Another smog check rant

[Bryan C.]

So once again my 96 XJ gets flagged under the "high emitter profile" tag and I have to go to a test only smog check station. This pisses me off mostly because I am a licensed smog check technician. The only problem is that the dealer that I work for isn't a test only or gold shield smog station. Ok, Ok, I'm used to this as this is the 3rd time I have been sent to a test only smog shop with this Jeep. Oh did I mention my daily driver is a 92 XJ and has to go to a test only station too? :smsoap:

Off I go trying to find a cheap smog check station. We have a shop in Walnut Creek that we refer our customers to, but they are $59.95 + cert and ET(electronic transmission of certificate to DMV) fee. Basically $70 total out the door. Too much for this piece of crap considering I had to buy a $75 O2 sensor, and registration is $103. I see a few places on Craigslist offering low buck smogs. $29.95 + cert and ET fee. Cool, I'm on it. I call them up and ask if they can fit me in, and if they will honor the craigslist ad. They ask me if I was directed to a test only station, I answer yes. Then they ask what type of vehicle, I say Jeep. He says "OK the price will be $59.95 out the door." Me "What?" Him "Yeah its $29.95 plus $12 for it being a test only vehicle, and an additional $7 for it being a SUV." Me "What?" Him "Yeah we charge extra for it being a test only vehicle, and we charge extra for larger vehicle because they are heavier and will wear out the bushings on the dyno faster." Me "What? Are you serious?" Him "Yeah, and we are the cheapest in the area too." Me "Yeah right, goodbye."

So I call around the area, and he was right, they are the cheapest. What the hell? This is seriously f-ed up. I call the guy back and tell him I got a coupon at work for a $39.95 smog regardless of the type of vehicle or why I am bringing it there. I didn't really have the coupon, but he believed me. He says "Sorry sir, we can't go that low, but I will drop the price down and smog your vehicle for $55 total." Damnit, I was stuck, registration is due in a few days and I don't want to drive all over just to save $5 somewhere else.

At least it passed. :rattle:

 

[tgoff]

Move to Nor-Cal, no smog.

 

[5-90]

So once again my 96 XJ gets flagged under the "high emitter profile" tag and I have to go to a test only smog check station. This pisses me off mostly because I am a licensed smog check technician. The only problem is that the dealer that I work for isn't a test only or gold shield smog station. Ok, Ok, I'm used to this as this is the 3rd time I have been sent to a test only smog shop with this Jeep. Oh did I mention my daily driver is a 92 XJ and has to go to a test only station too? :smsoap:

Off I go trying to find a cheap smog check station. We have a shop in Walnut Creek that we refer our customers to, but they are $59.95 + cert and ET(electronic transmission of certificate to DMV) fee. Basically $70 total out the door. Too much for this piece of crap considering I had to buy a $75 O2 sensor, and registration is $103. I see a few places on Craigslist offering low buck smogs. $29.95 + cert and ET fee. Cool, I'm on it. I call them up and ask if they can fit me in, and if they will honor the craigslist ad. They ask me if I was directed to a test only station, I answer yes. Then they ask what type of vehicle, I say Jeep. He says "OK the price will be $59.95 out the door." Me "What?" Him "Yeah its $29.95 plus $12 for it being a test only vehicle, and an additional $7 for it being a SUV." Me "What?" Him "Yeah we charge extra for it being a test only vehicle, and we charge extra for larger vehicle because they are heavier and will wear out the bushings on the dyno faster." Me "What? Are you serious?" Him "Yeah, and we are the cheapest in the area too." Me "Yeah right, goodbye."

So I call around the area, and he was right, they are the cheapest. What the hell? This is seriously f-ed up. I call the guy back and tell him I got a coupon at work for a $39.95 smog regardless of the type of vehicle or why I am bringing it there. I didn't really have the coupon, but he believed me. He says "Sorry sir, we can't go that low, but I will drop the price down and smog your vehicle for $55 total." Damnit, I was stuck, registration is due in a few days and I don't want to drive all over just to save $5 somewhere else.

