Desmogging Regrets or Issues? (1 Viewer)

[Dissent]

I am officially licensed in a smog free county and am contemplating desmogging my 97 LX. Doing some research to see if I'm shooting myself in the foot if I plan a turbo or supercharger down the road. Has anyone desmogged (i.e. EGR, cats, etc.) and regretted doing so? Any ODB2 issues? Thanks in advance!

 

[Irish Reiver]

I desmogged my '94. Partly out of necessity but i chose not to do the same to both of my '96's. The resister trick for the OBD2 EGR delete is only good until you have to reset the ECU...then you are stuck with the CEL. There was absolutely zero benefit when i did my '94 so i dont see any benefits for the later models. I'm not exactly an eco-warrior but also don't see any point in adding polution where i don't need to.

 

[cruzinfj1]

Im CAT delete on my '96 LX and will randomly get a CEL, but nothing consistent. Ran it all weekend, three days of wheeling last weekend and no light. Sat for a week, drove to work, and on the way home got a light. I will say that mine runs a lot better than it did with the CATS though. They werent plugged or bad, just redid the exhaust to get it up flush with the frame and got rid of them when I did. It doesn't stink or run rich like some others have said theirs does on other posts.

 

[wpns4l]

When I bought my 92 it was desmogged. No cats or egr. When I moved to CA I had to put that stuff on. It was a noticeable power loss. Can't comment on a 1FZ as im still in CA so i've never experienced one desmogged.

 

[Dissent]

Appreciate the feedback, thank you. I've zero concerns about ruining the planet, I'm more concerned about all the heat around #6 and my engine wire harness from the EGR and the restrictions of a pair of 25 year old CATs who are also cut-bait for rare metail criminals out there.

I'll dig into the resistor fix to understand it better.

 

[desmocruiser]

I desmogged my '94. Partly out of necessity but i chose not to do the same to both of my '96's. The resister trick for the OBD2 EGR delete is only good until you have to reset the ECU...then you are stuck with the CEL. There was absolutely zero benefit when i did my '94 so i dont see any benefits for the later models. I'm not exactly an eco-warrior but also don't see any point in adding polution where i don't need to.

Is the EGR resistor trick you speak of this or something more simplistic?

1995-1997 FZJ80 EGR Temp Sensor Test Plug Kit

EGR, EGR delete, 97 Land Cruiser EGR, Land Cruiser P0401, P0402

huddexpo.com

 

[inkpot]

Appreciate the feedback, thank you. I've zero concerns about ruining the planet, I'm more concerned about all the heat around #6 and my engine wire harness from the EGR and the restrictions of a pair of 25 year old CATs who are also cut-bait for rare metail criminals out there.

I'll dig into the resistor fix to understand it better.

I have done a few of the things others have posted in the past. First, extra insulation on the wiring harness around the EGR pipe and make sure that it STAYS anchored to the OEM post. It is also pretty easy to make an EGR block off plate. I think that would reduce the EGR tube temps a few degrees. I also had my local muffler shop replace my OEM cats with a small single high performance unit and reroute the exhaust over the frame like the 93-94s.

 

[JoeCova]

When I rebuilt my engine on my 94 I more or less desmogged the engine, partially to mitigate heat but also resolve some Toyota nuances. I probably wouldnt have bothered if it was a 95+. You could look into block off plates and resisters, most people seem to be happy with desmogging thier engine. That said I would add thermal tape to the wiring harness.

 

[Devils Paw 80]

I did the Hudd Expo EGR temp sensor kit and vacuum hose plug method about 1 year ago in my LX 450. No regrets so far.

On my previous FJ62, some regrets for deleting the rusty catalytic converters. The exhaust definitely smelled dirtier afterwards. I plan to keep the cats on the 80, unless some jackass steals them.

 

[ozarkmud]

Some people say that the head gasket failures are much more common on 1FZs with EGRs, so that may be something to consider.

I wouldn't pull off cats unless they were clogged, but for the most part I think it makes sense to desmog something, especially with broken emissions components or that harms reliability (seems like most of it does in the long run).