There are programs in this local area (Thousand Oaks, CA / Calabasas, CA) to engrave catalytic converters, for free, to discourage theft. How difficult is it to steal a CC from a Clarity PHEV? More so than a regular car? I've read that hybrids have a more valuable CC with regards to the precious metal density inside. Are there mod kits specific to Clarity that anyone has looked into?
Catalytic converter theft risk?
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In my area, there have been a streak of CC thefts and the county sheriff's station is offering free engraving.
Don't think that will deter thefts as most of the buyers of the metals inside are overseas.
I highly doubt the Clarity is targeted for CC theft - it's mostly for the common older cars whose parts are worth more than the car itself....
Don't think that will deter thefts as most of the buyers of the metals inside are overseas.
I highly doubt the Clarity is targeted for CC theft - it's mostly for the common older cars whose parts are worth more than the car itself....
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would be a pretty small catalytic converter to steal plus it's right in the middle and up a bit where the transmission tunnel usually would be. I would think they would target easier cars...older generally well known cars or older prius's....with only ~5" of ground clearance and a heavy car it would be a little difficult.... still there are dumb criminals out there. At a local hospital I work at we've had some taken off cars during daylight shifts. We have a running joke that our security is out there helping people jack up cars.
edit I guess you could ask a mechanic or a shop to tack weld some braces or a wire mesh or something to make it more difficult long as it's able to cool and have flowing air you could do something about it if you're in a bad neighborhood.
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edit I guess you could ask a mechanic or a shop to tack weld some braces or a wire mesh or something to make it more difficult long as it's able to cool and have flowing air you could do something about it if you're in a bad neighborhood.
This is a timely discussion thread for me as I literally became aware of this issue just yesterday. My son, who among other responsibilities, manages the bus transportation services for a large retirement home operation, made me aware their bus fleet was having their catalytic converters stolen in the dead of night. It only took a quick search on the internet to learn this is becoming quite a problem in many places across the country.
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In Southern Utah they don't smog cars. Only 4 counties in the state require it. That being said I would think taking off the cat would really defeat one of the purposes of buying this car in the first place.
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My recommendation is to park your car in the garage. Several years ago Consumer Reports did a study on the most frequently and least frequently stolen cars. The determined that real expensive cars are stolen far less than a typical 4-7 year old Accord. The only thing they could come up with was that more expensive cars are parked in a garage instead of the driveway or street.
I was responding to WPCs blanket statement that "The phev clarity's don't even need to do smog anyway ..."
I don't doubt that in some jurisdictions, this is true.
And I agree that it would be defeating a critically important pollution control function.
Well, I'm in California and I heard that you basically bring the car in and they don't even start the motor for the smog. So essentially it's like not having a smog required.
Modern cars (1996 and newer) all have OBD-II. Many people think of OBD-II as just a communications port that allows access to error codes and other vehicle data. But OBD-II is actually a diagnostic system, in fact OBD stands for "On-board diagnostics".
Although onboard diagnostics previously existed in some cars, the OBD system was initiated in California in 1988 by CARB (California Air Resources Board) specifically to monitor emissions. Although nowadays it is used for other purposes as well. As the "II" in the name implies, the current system supersedes the previous OBD system (now known as OBD-I) that CARB began requiring for all new cars sold in California starting in 1988. CARB then mandated the newer OBD-II specification beginning in 1996, which wound up being applied to all cars sold in the United States.
The primary purpose of the system is to constantly monitor for faults that would affect emissions, which is why OBD-II is required on all cars. A fault will cause the check engine light to come on. Many of these faults can also affect drivability, so it's always a good idea to take care of a check engine light as soon as possible. Another type of a fault occurs when part of the OBD-II diagnostic system itself is not functioning.
States that have emissions testing are primarily checking that the OBD-II system is functioning, and that there are no uncleared emissions faults. Note that these type of faults, known as "Permanent DTCs", cannot be cleared at home using a simple OBD-II reader. Also in some cases if the system is reset like after the 12V battery was disconnected, it can take a week or so of driving before the diagnostics are completed. That can cause a failed smog check, however the technician will normally be able to determine that incomplete data is the reason for the failure and will advise the owner to come back for a retest after driving for a few more days.
Another thing the technician checks for during a smog check is a missing gas cap, as that will of course release pollutants into the air. A surprising number of people drive around with missing gas caps.
In Georgia, besides reading diagnostic data they also start the engine for a couple of minutes. I asked the technician about this, he said that besides the stored data they want to make sure that all of the emissions equipment is currently functioning, or maybe starting up quickly enough or something like that. Anyway it's a requirement and I had to start the engine for him as he didn't know how.
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How did you start the engine? Just by pressing down the gas pedal enough and having it in another mode? I know obd can log but are you sure it will trigger a hard fault for no cat? I'm very familiar with obd and passing smog, for many years I had a Mitsubishi eclipse turbo that was heavily modded and I was able to get passed smog even if what you say about the hard faults is true without a week of driving.
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It is my understanding that the first oxygen sensor before the cat converter monitors oxygen levels so that the engine control module can tweak the fuel/air mixture. This sensor is constantly oscillating between too much and not enough oxygen. The ECM tries to keep the engine at a mixture that keeps the oxygen level in the exhaust in that range. If it stops oscillating and goes full too much or too little oxygen then the ECM will tweak the mixture. There is also a long term and short term factor that gets taken into consideration for the mixture. Then, I believe the second oxy sensor which is after the cat converter is more for knowing whether the cat converter is doing its job. If you put a straight pipe in, the first oxy sensor will probably still function as it should but the second one will flag the fact that there’s no change in the oxygen content from what the first sensor is reading. So, I think most vehicles would turn on a “check engine” light for that. It probably isn’t what you would call a hard fault but just a nagging “check engine” light. There’s probably a way to create a circuit that would fool the ECM into turning the check engine light off though if you were serious about the straight pipe.
From what I have read permanent DTC's were introduced in 2010. Prior to that it was apparently possible in many cases to clear codes prior to going in for an emissions test.
Easiest way to force the engine to come on is if your battery is less than half full you can simply turn on HV Charge and ICE should start right up.
If your battery is more than half full, like mine was when I went in for my smog check, then there is the standard Toyota/Honda method to put their hybrids into maintenance mode which starts the engine.
Maintenance Mode
Once started the following steps must all be performed within sixty seconds. The first time you try it, since you likely will be reading while you are doing it you may exceed sixty seconds and it won't work. If that happens then just try it again.
1) Make sure the car is completely off.
2) Press the power button without stepping on the brake pedal.
3) Press the power button again without stepping on the brake pedal so that the instrument panel display comes on.
4) Press the accelerator pedal to the floor twice.
5) Press the brake pedal and shift to N, then release the brake pedal.
6) Press the accelerator pedal to the floor twice.
Note - during this accelerator press it will beep and a message will appear:
"Gear Position is N, Release Accelerator Pedal". You can ignore this message.
7) Press the brake pedal and shift to P, then release the brake pedal.
8) Press the accelerator pedal to the floor twice. "Maintenance Mode" appears on the display.
9) Press the brake pedal and press the power button. The engine will start after a few seconds.
Do not drive while in maintenance mode. When you are done with maintenance mode, press the power button to turn the car off. After turning off the car you can then turn it on again normally.
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