New cat for a 96 legacy L

[BMC95TA]

Hey guys! I have been told that the 96 should be similiar to that of your BC-BF. I'm throwing the check engine code catalyist operation below threshold bank I. I think my problem is my front cat is clogged so I figured I'd just go onlone to napa or something and get a $100 cat instead what I have found is the cheapest front cat for my 96 legacy l 2.2L 4cyl is $217.00. My question is can I just use a generic cat in this case or do I have to go with the OEM subaru part? THanks!

[Legacy777]

Two problems with an aftermarket cat.

The subaru system uses two cats.....they are different from each other and serve different purposes. Each one takes care of a certain set of emission gasses.....like a dual stage cleaning. The aftermarket ones typically will do this all in one unit. The only reason I can think that most OEM's do this is because the two stage setup is more efficient.

So if you replace the one cat, you really don't need the other.

The other issue is you have an OBD2 computer. It has a second O2 sensor which tells the computer cat efficiency. Most of the time if you replace the cats with a high flow or aftermarket.....it may throw a CEL. There are electrical fixes to just keep the second O2 sensor happy

Those are the two issues I can see with getting a generic one.......

[BMC95TA]

Yeah I have heard of the fix for the 2nd o2 sensor, I was wodnering why there were 2 different cats that explains it. rather than spend $400 I think I will look into the generic cat and just get a straight pipe welded in the space for the back cat. and buy that $20 o2 sensor fix. Thanks alot for the help!
-Brian

[Legacy777]

welcome

[boostjunkie]

Damn OBD-2










Good thing I'm OBD-1