Smog check moron

[xcm]

I can hear pretty much every opinion above. Its not their fault, but they signed up for a career that doesnt 'do' anything but mess with people, so it is hard to feel bad for them. They arent mechanics.


That being said, the state treats them like shit. I had an xj fail smog 13 times, while chasing repairs. After something fails that many times, it raises enough red flags, that should a guru come lay hands on it, and fix it so it runs great and passes... hell I can replace the entire engine to make it run like a top..., That thing now throws many 'red flags' in the ca smog system, and no smog guy wants to touch it. Should it pass, he gets points on his smog liscense and added scrutiny from the state....

Its allmost as if they wanted me to sell that perfectly fine vehicle to mexico.

 

[Talyn]

I can hear pretty much every opinion above. Its not their fault, but they signed up for a career that doesnt 'do' anything but mess with people, so it is hard to feel bad for them.

Lol.. reminds me of the TSA

 

[AIbandit]

Its allmost as if they wanted me to sell that perfectly fine vehicle to mexico.

Like exporting will prevent global warming.


This is what California did to semi trucks. My parents truck became worthless with their new law and they had to sell it out of state and buy a new one even though it had half its life left.
They almost went out of business.

 

[Bryan C.]

I can hear pretty much every opinion above. Its not their fault, but they signed up for a career that doesnt 'do' anything but mess with people, so it is hard to feel bad for them. They arent mechanics.

Depends on what kind of license thay have. The test only guys are the ones who can't find their ass with both hands. Actual test and repair techs are usually the ones that know what they are doing.

I blame all the cheap bastards who would never spend on a dime on maintaining their vehicle for the smog check laws. Mix in the eco nazi's and legislators trying to make their mark and we are left with the current smog check program. :doh:

I actually like the fact that I can make people fix their junky cars and not just drive them into the ground while polluting the air we all breathe.

 

[bjoehandley]

I was just talkingto somebody who was complaining about having to get his Equinox fixed to pass emissions around here a few days ago. I think it was probably at least a new cat that set him back about $600 and a few other things. Apparently his son lives somewhere closer to me, but has his vehicles registered outside of the emissions compliance areas so he doesn't have to smog them.....which consists of plugging into the OBD2 port and checking for fault codes. Anything preOBD2 has to pass just long enough to get registered in this area if it isn't already renewed then the state doesn't care, same for everything when you get far enough from major urban centers.

 

[karstic]

I actually like the fact that I can make people fix their junky cars and not just drive them into the ground while polluting the air we all breathe.

This

 

[Cottontail]

I was just talkingto somebody who was complaining about having to get his Equinox fixed to pass emissions around here a few days ago. I think it was probably at least a new cat that set him back about $600 and a few other things. Apparently his son lives somewhere closer to me, but has his vehicles registered outside of the emissions compliance areas so he doesn't have to smog them.....which consists of plugging into the OBD2 port and checking for fault codes. Anything preOBD2 has to pass just long enough to get registered in this area if it isn't already renewed then the state doesn't care, same for everything when you get far enough from major urban centers.

Where in the heck does a Catalytic Converter cost $600? I replaced the one on my ZJ about 40,000 miles ago for under $275. Are there special ones in California made where the internal baffles are made up with ground up unicorn horns or something?

 

[87manche]

Where in the heck does a Catalytic Converter cost $600? I replaced the one on my ZJ about 40,000 miles ago for under $275. Are there special ones in California made where the internal baffles are made up with ground up unicorn horns or something?

go price manifold with cat converters in them.

then replace x2 on a v6 gm product.

it's likely there are 4 cats in that gm pile of crap, and that they were killed by the crappy valve seals that let oil kill them.

known issue.

 

[RedHeep]

I paid $36 to renew the jeep registration on the Internet in Ohio and sent it to my house in North Carolina. You don't have a smog problem, you have a geographic problem

 

[cal]

I always have a hard time smogging my jeep too.

 

[AIbandit]

I actually like the fact that I can make people fix their junky cars and not just drive them into the ground while polluting the air we all breathe.

The Carb numbers and visual are bullcrap. If it passes the sniffer there's no reason for it.

 

[bjoehandley]

The Carb numbers and visual are bullcrap. If it passes the sniffer there's no reason for it.

That's how it went here in the Chicagoland area on pre-OBD2 stuff, so long as it looked like it had a cat, gas cap held pressure, and was within the limits of what was supposed to be put out by it, you were good. On OBD2, all you have to do is not show any codes that have popped up within 200 miles when they plug into the vehicle, you're good. Don't matter if the vehicle marks it territory, don't matter if there's any kind of pcv bypass or catch can, don't care if it's too loud (at one point, the turbo Lebaron that preceeded my XJ would shake the chamber it was being tested in:laugh3: ), so long as it passed the sniffer or the codes check out.

Last time I had to smog my XJ, I was more concerned with it possibly overheating (radiator is getting bad and it was in July) and then being able to go and get the plates renewed immediately afterwards since I procastinated it was all being done on the last day off I had before the end of that month. Luckily, it didn't puke any until I got home and things are set up for the emissions testing and registration here, the results of the test are instantly sent to the DMV and I was able to renew without question or any extra hassle beyond dealing the heavy construction traffic near the testing center.

 

[bjoehandley]

Where in the heck does a Catalytic Converter cost $600? I replaced the one on my ZJ about 40,000 miles ago for under $275. Are there special ones in California made where the internal baffles are made up with ground up unicorn horns or something?

go price manifold with cat converters in them.

then replace x2 on a v6 gm product.

it's likely there are 4 cats in that gm pile of crap, and that they were killed by the crappy valve seals that let oil kill them.

known issue.

I didn't ask if he had a 4 or 6 cylinder, but one thing he was complaining about was having to put 200 miles on the thing before testing it within the next day or two once he got it fixed. I didn't think to ask how much time he had between the time the light came on and last week, but if that thing gave him the lead time that my XJ gave me, there's no excuse unless he was in an even worse financial state than had been at the time or is much more of a procrastinator than even I am.........and I'm pretty damn bad when it comes to that!

 

[Darky]

My Jeep always passed with flying colors, even with a broken cat. Got a new cat installed, and emissions didn't change. Miss that thing.

 

[ehall]

holy crap its darky

 

[scottmcneal]

An it's a RED darky.

Welcome Sir.

 

[Bryan C.]

The Carb numbers and visual are bullcrap. If it passes the sniffer there's no reason for it.

I will agree with that but only to a point. As long as everything works like it is supposed to then yes it should pass. Evaporative emissions are a major source of air pollution. Ever walked by an old carbureted car and smell gas, that is air pollution. Every bit as bad as what is coming out of the exhaust pipe. Not all the bad stuff comes out of the tailpipe on a car. Hell they put the entire car in a sealed box and measure the static emissions with the engine off. Some manufacturers have special headliners and interiors for california only with low VOC adhesives just to pass this test. But with alll the cars on the road in California it is a necessary evil.

 

[shelbyluvv]

It is a RED Darky! Hello Justin

 

[RedHeep]

I will agree with that but only to a point. As long as everything works like it is supposed to then yes it should pass. Evaporative emissions are a major source of air pollution. Ever walked by an old carbureted car and smell gas, that is air pollution. Every bit as bad as what is coming out of the exhaust pipe. Not all the bad stuff comes out of the tailpipe on a car. Hell they put the entire car in a sealed box and measure the static emissions with the engine off. Some manufacturers have special headliners and interiors for california only with low VOC adhesives just to pass this test. But with alll the cars on the road in California it is a necessary evil.

What do you do about the cows?

 

[Bryan C.]

What do you do about the cows?

Eat them.