Anyone been thrown a CEL with Berk HFC's?
 

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone has gotten a CEL using the Berk high flow cats. I got thrown my first one about 2000km after I put them in, I cleared the ecu and got one again about 300km after that.

I haven't actually checked the code yet (waiting for my OBDII reader to come from ebay) but hoping it's a catalyst code......

It's just that I haven't really heard anyone getting a CEL using these cats...

i have had berk test pipes on for 1,000 miles now with no CEL ....

Berk test pipes here too, and only got one CEL, and that was at Road Atlanta. Have done several more track events since and had no reoccurance.

I just had the HFCs installed and the installer commented on how long the "port" (not sure what it's called) that the O2 sensor connects to was, and how it's design was clearly intended to prevent such CEL's being thrown.

Not sure if he was BS'ing or not and I only have ~50 miles on them so far, so I'm obviously not going to have a CEL this early.

Yeah they are made really long to push the O2 sensors further out of the direct air flow to prevent the CELs, thats why i wasn't expecting a CEL.... :( lol

Is it too late to disconnect the o2 sensor and put in some steel wool like others have done?

Nah it's never too late, pretty simple job really I guess i just need to make sure thats what is causing the CEL though... pretty strange that I seem to be the first though :(

5000 miles on mine, not a single CEL.

my friend randomly gets them on his G37 with FI cats.

anyone want to trade their test pipes for my hfc's?

im sure you can get someone to buy you a new set... the pita of the install and or $$ to do so will be a hassle but Im sure if you posted this in the Classified section someone would buy you a new set of Test Pipes for your HFC...

i love the sound of my stock exhaust with test pipes 90% of the time, when its cold around 3-4k the rasp is a bit annoying but nothing too bad.. im sure its there with hfcs to an extent.. This was the same with my old g35 coupe but once i got the greddy exhaust it just sounded brilliant as im guessing it will when i pickup the FI or Stillen in due time.

sorry to go off topic in your thread though... btw youll love the car , was the 300 a tt ?

Forgive the noob question, as I'm just starting to read about exhaust systems, but why would you use test pipes? Doesn't that guarantee a fail in emission testing, or do you just swap them out for the stock cat when you test?

Some states, such as Georgia (where I live), have zero emissions tests or inspections.

So for less money, you can achieve better flow, gains, and sound, albeit too loud or "raspy" for some.

2k on Berk's HFC's and no CEL's so far.

3k on Berk and couple hundred on my exhausts, no CEL.

What???? Zero emissions tests???? LOL, not in the area of GA I live in! Not sure about Augusta though. A new car doesn't have to be tested for emissions for the first 2 years, but after that it has to pass emissions every other year in order to renew your tag. Having said that, in GA it's just an OBD test. They hook up a cable to your ECU and check for CELs. No CELs, you pass. Pretty simple (and test pipe friendly!).

Edit: Looks like in GA, whether or not you need emissions testing depends on your county of residence. Per Georgia Smog Checks - Emissions Regulations, GA Smog Testing Stations - DMV Guide :

All gasoline-powered passenger cars and light trucks 1982 and newer in the following Georgia counties must pass an emission inspection before being issued license plates:

* Cherokee

* Clayton

* Cobb

* Coweta

* DeKalb

* Douglas

* Fayette

* Forsyth

* Fulton

* Gwinnett

* Henry

* Paulding

* Rockdale

Motorcycles, RVs, and motor homes do not require emissions testing.

So I guess it's just us Atlanta-area folks who have to do this. :p

Just hit &,00 w/ the berk cb's--no lights. (knocking on wood.)

actually, here in Atlanta we do have emissions testing. Fortunately all the look for is a CEL now, as opposed to before when they put it on the emissions dyno.

6k on Berk HFC, Stillen GEN III Intakes, and FI Exhaust. No CEL

Mike and Semtex....ouch! That really sucks, although you're right...it's nothing compared to areas like California!

Here in Columbia/Richmond county, they don't even care if your car has wheels, just as long as it's insured!

I've got a bit over 1K on the Berk HFC's now, so far no CEL

me too, 1k miles, no CEL.

