I have Lg long tube headers which will not pass smog
I was told that they shouuld. Could it be because i need to replace the converters
I have a shaner throttle body 78mm halltech intake with b&b PRT exhaust
just want to see if I put in new converters if this will pass
Thanks

 

What state/country are you located in, and what sort of smog test do you need to pass?

(OBDII computer test only, or is the exhaust actually sniffed?)

 

orange county california
sniff test

 

i assumed if these were "smog headers"
with the sensors it should pass

 

I am new at this I appologize if i duplicated this reply


i assumed if these were "smog headers"
with the sensors it should pass "sniff"


orange county ca,

 

Are you sure it didn't pass because of a "visual" inspection. In good ole Komi Kali they have a visual test and long tubes definitely will not pass a visual.

 

There are no long tube headers that are considered "approved" in CA.

Please help us a little and tell us WHY you're failing...(surely they tell you this).

Is the actual emissions out of the pipe too high?
Is it displaying any codes or check engine light?
Is the inspector just looking at the car and saying "those aren't allowed"?

If it's the latter, you're SOL. You have a non-CARB approved exhaust system, and in theory, it shouldn't pass, no mater how clean the car is actually running.

I don't make those rules, I don't agree with those rules, but those are the rules.



If you are getting around that aspect (of the visual inspection), and the actual emissions out of the pipe are too much, then maybe you can work with what you got...but the high flow cats aren't helping the cause...even brand new replacements might not get the job done when subjected to a drive cycle dyno test.

 

I can get around the visual its the actual emissions reading.
not clean enough, no check engine lights just needs to pass
the guy that i have says new converteres he will get it to pass
will new converters help just do not want to spend the mony on new cats if it wont help

 

The reason LG's are illegal in CA is because they relocate the cats further down the exhaust and thus don't get as hot plus it takes them much longer to heat up. Make sure the car is wormed up and try to get it on the sniffer as fast as you can, this may be enough to pass it.

 

I have American Racing Headers and also resides in Cali. I disconnected my car battery and stored the car for about 2 months. I drove the car 100 miles just so the cats can warm up and brought it to the smog station. The technician said because I disconnected the battery, my PCM will need to relearn the car drive cycle. If I test it now, it will fail the emission. SO I guess I will need to drive it more. I guess driving 100 miles wasnt enough to warm the cats for it to pass the TEST only smog.

Anybody else have similar experience with this?

 

Are you running a lower temp thermostat? If so, get rid of it and put the stock back on. Going up 10 degrees almost cut my unburned fuel by almost 50%.

Best to run Hot, 200 -210 for a snif test, and make sure the cats are hot as well.

 

So what he's saying is that he'll pass your car if you put some money in his pocket?

 

I could not have said it better. You need to get specific here. Other than LTs and hi flow cats are you running a cam? Does CA run a sniff as well as OBDII test to emission test cars or just the sniff test? Regardless, your inspector should be providing you with a printout. On the printout it will show the areas you passed or failed. If running sniff test, there will be parameters for NO, CO, etc. It will give the PPM range for passing and then what your car's readings were. This is important in diagnosing what areas need to be addressed with your car. Simply thowing on a new set of cats is not the right call unless you know that is your issue. Post up the results of your test and folks can them give you educated advice vs just guessing.

If they are running the OBDII type test, there are readiness monitors that will have to be set in order to pass emissions. If one or two of your systems are Not Ready, then you will fail. There are ways to tune you car to get around the readiness monitors if that is the test you are failing.

My advise is to take you car to a good tuner in your area who can get into your PCM and make sure you car is setup properly to pass emissions. Maybe try Andy over at A&A or do a search for other tuners in your area. I am sure CA is full of them. Good luck with it.

 

check out this site http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html

to quote the site: "A complete driving cycle should perform diagnostics on all systems. A complete driving cycle can be done in under fifteen minutes."

take it easy,

jeff

 

There aren't any faults with the header manufacturers (LG, ARH, B&B, SSW, Dynomax) because federal EPA standards dictate that you cannot move the factory location of the catalytic converters at all. Yes they can be replaced, but you cannot move the position as those are what was approved by the government for that vehicle model. Obviously installing any long tube system will move the factory cats from the stock location, hence the warning message we all ignore that states our headers cannot be installed on a vehicle to be driven on public highways. This applies to all states as it is federal law and not state.

I too have LG Long Tubes, (Streets version) with the hi flow cats, live in Cali and have just passed smog (ODBII and sniffer). But then I did have one thing done that you have not mentioned: has your car been tuned since the header install and what was the AFR during the run? How old are the cats? Mine were a few months old at the time so the next test in two years will be interesting as I want to see the comparison numbers.
So, how about you post up the numbers from the smog certificate? For the sake of comparison here are both of mine.

Before the headers installed:
M1: 15 mph RPM 1402, %CO2 14.8, %O2 0.2, HC 14, CO% 0.05, NO 0
M2: 25 mph RPM 2413, %CO2 14.7, %O2 0.2, HC 4, CO% 0.00, NO 0

After the headers/tune/K&N FIPK:
M1: 15 mph RPM 1952, %CO2 14.2, %O2 0.2, HC 37, CO% 0.23, NO 202
M2: 25 mph RPM 2327, %CO2 14.1, %O2 0.1, HC 19, CO% 0.09, NO 68

 

orange county? me too! if you have the time, put your stock headers back on for smog, thats my suggestion

i will hopefully be getting the same long tubes as yourself, and ive been told they wont pass smog at all, so im gonna run them w/o cats

 

i see some members are posting to see a tuner, which is a great idea!

i'd suggest ryne at CMS, they tune ALOT of corvettes over their, mine was one of about 5 or 6 at the time that were their.

 

Jeff - Good advice, but drive cycles are not always a sure thing for eliminating issues on the OBDII. I had no codes showing on my car and ran at least a half dozen drive cycles over a period of a month. Had my car tested 3 seperate times and could not get 4 of the readiness monitors (O2, Catalyst, EVAP, Secondary Air) to set to okay. Again, no current codes showing on any of these system.

Finally took it back to my tuner after doing a bunch of reseach and he had to set all available codes in these systems to not report in order to get these systems to go to ready status. I was then able to pass OBDII emissions on my 4th attempt. Glad I only have to do this every 2 years.

My tuner also felt that these systems would not go ready due to the position of the cats. Theorized the O2s were not out of spec enough to set a DTC but were also not able to set the system to ready. My understanding is that some of these systems are interlinked and thus if one will not go ready it will prevent others from going to ready status as well. Seeking a tuners help was the only way I could get mine to pass OBDII. There are way to tune around the OBDII test.

The sniff test is going to be the tougher of the two tests to pass. The tune has to be right in order to get CO2, HC, and NO to within acceptable limits.

 

Well I hope i did the right thing i ended up putting on on new cats and it passed i am hoping that this dosnt affect the performance to much it seems to be no difference. its just a little quieter, which is o.k. to me
Thanks for all the imput

 

great!