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Guide to choosing a catalytic converter
If you are familiar with cars, then you must’ve heard about catalytic converters. But most of the people didn’t know about what is the purpose of them and how they work. Catalytic converter is a device that connected the engine with tailpipe. The car’s engine produces harmful pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide. In order to make the pollutants less harmful, we need to chemically change them. And that’s why we need catalytic converter. The dirty pollutants from engine will goes into the device. There’ll be chemical reaction inside the device that will recombine the molecules of the pollutants. And new chemicals, which are less harmful like carbon dioxide and nitrogen will come out from the device and goes through tailpipe to channeled out of the car.
Catalytic Converters for Sale
| Picture | Name | PROs | CONs | Availability and price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Eastern 83166 | + durable + good materials | -sometimes blows up | Check price and availability |
  | Walker 15038 EPA | + good materials + great value | - doesn't fit all | Check price and availability |
  | Eastern 70318 | + durable +reliable | - can be expensive to instal | Check price and availability |
  | Eastern Manufacturing 70257 | + durable + good materials | -sometimes blows up | Check price and availability |
  | Walker 16387 | +reliable + great value | - can be expensive to instal | Check price and availability |
| Eastern 83166 | + durable + great value | - can be expensive to instal | Check price and availability |
  | Walker 80708 | + good materials +reliable | -sometimes blows up | Check price and availability |
  | MagnaFlow 51355 | + durable + good materials | -sometimes blows up | Check price and availability |
Walker 15038 EPA Certified Standard Universal Catalytic Converter
Are you looking for a new catalytic converter for you your car that is actually in sale now? If your vehicle is using Pre-OBDII vehicles in year 1995 or older, then you need to consider buying Walker 15038 EPA Certified Standard Universal Catalytic Converter. This product was made from stainless steel for the body part and aluminum for the pipe parts. There’s a special heat shield used for the device so it won’t be too hot and it can be used for a long time. Even though this item was specifically made for Pre-OBDII vehicles, but like its name, it’s actually universal catalytic converter. But you need to so some modifications so that this device can fit your car’s engine. This device is also very durable and it is not likely to break down soon. You definitely get quality with this purchase. This product is known to last long and to be very reliable. That is why our editorial team is rating it among the top converters out there.
Eastern 70318
If you want a converter for the vehicle year 1991 or older and its produce by Eastern Industries, then you can buy Eastern 70318 Catalytic Converter. This is the universal catalytic converter that basically fits all of the engines. But of course, some small modifications needed if you want to make the device fit perfectly. This is one of the best sellers in some automotive markets. It’s a light-weighed and weights only 6 pounds. It’s better to have lighter device for the engine. As of February 2016, this product is on sale. Its biggest plus is that it can be used on virtually any car if you are willing to make few minor modifications. It is universal and you can get it for the good price. That makes it very attractive for mainstream users. Since it is also very durable, you might consider buying it. Personally I do not know anyone who would’ve bought that device and be left disappointed.
Eastern 83166
Do you often have a problem when you want to install the catalytic converter because the catalytic converter is too complicated? In that case, you can try to use Eastern 83166 Catalytic Converter for your car. This device has simple oval body shaped and solid structure. This design of the product makes the device easy to be installed in engine. The company produces this item as the solution for many kinds of cars such as SUVs, vans, and light trucks. Since this converter has universal design, we can put this product in all types of engines. The product has high efficiency of the catalyst, so it’ll give better result without demanding the device too much. This is another universal catalytic converter. Again, we mention this product because of its great quality and affordable pricing. You can get very good devices also in other brands, but this one is quite reputable and Eastern is known to produce high quality items for car industry. This is partly the reason why they are featured so often in this guide. If you really care for your car and do not want to experience poor converters, you should definitely consider buying this converter.
Eastern Manufacturing 70257 (Non-CARB Complaint)
For people who want to have simple designed catalytic converter for their car, then might be interest to see Eastern Manufacturing 70257 Catalytic Converter (Non-CARB Complaint) on Amazon. This device has great points for its simple design and light weight. With pipe-like model and 3.8 pounds weight, this product is great for all kinds of engine. If we were to grade the product from 1 to 5, we’d probably rank it around 4. It functions great and it’s efficiency is good although not top notch. The company has using high-flow design so that the device can work faster and better. The faster the chemical reaction that happens inside the device, the more efficient the work of the device is. It is also quite easy so it does not add significant weight to your car. Indeed if it is used, it will not make the whole car much heavier which is an important thing to do. This item is also certified as Non-carb compliant which means it should not be used in California. Carb compliant converters are important in California only, the other states do not have the same regulation. So if you live in California, this might not be the car part that is suitable for you. That is why we would not give it 5 stars.
