Seeeu911

Wow. Incredibly out of touch. You need to hire a PR professional

If this is the way you stand by your customers ? FAIL

And that long irrelevant post is a FAIL more sales gobbledygook

Cuda911

Question for you guys:

Assuming that the O2 sensor extenders work (i.e., get rid of the CEL), is it still possible that the cats are bad, and the sensors are just being "fooled".

Again, going back to the issue of California smog, is it possible that these cats (with the extenders) would fail the sniffer test?? (which is, of course, a different issue than failed "visual" inspection).

And, to be clear, I have never run leaded gas or diesel or tequila or any other questionable substance through my car (my mechanic said that he was grilled by Fabspeed as to whether I had ever run leaded gas or high octane gas).

Kalashnikov

If Fabspeed cat converters work as they should, you should not be failing the sniffer test.

I am not sure how extenders are supposed to help in your case. Extenders are usually used with test pipes to fool the ECU into thinking that cat converts are still present; extender reduces the area of the sensor exposed to the exhaust flow, thus giving the lower reading.

If Fabspeed cats work, you should be able to pass sniffer test easily. I would not worry about the visual test either, cover the Fabspeed markings on the exhaust and cross your fingers that tech will not be too ****. Chat him up with tech talk.

geetee

I can run NO cats and use extenders on 2ndary O2's and have no code

your cats can be bad and have no CEL with extenders

high octane should not be an issue either. Leaded gas? can/will be an issue

alpine003

This.

There are quite a few guys running cat bypass pipes with O2 extenders and able to not trigger the CEL.

A company offering O2 extenders as a first line fix is a cop out IMO. There are some ecu versions with different firmware that can be more finicky. However I think the company should first let you exchange to new cats first and then if the problem still persisted, offer you the O2 extender solution(or band aid). This way you know for sure you don't have bad cats.

FlatSix911

Interesting reading from the Fabspeed web site.

Cuda911

So, why doesn't everyone here just slap on some extenders to pass smog? Or is that something the smog techs will look for right away?

In CA now, if you get a notice from DMV that you have to take your car to a "STAR-certified" smog inspection shop, they go out of their way to fail you. STAR-certified shops get to charge three times as much for running the exact same tests as non-STAR shops.

Re: "If Fabspeed cat converters work..." Yeah, that's my concern though. There is no way for me to know if they are working or not.


My mechanic claims that Fabspeed's guy (I don't know which one... I assume Mickey, since that's who he deals with the most there) told him to ask me if I had run high octane gas, thus ruining the cats.

In my entire life, I have never gotten so much run-around for a clear warranty issue. Sears will take back a 30-year old tool and exchange it, no questions asked.

I also don't understand why I was under the impression that my cats had been sent back to Fabspeed, when, in fact, Fabspeed told my mechanic to not send them in, since they were going to send the extenders.

At least a tiny shred of communication would have been good. Everyone involved has my name, address, email, and cell phone number.

Can someone from Fabspeed please answer, in this thread, the issues regarding using an O2 extender as a fix?

Pluses? Minuses? Potential issues? Is it really a "fix" or is it a "band-aid"?

I do not have the background to understand this issue from a technical standpoint, so hopefully an engineering type guy can educate me.

Thanks!

garrett376

In S.D. County, California where a full smog is required including treadmill/sniffer, you will fail the visual if there is any non stock part on the intake or exhaust. So if it's a shiny muffler with no CARB number, it will fail. If you have a red intake boot with no CARB number, it will fail. If there is a CARB number on a non-stock part, the station is supposed to reference the number to confirm it's legit.

niche

Subscribed

garrett376

My 02 C2 runs the 200-cell fabspeed cats with open exhaust with no CEL issues and I do not run sensor extenders.

Cuda911

^^^ I have heard the same from others, which makes me think my cats are bad. Again, there is no way for me to know whether they are bad or not. Seems to me, the extenders just add one more variable to the issue. Usually, when diagnosing a problem, one wants to REDUCE the number of variables.

Garrett, you are not the only one to have commented that the red intake boot is a big red flag (no pun intended) for the smog guys to start taking a closer look, to see what else is non-stock.

Joe F.: You told me that the red ones were your idea, to add a bit of color to the engine bay. I do agree that they look good, but I don't want to alert the smog guys to start poking around, any more than I have too. I was not expecting the red one to be sent to me. Do you have any black ones that you can send me?

Much appreciated.
.
Red boot, for those who aren't familiar:
.

Cuda911

Update (August 11, 2014):

Well, no response or reply from Fabspeed.

I picked up my car today. The mechanic told me that Fabspeed insisted on having them install the O2 sensor extenders, rather than replacing the cats. He said that he would not been at all satisfied with this "fix" if it were his car.

I don't consider myself very satisfied with this "resolution" either.

Quicker10u

Unbelievable. Scratch Fabspeed off my list of options. That response was so off topic and unrelated to the situation at hand that I had a hard time sifting through it.

Good luck to you Mike- you might have to chalk this one up to a Loss. These guys are so out of touch it hurts!

MiamiC70

Reading this makes me so happy I don't live in the People Republic of Kalifornia.

Cuda911

A rather expensive loss, at that. I spent nearly $6,000 on the Fabspeed Performance Package. Not exactly chump change.

With two kid's college tuitions that I am paying, rather painful.

I have received numerous PM's from guys telling me that they considered Fabspeed equipment, but after reading this have crossed Fabspeed off of their list.

I can't understand why any business would torpedo itself this way.