I Got Pinned For Not Having An Cat Converter

[(B1) MR_fanny]

id pop under the car and take it off and have a look. sounds like a straight through pipe by your description. pitty they took a pic cause now you may have to match a cat that looks similar in appearance

[R31Nismoid]

This is the first ive ever heard of this happening, ill be keeping an eye on this thread.

Goodluck with everything, i doubt you will get the fine because there is no way to prove it, a photo isnt exactly evidence that there was no internals; some high flow cats look like race pipes welded into the exhaust (only larger diameter)

A warning i guess for any1 putting in a race pipe is to weld the standard cat plate onto it so it looks standard and police cannot speculate!

Attaching the fins doesnt really work if they check via tapping it.

You can tell just by tapping it with a maglite - which police have standard issue funnily enough

Also the welds generally give it away as no exhaust shop is going to be as poor as factory nissan welding is...

So whilst you think it may work, end of the day you're never safe

[R33-RB26DETT]

yeah but this guy took photo's

Yeah but this guy took photos at night time, with a digital flash, how good quality could they be?

And there is a Heatshield covering most of it too, so its not all clearly visible.

Id say that if i went to the EPA and said that I did have a cat, but the officer was a n00b and didnt know what he was talking about I could try and contest it.

Then it would be up to them to prove that in fact it wasn't a cat.

[R33-RB26DETT]

Attaching the fins doesnt really work if they check via tapping it.

You can tell just by tapping it with a maglite - which police have standard issue funnily enough

Also the welds generally give it away as no exhaust shop is going to be as poor as factory nissan welding is...

So whilst you think it may work, end of the day you're never safe

They never even tapped it, since the heat shield is covering most it I doubt they could probably get enough clearance to do this.

I was watching them very closely, I kept my mouth shut, was very polite and honest to the officers.

He basically said that he could have defected as well if he wanted but since I was so polite and becuase he genuinely believed me that I had no idea and I bought the car in this state he was going to let me go with just the $1500 fine.

I guess in one repect I got lucky, but still it doesn't seem fair that he can issue a fine without opening it up to be certain.

Also, what's the probability that I will be required to do an emissions test as well? I am pretty sure he mentioned this but not sure.

I haven't received the letter in the mail yet from the EPA, so I can't confirm the fine amount or whether I will be required to do an emissions test.

Hopefully I dont get the fine, and I just have to show that I do have a Cat Installed.

[R33-RB26DETT]

id pop under the car and take it off and have a look. sounds like a straight through pipe by your description. pitty they took a pic cause now you may have to match a cat that looks similar in appearance

hopefully this shouldn't be to hard to prove even with the pic.

[Al]

Tonight get under your car and take a pic with you digi cam and see how clear the pic is.

To be honest i would buy an ADR approved hi-flow cat, like the one you posted, fit it and take the straight pipe with you to epa. Explain what has occurred and that you recently purchased the car with a rwc, issued by the seller's dad and that you were not aware that it had the pipe fitted. As the rwc came from the seller's dad, the comments i posted earlier may not be valid, as a dodgy rwc is more likely to be issued due to family ties with the previous owner.

Honesty will most the time get you out of trouble, in this case hopefully the fine. Calling a cop a noob, when the epa officer is looking at a digi pic on his pc, that shows a straight pipe fitted, really wont do you any favours.

[R33-RB26DETT]

Tonight get under your car and take a pic with you digi cam and see how clear the pic is.

To be honest i would buy an ADR approved hi-flow cat, like the one you posted, fit it and take the straight pipe with you to epa. Explain what has occurred and that you recently purchased the car with a rwc, issued by the seller's dad and that you were not aware that it had the pipe fitted. As the rwc came from the seller's dad, the comments i posted earlier may not be valid, as a dodgy rwc is more likely to be issued due to family ties with the previous owner.

Honesty will most the time get you out of trouble, in this case hopefully the fine. Calling a cop a noob, when the epa officer is looking at a digi pic on his pc, that shows a straight pipe fitted, really wont do you any favours.

I agree with what your saying, I don't want to go down the path where I am contesting the officers judgement etc. I don't think that its the best way to go.

I think I may just explain the situation to the EPA Officer and that the Roadworthy place obviously made a mistake passing the car.

I think that I will need to approach the Roadworthy place and basically tell them that unless they pay the fine I will report them and they could potentially lose their license (which apparently costs $40,000). Also because the private seller got his dad to issue the roadworthy it would definitely work against his him.

Hopefully they are descent enough to accept they made a mistake a pay the fine.

