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Wanted to get my etest before I put the car away for the winter, so I got it done yesterday. Got a young car guy, right away asks me if I have a aftermarket tune on my car? I don't, but tells me how as a courtesy he asks anyone before he hook's into the ECM and starts the test. Infers how the ministry can detect an aftermarket tune, and if it's detected the ministry has him redflag the car and pulls the plates right on the spot!
Is this true? I thought as long as your not visibly polluting and the theres No CEL your good to go? BTW, was really surprised to see him take pic's of the instrument clustery (engine running) rear end shot, and pic of the sticker on the DS door face..............................
Mike
I don't think it's true, I just had the E Test done on my C6, and while I don't have a full blown tune done on it, the ECM has been modified to eliminate the skip shift function and to eliminate the magnetic ride control (the original ones failed so I had them swapped for Z51 shocks) I would assume that these changes would be classified as a "tune" even if the engine hasn't been tuned, and I most definitely wasn't red flagged.
I can tell you for a fact that this is not true. My 98 Trans Am with a 385 LS6 motor was custom tuned and always passed when the Government went to scanning ECU's. I didn't have any codes or check engine light thanks to HP Tuners...lol. Passed every time no problem. They check for check engine lights and make sure that the ecu passes all the readiness test. I think he took the pics to cover his *** incase the ministry came and was looking for fake e-tests.
Well, I know this thread is getting views, but to really answer this, someone who has a tune (Eg Chuck Cow) has to tell us if their getting a pass when they plug in?
That person is on the forum and will be able to tell us........
Mike
How more convincing do you need ? Numerous folks said it wasn t an issue. My c5 had cam, heads, headers and tune, no issues. My C6 had a big cam, headers and peaked out tune, no issues withe either car passing emissions.
How more convincing do you need ? Numerous folks said it wasn t an issue. My c5 had cam, heads, headers and tune, no issues. My C6 had a big cam, headers and peaked out tune, no issues withe either car passing emissions.
I'm with Al, although I can't speak with experience as my car is totally stock.... but I'd suspect that some pimple faced kid with an hour training on doing plugged in emissions testing would likely pull back a stump instead of his hand if he tried to remove somebody's Corvette license plates because it wasn't stock like mine....
I can't speak to the tune part but when went in for my test the dude did take pictures of the instrument cluster and the rear plate, can't remember the door jamb but maybe I wasn't paying attention.
Originally Posted by mracer
Wanted to get my etest before I put the car away for the winter, so I got it done yesterday. Got a young car guy, right away asks me if I have a aftermarket tune on my car? I don't, but tells me how as a courtesy he asks anyone before he hook's into the ECM and starts the test. Infers how the ministry can detect an aftermarket tune, and if it's detected the ministry has him redflag the car and pulls the plates right on the spot!
Is this true? I thought as long as your not visibly polluting and the theres No CEL your good to go? BTW, was really surprised to see him take pic's of the instrument clustery (engine running) rear end shot, and pic of the sticker on the DS door face..............................
Mike
Last edited by Mad*Max; 11-24-2016 at 07:10 PM.
Reason: can't spell
I can't speak to the tune part but when went in for my test the dude did take pictures of the instrument cluster and the rear plate, can't remember the door jamb but maybe I wasn't paying attention.
The MTO can not detect aftermarket tunes. They just read the ECU to see if the car has passed all the readiness tests and that no check engine light is one. The reason for the pictures is that they upload them to the MTO to validate your e-test showing that there is no check engine light on, car doesn't smoke and the tag picture has your vin on it. I have had my tuned Trans Am done many times and it passed every time along with many of my friends that have had their tuned cars done also.
All the information you need. Not blowing codes, you should be fine. Obviously, the guy has to prove he did his job to the Ministry to get paid. So the pics? Proof you have no dash lights, the plate of the car he tested and its VIN.
Read the Q&A for what happens if you fail. Maximum exposure is $450 in repairs. How is he going to know if you have a tune? You think the Ministry is going to spend $$$$$ to work with manufacturers to load in all stock tunes on all models and keep it on file, or are they going to get a scanner to see if you have any codes. What is the cost benefit of doing that (i.e. to catch 0.01% of the cars on the road with a tune?). This is a cash grab after all.
The interesting bit is how they would know if you cleared a code within 40 kms when coming for a retest.
Maybe I am missing something here. Is the end goal of "Drive Clean" to have just that, cars that drive clean? So if a car is tuned with an aftermarket tuner as Hillary would say "what difference does it make?" If the car runs clean it run clean, only Volkswagen seems to have found a way around that one.
To be fair my car has never been e tested so maybe indeed I am missing something. I do not believe that the technician would have the right to take the plates.
They would know if you reset a code with in 40kms as you have to have all passes in the readiness test. Usually takes a couple of days for them to pass all the tests. Faraz, I can show you if your interested on HP Tuners.
Drive Clean is just a tax grab!!! Black 03 z06 your lucky as you live up north where you get a pass on the drive clean test. As long as your car has no check engine light and don't have excessive smoke (burning oil or antifreeze) you will pass.
The most the e-test tech can do is fail you and then you will have to retest or if the repairs exceed $450 you will get a conditional pass.
I had a stroker engine in my C5 with couple turbos, big cam, no cats, no mufflers, and no emissions of any kind.. Passed every time because of modified ECU...
Nope. I passed just fine with a tune. You could remove the AIR system and the catalytic converters and still pass the scanner e-test.
Originally Posted by raztek
The interesting bit is how they would know if you cleared a code within 40 kms when coming for a retest.
Because when you first reset you get this and fail because the readiness tests are not passed.
Then by the time you drive enough to get the readiness tests to be passed again you get the code back and fail because you have a code.
Just to note, the above truck took over 250km to set all the readiness tests with the code. 2 of the tests would not pass for the longest time. After fixing the cam actuator, it took about 20km to set all the readiness tests.
Last edited by lionelhutz; 11-28-2016 at 09:13 AM.
Had e-test done at the dealer in Mississauga. No problem, car has a Chuck Cow tune! LG long tubes and Corsa exhaust. In reality a tune does not necessarily interfere with the emissions. In many cases the tune is more efficient!
11-23-2016, 02:21 PM
ON E-test detects tunes?
