Although I live in Vermont, where no testing is done, I am curious about the procedure in California. Do the test stations simply check under the hood to make sure everything is connected, and then test the exhaust emissions? How strict are the inspectors? Thank you.

 

They do a visual to make sure the cats, AIR, and even the gas cap is right, "IF" you have a thorough inspector. Then they run a tailpipe test. Many areas are now stuck with a dynomometer test also.

 

Its so bad here even cows are mandated to have cat converters :jester

 

I live in Pennsylvania and just had one of my car inspected in California. Philadelphia and El Monty, CA have the same set up for the inspection. Both places put the car on the roller (dyno? it does show hp and rpm on screen). The guy in CA didn't do much except put my car on the roller and the sensor in one of the exhaust. The guy in Philly check my lights, signal lights, brake lights and even took the wheels off to check the brake pads thickness. In my opinion PA is more difficult since they check the emission and the fuctionality of the vehicle. CA only check for emission and not the function of the car. CA guy please let me know if I am wrong. One thing different about CA is that if your car fail once or twice, the next inspection time you have to take the car to a state assign test center. Not any garage of your choice:(

 

and, i think ,in ca. there is a less selection of stuff you can put in your ride. I think if you tinker with the engine you need CARB #'S on after market stuff. If u caught w/out it, its a biznich.

 

I've had nothing but bad experiences, leading up to one great one.. which is where I'll get my cars smogged from now on.

They check everything, and the state sends out narcs to make sure they're following the books to the letter (or else they may lose their smog license), so they're pretty **** in my experiences, not to mention inept.

One technician advanced my timing causing my car to fail smog. Another thief gave me a false reading, and tried to sucker me for repairs.

"No pass - no pay" is gone now. You pay no matter what. Most places will re-smog for free if you allow them to charge you for "repairs". You can sometimes get a free or cheap pre-inspection to hopefully avoid failing for something ridiculous like a leaking gas cap. I had my air-lid flipped upside down on my 5.0 (commom hillbilly mod) and they guy gave me crap about it.


[Modified by CentralCoaster, 1:05 AM 1/27/2003]

 

Smog 2
Southern Cal has smog 2 in effect and the Central Valley has smog 2 also.
Smog 2 is a dyno test for emissons at speed.
On the central coast they only have the tail pipe and visual, no dynos.
The purpose of smog checks is to phase out the older cars.
This states wants everyone driving a ZEV car. ZEV zero emissions vechicle.
If you live in an "enhanced area" that is smog 2 zones you cannot smog the car in a non enhanced zone untill the car is registered in a the new area.
Pain the azz as you cannot register a car witout a smog cert.
The air is so bad in parts of California that the smog machines have a small tank of "good air" as a baseline for the test?
Emission standards were introduced in the 1966 model year and the air has gotten worse every year. When asked about the emission standards and thier effect on the worseing air quality the CARB California Air Resource Board. The CARB said in effect that the increase in air pollution was a result of increased population. Cars have 60% of the air pollution controls. Industry, farming, the productioin of power account for the other 40% of air pollution.
80% of all the water in the US is polluted and we accomplished that in only 100 years. :confused:

 

Its tuff out here. They have got you by the bearings. No mods are legal, even if they make you car run cleaner. If the manufacturer has paid the freight for a California Air Resources Board (CARB) certificate the change is legal.

By the way, I have been out here 15 years now and the air is much cleaner. They had to change the standard to get some smog days declared. The people who have been here a long time say it is much better than it used to be. They also said the smog was here when the indians burned their campfires to keep warm.

If you want to beat the smog problem, the newer Vettes are classified as ultra low emissions vehicles, which must kill some tree huggers. 175mph, 350 HP, and 25 MPG in a low emissions car. Technology is great.

There is no safety check like there was in New York.

There is the usual corrupt service centers. I took my old Nissan in one time and it was running great. It failed. They wanted to charge me $70 to do a vacuum diagnostic on it. I said :bs . I could barely get it out of the station to the parking lot across the street. It took me 30 seconds to find the hose they knocked off and put it back on. I drove it to another station and it passed not problem.

One of the nice things is that they have "smog only" staions. They can only do the test, no repairs. There is no money it it for them to fail you. They are not even allowed to tell you much about what is wrong with the car, or how to fix it. That part is a bit harsh, but one technician gave me a hint on my '79 Suburban (you know they want that one off the road).

In conclusion, its tuff, but it is worth it for the cleaner air.

Note: they want to go after boats, motorcycles and lawnmowers next.

:auto:

 

Are you saying my trickflow heads will not pass smog in CA :confused:. I am plannig to move back there soon :cry. I have the certificate from trickflow saying it 50 state legal.

 

There is a website that you can check your parts on. Someone else posted it recently. If they are not visually different and they pass the sniffer, no one will know they are not stock.

 

Thanks to everyone who answered my questions about emissions testing. In particular, thanks to "yellow95" for the extensive reply. I appreciate your efforts. DSKRALL