smog. Then it went into storage again. I pulled it out in October and installed it only to have the car fail NO emissions miserably (1200 PPM). HC and CO were quite low. This usually indicates a lean condition leading to high combustion chamber temps which produces NO. I swapped in a set of used Porsche cats donated to me and passed smog with reasonable numbers. So, the NO section of the aftermarket converter failed.