Walker 16387 Direct Fit
Now, for the owner of cars that using OBDII vehicles in year 1996 or newer, you need to check the product called Walker 16387 Direct Fit Catalytic Converter. This device has modern and unique design with thick OE-style of flanges, brackets, and hangers. It was mainly made from solid stainless steel with heat shields that will prevent the device to be over-heated while processing the chemical reactions. There’s a combination of aluminum as well for the body part of the product so that the item is not too heavy. If we were to grade this product from 1 to 5, we’d probably grade it with 4,5. For private cars and light trucks that used under normal operating condition, this is a great converter which will last a long time. It is known for its longevity and it is certainly the product on which you can fully rely. And it complies most of the standards. That is why we think this is a great converter for its price and definitely deserves to be on our top list. You get a very good bang for the buck with this particular product. It can also be used on most cars, which is another good feature.
Eastern 83166
If you like something new and unique design for catalytic converter, then it’s better to know more about Eastern 83166 Catalytic Converter. The design of the product is like a water bottle that used by soldiers, but it has two pipes and shields around it. Another great thing about this product is the catalyst that used inside the device. The catalyst can process the chemical reactions faster, so the result will be more efficient and it can keep the device in good condition. This product gets 4.7 stars out of 5 stars from our editor team (that are our own rankings and therefore show us what we, editors of myshinycar.com think about it). This product is universal, so there is no specific information about kind of engine that fits the product. It actually fits almost all the engines. You may need some small modifications, not the major one, just to make sure that the device fits the engine properly. Although the quality of this product is very good and it is undoubtedly one of the best products out there on the market, we would still not recommend to use it in California where the laws are the strictest in USA. Everywhere else should be fine.
Walker 80708 CalCat Universal Catalytic Converter
For people who want to shipped the catalytic converter to California and legal for complies with CARB regulations, you can get this Walker 80708 CalCat Universal Catalytic Converter shipped to California. But many products from Walker, including this product, are available to be shipped to California. The main attractive part of this device is the simple yet firm design. The simple design for universal catalytic converter is important because the simpler the design, the easier the device to be modified to fit the engine. The main material of this device is stainless steel with combination of aluminum to make it less heavy. We think that this is a great product and would give it a rating around 4,1 on a scale of 1 to 5 (this is the grade set by us, editors of myshinycar.com). This converter is famous for its longevity and reliability. If you order it, it will surely last you for a really long time. And this is what you want anyway. Product that you buy once and lasts you a very long time, possibly forever. It is also available in the state of California, which is another good news for this item. Because of that, it is definitely worth taking a closer inspection to this item.
MagnaFlow 51355 Large Stainless Steel Universal Fit Catalytic Converter
And the last one, if you want to get a modern design, then you need to visit Amazon and see the MagnaFlow 51355 Large Stainless Steel Universal Fit Catalytic Converter. The model of this item is like the tailpipe in motorcycle but in more modern style. It has seam welded body that made from stainless steel that combined with aluminum. This product got EPA legal and can be shipped to most of the states in U.S. This product is quite new, so it complies with recent standards. Our team has not tested this product yet, but we hear many good news about it. So, the product is worth to be in the list of catalytic converter for our car. The problem of this product in the future could be longevity. Although we cannot be sure, it does not seem like one of those converters that last very long. Still, the manufacturer often times allows long warranty of this product. If you want to know more about its warranty, check the link of price and availability below. There you will find even more information about this particular product.
Diesel Catalytic Converter
Diesel catalytic converter is the most common type of converters and it is used by many people. This is the upgrade version from the very first invention in this field, the two-way catalytic converter. In case of two-way catalytic converter, it’s stop to be used because it can’t control nitrogen oxides. But in case of diesel catalytic converter, it can control it well. In fact, the operation of this device is 90% effective. The catalyst that used in the converter is oxygen. Oxygen will react with carbon monoxide to form carbon dioxide. Even though carbon dioxide is not a good gas, but its non-toxic and it has other benefit like plants need it for photosynthesis. This catalytic converter can control nitrogen oxide by inject ammonia into the exhaust to change nitrogen oxide to nitrogen gases. It needs special system like SCR system in the diesel catalytic converter so that the ammonia injection can be done. There are many products of diesel catalytic converter in the market and the range price is pretty wide, start from around $70 until more than $300. It all depends on the system that used inside the device and the specific design of the device. There are actually aftermarket products of diesel catalytic converter.
Types of Catalytic Converters
There are four types of catalytic converter that can be used for the car. Those types are two-way, three-way , diesel, and lean burn spark-ignition catalytic converter. The two-way catalytic converter is a device that processing two oxidation reactions inside it to change the pollutants. The three-way catalytic converter is a device that processing three oxidation-reduction reactions inside it. The diesel catalytic converter is processing oxidation reactions like two-way one, but it’s much simpler because it uses only catalyst oxygen to convert the harmful gases. As for lean burn spark-ignition catalytic converter, it’s pretty much the same with diesel but it’s environmentally friendlier than others.<>