Smog Test Stories, Got One???

[410Fortune]

Oh man I feel ya

BII last year:

1. Emissions test place is 1 mile from my house = AWESOME, license place is 2 miles away and never crowded = more awesome, usually this would be great, as it is with most vehicles

2. CO now will not test tires over 33" tall

so my story goes: I pull up with 35's, guy comes running out "we cant test those, we cant test those" I expected this but figured I would try to get by under the wire.
I see an RV being tested, full size bus like RV, I say "you are testing him?" he explains RV/Semi dont do dyno.. I am like "well how about I dont either?" he says "no"

I drive home, swap to 33's I have saved JUST for this reason!

come back and say "here we are, cone shaped 33's! should be much safer on the dyno then those balanced new flat 35's I just had" and give him the keys

yes I am a HUGE PITA when it comes to my baby BII and STUPID regulations
(FYI I have tested with 35's on the SAME DYNO before the new law)


Now I watch, first they look under the hood... V8, EFI, EGR, no biggie cool they didnt say anything! Next mirror under the truck, verify cat converter, and 02 sensors, cool no biggie still no gripe!

Now comes the dyno, I am expecting QUICK PASS

Guy cannot get the truck into D instead he is in 2, I know I know floor shifters can be really hard! LOL

truck FAILS quick pass, passes gas cap test

I get free re test, I park, walk around to the office, ring bell, wait........wait .....wait more

So I talk to manager, explain to him the floor shifter is not 100% yet, I can put it in D for him, he agrees to re-test

I actually SAT in the pass seat with him and shifted the truck

truck passes QUICK PASS YEAH we are good to go!

WRONG, FAILED GAS CAP TEST that it just passed 45 minutes ago

Manager is now like WTF and agrees to run me through again after I am in his ear for 20 minutes about how a gas cap that just passed has now failed somehow with two test papers in hand

3rd test, me shifting again, cleared an 02 sensor code (not shocked now dyno run in 2nd gear), gas cap passed and all is well

I would NOT let them off the hook that easy, they wanted me to just go home, I was NOT leaving there without my pass test, the BII had passed with the V8 no issues two years ago, and I FIXED ALL THE PROBLEMS IT HAD before this latest test except my touchy shifter

Emissions test monkeys = not so bright

Aside from my wife and I these are the only other people who have ever attempted to drive my BII, my wife has no issues after a 10 second how too, these guys need more like an hour how to and even then I wouldnt hand them the keys

 

[Masterd]

Brooklyn - If either of those situations happened to me, there'd be alot more going down that just words, for sure.

I try to go to the same guy every time, because I know he does good work.

 

[Stic-o]

I have a guy over in Van Nuys that I like to tke it too. He's really cool. When I had the B2 it didn't pass the first time, so he ran it agian even though there not spose too Then it passed. He also tells you when you get te car there..."don't turn it off!, the hotter the better"


Explorer seems to pass fine always, they finally put it on the tread mill last time though, when they saw the man. t-case. 37's on it is interesting. due again next jan

F-150 is still to new, got a few more years till I have to worry about it. (2011)

Volvo had it done fist time this year, and passed fine.

 

[cybergasm]

Well I had mine done a few weeks ago....stock 4.0 with 291k on it...passed just fine. Here the #'s:

:fire:

hmmm i am really beginning to hate Cali maybe a will move out of the state after all

 

[410Fortune]

CA emissions is RETARDED

Problem is the rest of the country wants to follow suit, if the lefty dems have their way LOL instead of get a little bit more reasonable

OR you can open an emissions shop in CA and join the fun!

 

[Tbars4]

...I don't know if you guys heard but, one of the first things Obama did was to move forward with releasing California from the Federal end so that they may be allowed to move forward with their own Emission laws, in hopes that they will set forth a new presidence for the rest of the nation to follow..
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-na-emissions26-2009jan26,0,615160.story

 

[410Fortune]

Oh and Carbon Dioxide is now tax-able, yes thats right what you breathe and what plants need to survive, the EPA is now watching closely and can tax you for it

We are so headed in the WRONG direction

 

[Masterd]

CA emissions is RETARDED

Problem is the rest of the country wants to follow suit, if the lefty dems have their way LOL instead of get a little bit more reasonable

OR you can open an emissions shop in CA and join the fun!

