Catalytic Converter on 2003 2500 with 5.7

[RJordan]

Hello, I am new here and didn't find a great answer by searching, so please forgive me if this has already been answered and dealt with because I couldn't find it.

I recently purchased my 2003 Ram 2500 with a 5.7. This truck was originally purchased new by my wife's uncle, then sold to my brother in law who I purchased it from, so this vehicle has always been in the family here in Utah.

The issue I'm having is that emissions is due at the end of the month on this truck so I took it in and it failed saying that the catalyst system has been tampered with. When discussing with the tech they told me that their book shows that the truck is supposed to have 2 cats, and they failed it on the visual inspection because the truck only has one. The exhaust has been modified after the converter to exit at the cab corner, but nothing before the muffler has ever been touched from what anybody remembers or can tell me. When I look online at mopars parts diagram it only shows the single cat on the y pipe, which is the same setup it currently has right now, which confirms to me that this is stock. The modifications were all done shortly after the purchase of the vehicle, and it has passed emissions in my county every year since.

My question here is whether this truck is correct and should only have the cat on the y pipe, and if so how on earth do I convince the county to pass it? Has anyone else encountered a similar problem?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

 

[RJordan]

A little extra information in case somebody stumbles across this same issue:

Spoke with Stellantis' customer care team. Rep was able to confirm that the truck originally came with a single catalytic converter on the Y-Pipe. I then called the Air Quality Bureau, who said that the issue is because the VECI label on the hood shows it should have 2 cats. I informed them that the hood is off of a different vehicle, which should have been clear because the label shows MY 2004. They then told me they can issue a new VECI label if I get a letter with the VIN from the manufacturer or a dealership stating that the truck only came with one cat. Neither Stellantis' customer care nor the dealership were willing to provide a letter, even though both were willing to verbally confirm that one cat is the stock configuration.

I'm going to try going in to the Air Quality Bureau and see if they can assist me better in person. Such a headache trying to get this stock truck to pass for absolutely no reason

 

[RJordan]

TL;DR: Truck only came with one cat, after a bunch of headache we were able to get it retested and it passed well within regulation.

After going in to the Air Quality Bureau, they informed us that the Motors manual was incorrect in saying that the truck came with 2 catalytic converters. They verified this by checking AllData and the Mitchell manual, both of which lined up with what the manufacturer told us about the truck being originally equipped with only one cat. The inspection station only refers to the Motors manual, so they were going off of incorrect information. When we went back we provided them with the information we received from the Air Quality Bureau, and informed that that AQB told us to have them call if they need to verify. They took the truck back in to test, and pulled it out 2 minutes later without running any tests. The technician came out and told us that the truck failed because it only has one cat, which I had already told him. I then argued with the tech, repeated what I had told him about this, and then he finally agreed to call the air quality bureau. He then spent nearly an hour doing a visual inspection of the emissions controls, which are all stock so I wasn't worried about this, just annoyed about how badly they wanted to fail it. After visually inspecting and calling AQB, the tech pulled the truck around the building, and came over and told us that the AQB told him "to let this one slide with one cat", and that he just had to run the 2 speed test. This pissed me off, because I know for a fact that the AQB didn't tell him to "let it slide", and that they actually just told him that stock is one catalytic converter and the book is wrong. They ran the 2 speed test, and it passed very clearly, with HC emissions of 100 ppm vs the allowed 800, even after the truck sat for nearly an hour cooling off in 40 degree weather. After the truck passed, the techs still didn't want to admit that their book could be wrong and kept trying to act like they were surprised it passed. Finally this got on my nerves and I got upset with the tech, who then admitted that AQB had told him to make note of this in their manual to avoid this in the future.

AQB informed me that it's pretty likely that I'll have to call them every year about this unless the manual gets corrected, so I guess that I'll be repeating this ordeal every year.

 

[rzr6-4]

Government oversite, here to keep you safe.....

Having to make another trip and the other run around you got to fix their screw up probly released more chemicals than if you didn't have a cat in the first place.

 

[RJordan]

You're probably right on the money there. The whole political system is set up to reward the appearance of doing something, so as long as they check that box and keep getting voted for, it will never change.

 

[Cerd]

I know this is an old thread, but I just got one of these and was wondering if there is an adequate substitute for the cat if it goes bad. OEM is now discontinued.

On my Durango, I ended up installing Flowmasters when my cat failed, but they are rated for 6600lbs each and I had 2 cat, so it was adequate. My state does not require emissions testing, but I don't think a cat rated for 6600lbs compared to the factory single cat is adequate.

I am not willing to remove or hollow out the cat if it fails - not only because of the legal issues, but I do not like the fumes that come from a failing cat while I am hooking up trailers or loading the back.