[Al]

I wouldn't even approach the rwc w/shop till i spoke to the epa officer or even VicRoads

[DAS KAMU]

lawyer asap

He basically said that he could have defected as well if he wanted but since I was so polite and becuase he genuinely believed me that I had no idea and I bought the car in this state he was going to let me go with just the $1500 fine.

^^^ oh geez

[SteveL]

I think that I will need to approach the Roadworthy place and basically tell them that unless they pay the fine I will report them and they could potentially lose their license (which apparently costs $40,000). Also because the private seller got his dad to issue the roadworthy it would definitely work against his him.

Hopefully they are descent enough to accept they made a mistake a pay the fine.

Before doing anything like the above, like others I suggest you talk to Vicroads (try to speak to an engineer, not one of the drones) and the EPA about the situation, plus have a read of this:

http://www.vicroads.vic.gov.au/Home/Regist...ctsSuspensions/

A RW inspection assesses mechanical safety and having a cat or not will make no difference in that regard. OTOH having a cat is required for ADR compliance, which is automatically included as part of Vicroads vehicle standards requirements for registration purposes, but this is an emissions (EPA) issue and, as the above link shows, only the EPA can clear such defects (ie having a RWC makes no difference).

It's been awhile since I've had an RW inspection done, but I don't think inspection for a cat is part of the process. I'm open to correction on this one. Either way I'd be careful about making any threats until your sure of where you stand.

[R33-RB26DETT]

SITUATION UPDATE

Today I received the letter from the EPA in the mail, its mentions that I will need to go in for "Emission Control Systems & Noise" Testing.

Nowhere does it state that I will need to pay a fine of $1500 as the police officer originally stated, although it does say that I have to pay $74.90 for the test to be undertaken. (Non - Refundable).

I called up the testing workshop today and he confirmed that I would simply need to make sure my car is stock and I should pass emissions and noise testing without any problems. He said its not a 'Lab Test', so I am just expecting a standard emissions levels check with exhaust gases and in the engine bay.

Good news, and huge relief so far. I am getting my 02 Sensors fixed, New Cat Installed and leaking injectors fixed tomorrow to make sure my car is running perfect fuel mixtures in preparation for the test.

Basically either the police officer was misinformed or simply trying to scare me when he said that I will be receiving a $1500 fine.

Hope this helps out other people in the future, and i'll let you know how my car goes passing emissions.

Edited January 19, 2009 by GTR-PWR

[krzysiu]

Tonight get under your car and take a pic with you digi cam and see how clear the pic is.

To be honest i would buy an ADR approved hi-flow cat, like the one you posted, fit it and take the straight pipe with you to epa.

Ignorance is not an excuse. If he brought in the race pipe he was using i would say he would be in more shit as he would be 100% admitting he had one on.

When you get the letter. Go to the EPA with a highflow cat. Dont mention anything about pictures. Deny everything. They can only check whats in front of them. The $1500 fine is also bullshit because he cant fine you without actually looking into your exhaust.

[Starionturbo]

I cant beleive none of you guys can comprehend what he is saying.

The long and short of it is that This car has a "DE-CAT" pipe - which is a straight thru peice of pipe with Flanges on either end used for when you take your car to the racetrack and dont want either the restriction or Damage of a catalytic converter. These are commonly found on racecars in japan and people make custom ones here - it is not a Gutted/modified cat converter.

The simple part of the story is that he has been pulled over with a de-cat pipe. If you try to take it up with the person who roadworthied your car or sold you the car, they will simply claim that you have fitted this de cat pipe after purchasing and roadworthying the vehicle.

Claiming ignorance doesnt really save you these days.

Edited January 19, 2009 by Starionturbo

[Swiper the Fox]

did the officer issue you with a Racepace business card and instruct you to see Ben to get it fixed....i believe this is now official procedure.

[PAV34]

What do Racepace provide in realtion to cats? do they sell high flow ones?

[joeyjoejoejuniorshabadoo]

fre flowing exhaust systems that are legal

[Swiper the Fox]

fre flowing exhaust systems that are legal

yes...some of the finest exhaust work ive ever set eyes upon too.

[PAV34]

Yes but what cats does he use?

[R33-RB26DETT]

Yes but what cats does he use?

Yeah but to pass emissions I just bought a Catco 3".

After I pass i will be taking it down to racepace for sure and get a nice high flow installed.

feels good not having to pay a $1500 fine.

More money for the turbo upgrades

[NickR33]

did the officer issue you with a Racepace business card and instruct you to see Ben to get it fixed....i believe this is now official procedure.

lol... his exhausts are sex... not cheap tho;) but quality never is