..Or people could just maintain your vehicles enough to pass and not have to worry about it?

I still see tons of cars far younger than

 

[CDW6212R]

CA is such a wonderful place, the tax rate and social services are so efficient. LOL,

 

[Rick]

..Or people could just maintain your vehicles enough to pass and not have to worry about it?

Arizona adopted CA emissions years ago. The state senator which was pitching the program hot and heavy left his seat in the state government and went to work for the company that has the state contract for emissions testing

My 2003 Dodge Ram Cummins now has to be tested every year to check the opacity of the exhaust. Rather than my paying $25 a year to determine my truck isn't smoking I think cops should be able to pull you over for 'visually excessive emissions' and give a ticket directing you to get your vehicle fixed.

This would solve two problems. 1. No more having to pay $25 dollars a year and having to drive 30 miles out of my way just to tell me what I already know. 2. It would give cops another opportunity to "make contact" with drivers, which means more DUI arrests, drug possession arrests, etc...

The only entities who wouldn't benefit are the ones who own or work for the private company doing the emissions testing and of course the state's coffers.

This is the second year in a row I have had to get tested. The standard for exhaust opacity on my vehicle is 40%. Mine blew a 7.7%. I believe anyone could visually see a vehicle which was puffing out an exhaust with 40% opacity.

 

[CDW6212R]

I agree with you Rick, there are better ways to keep air cleaner.

LOL, the opacity of a diesel does not bother me, but the stink sure does. I spend a lot of time turning my AC off and on, to avoid upcoming areas that usually smell, like intersections. I got a pair of vacuum switches from Karl to manually control the recirculate vacuum switch next to the glove box. I need to add an electrical switch to the radio bezel for that. I want to keep my inside air inside and leave the bad air outside.

 

[BrooklynBay]

Brooklyn - If either of those situations happened to me, there'd be alot more going down than just words, for sure.

I try to go to the same guy every time, because I know he does good work.

The shop that cut the wires got sold to another owner shortly after they did this to me. The place had a bad reputation according to other shops nearby. It was bought & sold several times. The second place that was a transmission shop closed down shortly after, and was vacant for a very long time until a lumber yard purchased the property. I have several horror stories about rapair shops, but I don't want to hijack the thread.

 

[Tbars4]

...And a recent entry from Colorado...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=256500

 

[Tbars4]

...Our recent entry from Arizona...
http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=261184

 

[BKennedy]

I had fun last time I went to smog the Explorer, about a year ago.
Found an add in the Pennysaver. Called the guy on the phone and explained all the modifications I have made, and made sure he understood there were NO engine modifications. He says "No problem, come on over."
When I get there, the same guy I spoke to on the phone starts acting like I was trying to pull a fast one with him because the transmission is not stock. I repeated to him what I said on the phone, that is has no effect on smog testing. Then he starts complaining about people who just "need to be honest". I tell him to either test it or don't, I can just go down the street and have someone else run the test because I know it will pass. So...he decides to honor me with his testing ability....
I watched him drive it over and back it onto the raised rack for the rear wheel rollers, which was about a foot off the garage floor. He steps on the gas, backs right over the lip, and the rear tires flop onto the floor. He puts it in drive and pulls back up over the lip and centers the rear tires. Those 35" MTR's grip real good.
He continues to test my Explorer, and it passes with less discharge than the time before, with the old transmission and the double catalytic converters (when I put that 700R4 in there, I traded the two stock cat's for one high flow cat). He brings in around, and never mentions him driving off the roller rack, thinking I did not notice. Then he has the huevos to repeat his cranky complaint about people who just need to be honest. After I get my paperwork, I tell him what I think about his shop and his version of honesty, and how I am never going to come back. Then he tries to apologize, to which I tell him to.......you know.

 

[Tbars4]

...^^^ I swear, that is the guy I used last time, or they just train them all the same..

 

[BKennedy]

...^^^ I swear, that is the guy I used last time, or they just train them all the same..

That clown was actually the owner of the shop. He is most likely, the smartest person in the shop, which would make them a bunch of real idiots.

 

[Axial32]

I'm so glad I don't have to deal with those morons...
If I ever caught a shop cutting or removing things on my vehicle without my permission, I WOULD take a crowbar to the persons' kneecaps... I wouldn't even care about the trouble I would get in. It would be worth it.