At least it passed. :rattle:

Find a small "Test Only" shop (I've got an 88...) and tell them you've converted it to AWD and it can't go on the dyno.

No-one has questioned me yet...

But I do agree - the whole "Test Only" profiling is bogon emissions. The second or third time they did it to me, I called CARB and went WTF? They told me it was because I'd been "profiled" as a gross emitter.

Come again? I thought we didn't do profiling. Besides, I asked if he had access to my numbers. "Sure - gimme your plate #." I did. I do maintain my vehicle rather well.

I think I heard the guy's eyebrows going up over the phone. His car was ten years newer, and I had better numbers.

I told him it's too bad that we keep up this "visual inspection" nonsense - or I could eliminate a couple of things, change a couple of others, and make it run even cleaner.

So, is there any way we can get out of this profiling nonsense? I'm getting tired of it - especially when I see old cars belching blue smoke on the freeways, with current tags. If they can pass, why is my Jeep a problem?

 

[oo7ravisXJ]

All Smogs in dublin off of village parkway next to shucks transmission. My family has always gone there, this last time was i think $48 (forty somthing, i cant really remember) out the door. Its a flat fee, test only, nice guy too.

 

[XJensen]

and registration is $103.

Wow my registration was $106 for my 2001, I would think that a '96 would be less.

Move to Nor-Cal, no smog.

Dublin is NorCal just not NorNorCal :farmer:

I grew up in Lake County and never have to smog there. Here is Sacramento I just got my notice to smog as well.

 

[Letterman]

Find a small "Test Only" shop (I've got an 88...) and tell them you've converted it to AWD and it can't go on the dyno.

No-one has questioned me yet...

I do the same thing, I really don't want to see my junk on 37's spinning that fast on a dino by some underskilled smog check monkey that is just doing this job till he gets his shot on American Idol!

"Yes it is All Wheel Drive!"

 

[Bryan C.]

Wow my registration was $106 for my 2001, I would think that a '96 would be less.



Dublin is NorCal just not NorNorCal :farmer:

I grew up in Lake County and never have to smog there. Here is Sacramento I just got my notice to smog as well.

I have a special California memorial license plate which costa an extra $40 a year.

 

[Greg H]

Just 2 cents, this "test only" thing might not be ALL bad.
I got hit with it for 1st time last year. I mentioned it to my
dad and he told me about a time he went to a repair shop,
they told him his car failed and that it would cost $250 to
fix. He had a hard time believeing cuz that car gets very
little use. He then took it to a test only shop...the car passed.
So maybe besides keeping a close eye on cars with bad reputations,
they're also looking out for rip-off shops.
BTW, the shop that tried to screw my dad was the Arco at
Blacow Rd. & Stevenson Blvd. in Fremont. Dont go there!

 

[Starboard M]

I do the same thing, I really don't want to see my junk on 37's spinning that fast on a dino by some underskilled smog check monkey that is just doing this job till he gets his shot on American Idol!

"Yes it is All Wheel Drive!"

So if one were to do this conversion to "awd", do you just tell the smog people, and then they dont smog your stuff?

 

[Jes]

So if one were to do this conversion to "awd", do you just tell the smog people, and then they dont smog your stuff?

You still SMOG it, just not on the dyno.




Hey Dave, what do they say about your locking hubs, or do they not notice?

 

[Letterman]

You still SMOG it, just not on the dyno.




Hey Dave, what do they say about your locking hubs, or do they not notice?

The guy I go too has no clue, he said "I can no smog you Jeep, tire it too big for test. I can no smog, I can no smog!" I said "it is all wheel drive, do you know a shop that can do that?" he said "It all wheel drive? I can do . . . I can do!"

I don't run a muffaler and I had to show him where the down pipe was just behind the cat.

