Hi,
If the CEL is 'on' then, for goodness sake, do NOT bring the car in for inspection. INSTANT FAILURE!!!
Do not try and 'trick' the system either - by clearing the codes (yanking fuses or disconnecting battery) as the 'readiness codes' will NOT be set and you will ALSO fail inspection. (The 'readiness codes' take about 30 miles of 'various types of driving' before they will set to 'OK' -- which means there's a VERY good chance that the CEL will ALSO come on during that time.) Yeah, I know, bogus.
If the cats are 'marginal' you can 'attempt' to clear them out using i) Catalytic Converter Cleaner or ii) Berryman's B12 or iii) Seafoam.
I've found that Seafoam causes a lot of 'smoke out the exhaust' so running it in a car with little or no fuel may turn yer vehicle into a smoke bomb! (You'll be VERY unpopular with the neighbors!)
If you are stuck for 'time' then you could do this:
a) empty out a windex spray bottle
b) fill it up with Berryman's B12 or Seafoam or cat-cleaner
c) disconnect your air filter so that you have access to the intake manifold (i.e. when you "look in" you can see the MAF and the throttle butterfly (valve).
d) when the engine is warmed up and running -- spray the contents of the 'spray bottle' into the intake manifold until it's all used up.
Try not to spray 'downwards' otherwise you'll end up with a useless 'puddle' of fluid on the accordion part of the manifold tubing. Rather, "gun" the engine (so that the butterfly is 'open' a smidge') THEN spray "into" this opening.
Good luck!
Gerry