I'm not surprised that the Berk HFCs are so CEL-resistant, considering how well protected the O2 sensors are from the direct path of the exhaust gases.

http://www.the370z.com/attachments/i...1113091837.jpg

Yeah thats what I thought too thats why I bought them.... not looking good for me then :( well my reader should arrive in a few days... i'll know for sure then... I really cbf taking the exhaust off etc to go back to nissan for warranty work lol

Does anyone that has the Berk Test pipes have the same set up on the extended port as in the picture above?

The O2 ports on their test pipes look identical to those on their HFCs. Just go to their website and look at them.

Thanks semtex, got a set that should be here tomorrow and I'm still on the fence about installing...

I guess I can try the steel wool fix and see what happens...

has anyone tried a defouler?

this worked on my RSX with longtubes (before Hondata :))

Theres basically a tiny hole in one so that it reduces the exhaust it receives drastically. I'd imagine this plus the O2 design on the HFC/Testpipes would do the trick just fine.

Defouler o2 trick image by driftman240sx on Photobucket

I'm not really following either one of you. Why would you bother with steel wool or a defouler when there is no evidence that the Berk HFCs or test pipes throws CELs? (Unless I missed something?) I've used the defouler method before, when I ran Kinetix test pipes on my 350Z. But those things didn't have the extended O2 ports, and I regularly got CELs until I installed the defoulers. As far as I can remember, nobody has had an issue with CELs with the extended O2 ports, so it seems to me that you guys are trying to fix something that isn't broken. Again -- unless I'm missing something(?).

Just trying to prevent the CEL. A few people have said they got a CEL after several thousand miles.

Ah. Well then yeah, it doesn't hurt to be proactive. Either method would work. Personally I think it'd be easier to just use a little steel wool to buffer that hole more. One of the nice things about the defouler method is that it actually mounts the sensor back away from the direct path of the exhaust gases, but given that these things already have the extended ports that do that for you by default, mounting defoulers on top of those would be redundant.

Well, I got the CEL again today and I checked the code, it came up with PA200 or P2A00 i forget now. I googled it and it seems to be one of the sensors, but from everything I found, it could be 50% O2 sensors or 50% MAF sensors bringing up a lean reading....

Now since the berks in the states haven't triggered any CELs, I thnk I'm the first in Australia to have them (on the forums) so I wonder if we have anything different in regards to what trigger points are used for the CEL... I know a few guys here have the FI cats but they haven't triggered a CEL for any of them either though.....

$10 ebay defoulers?

I would contact Tony@FI I think they hade a fix for this

Got an SES light yesterday, after about 2k miles, I think im going to try the steel wool method myself.

Got one today, driving from Atlanta to VIR. First time I've driven the car longer than an hour. It happened after five. Will reset it when I get home after tomorrows track day

Hey! I'm not alone anymore haha, Did you happen to check out the code? I wonder If you got the same one I did.

Have you got the Berk HFC's?

No, see my post in the beginning, berk test pipes

Hey so I spoke to my mechanic about this - The P2A00 code means a few things but one of them was the MAF getting a slow response or a lean condition. He thought maybe getting better intakes might get rid of the CEL (I still have the stock airboxes but headers back have been changed) Do you guys think changing the intake out will sort this issue out?

Have the guys who have copped the CEL with the Berk HFC's got the intakes done aswell? or stock intakes?

I have the G3 intakes, and I've never had a CEL (I have about 5000 miles on my setup). It seems strange that the stock airboxes would be throwing a code, unless (and this is complete speculation on my part) the better exhaust flow has created an 'imbalance' of some sort. Airflow is a two-part deal, right? Air goes in. Exhaust gases go out. These two need to be balanced, in a manner of speaking. For example, you could have the most freely-flowing air intake in the world. But if your exhaust flow is plugged up, the intake isn't going to help you. When you put your foot down on the accelerator, your car will feel 'corked'. In fact, many years ago on a different car I had to put my stock exhaust back on temporarily, and 'corked' is exactly how it felt, in spite of the fact that I had a nice intake setup on the front end. Now let's reverse things. You have a setup that increases the flow of exhaust gases exiting, but the intake of air on the front end hasn't been increased from stock. So maybe it's imbalanced in that your engine can't get enough air in to keep up with the rate of the exhaust gases exiting. Would that cause a lean condition? Not sure. Slow response? That sounds kinda in the ballpark of what I'm describing, doesn't it? The engine wants more air than it's getting. I don't know, does any of what I'm saying even make sense?