I failed the first time because I had just cleared the codes, I told him the battery was dead. He told me the computer needed to run a full check, and I had to drive the jeep over 35 miles to get the computer to pass. I drove it for about 40 miles, went back the next day he re-smogged it for free and it passed.

 

[Bryan C.]

So if one were to do this conversion to "awd", do you just tell the smog people, and then they dont smog your stuff?

It reverts back to the old two speed idle test. This is a good thing if you fail on NOx emissions. There is no way to accurately test for NOx without there being a load on the engine.

The guy at the test site I went to asked me the same thing, "Is this a AWD?" SInce I knoew it would pass I said no, he ran it OK. I had no problems running the 35" tires on the dyno here at work. I don't see a 37" tire being a problem either, but whatever.

 

[Jes]

How about 37" bias plys that are chunked with one at 10 PSI and one at 19 psi?

 

[Letterman]

It reverts back to the old two speed idle test. This is a good thing if you fail on NOx emissions. There is no way to accurately test for NOx without there being a load on the engine.

The guy at the test site I went to asked me the same thing, "Is this a AWD?" SInce I knoew it would pass I said no, he ran it OK. I had no problems running the 35" tires on the dyno here at work. I don't see a 37" tire being a problem either, but whatever.

I would have no issues with you putting my junk with 37's on a dyno, but you are not

some underskilled smog check monkey that is just doing this job till he gets his shot on American Idol!

 

[Bryan C.]

How about 37" bias plys that are chunked with one at 10 PSI and one at 19 psi?

If you really wanted to have fun, bring your junk like that down there and lock you rear locker before he pulls it on the dyno. That would be fun to watch. :sunshine:

 

[Slonopotam]

Find a small "Test Only" shop (I've got an 88...) and tell them you've converted it to AWD and it can't go on the dyno.

No-one has questioned me yet...

ok, and what do they do then ?
how do they test ?

 

[5-90]

ok, and what do they do then ?
how do they test ?

As was said previously - they have to do the two-speed idle test, instead. Just all four wheels on the ground and run the engine.

The main reason I don't like the idea of doing a dyno test is because the first time I had to get it done (bought the 88 in Sacramento, which was SCII at the time) the fool stalled the engine on the rollers - the shop manager came over because I was yelling at the damn fool from the lobby.

Frankly, if you don't know the rudiments of driving a stick shift, you shouldn't be working on cars. Sooner or later, you're going to have to drive one around. If you can't release a clutch properly on a dyno, I don't want you anywhere near my truck.

 

[Bryan C.]

So my test only smog check station saga continues. I had a plan this year, I would smog my junk before the smog renewal was sent to my house. I had been keeping an eye on my smog test status through the state website over the last few months. My registration is due in February. Registration renewals come out 3 months ahead of when the reg expires. Oct 1st I was still not directed to a test only station. A few weeks later I had my rig at dealership and I decided to run a smog and see if I could beat the test only cycle. Well I got burned. On October 21st my junk had reverted back to a test only smog check. Still pissed, but what can I do. Off I go to find a cheap test only station to deal with.

 

[Jes]

I know your POS will pass anywhere but depending on price may I suggest the place I went to in Oakley?
Aren't we going to have to smog our vehicles(10 years or older) every year pretty soon? And I can't wait till I have to smog my diesel too.

 

[5-90]

Yeah - when the damned smog test costs more than the plate renewal, there's something wrong.

Besides, every station is a "Test Only" station to me, since I don't allow them to touch my engine more than they absolutely have to (that means that they can clamp their pickup on the #1 plug lead. As far as I'm concerned, that's IT!!!)

My "AWD Conversion" is pure vapourware - but no-one has caught on yet. So, it will serve. I suppose I may have to do it for real sometime (throw in an NP242 and a disconnect on the linkage, switch it into "Full Time" before I go in? Hmm...)

I really do want to find a pre-74 J-series one of these days...