CA Smog Test for my 60 (1 Viewer)

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NLXTACY

Wits' End
Joined
Dec 7, 2007
Threads
200
Messages
23,013
Location
Medford, OR
So it was finally that time to register the truck officially and get the smog done. This has been a major worry for me since the day I bought this bucket of bolts. A trip to AAA helped me get pretty far along with getting the registration done and now all I needed was a passing smog certificate and I am good to go.

I went to the same smog guy I have been going to for years. Mainly because he speaks lousy English and he doesn't spend his whole time talking about how good we have it here compared to his home country of Cambodia.

The truck was driven onto the dyno wheels and then he wanted me to make sure that it was for sure in 2WD. He was paranoid about it. He said "how you sure?". Well...the hubs are free and see this front driveshaft? I can spin it. I still don't think he trusted it.

He started it up, it ran fine. Now after 3 minutes I realized something. I'm gonna fail this test. I was starting to feel light headed. The exhaust was pumping out raw gas. Heck I could have put a bucket under the tailpipe to reuse some of that exhaust. The next shop over came over and complained about it. Mr. Cambodia turned on a huge fan to blow out the exhaust. The old black guy waiting in line after me got up and said, "I'd smoke a cigarette but I'm afraid the building will blow, I'm going for a walk." :lol::lol::lol:.

The Mr. Cambodia pops open the hood and puts on his little testers and 30 seconds later he says, "you fail inspection". Inspection?!?! I figured I would fail from the liquid fuel spilling out of the exhaust pipe. He brought me over and showed me.

Here is the deal here in CA. EVERY VACUUM PORT MUST HAVE A HOSE CONNECTED TO IT. Where did I fail? Now on my particular truck it came with dealer installed air and not factory air. Georg spent his time and my money on trying to get everything needed to get it back to factory air. Then I went to my mechanic and converted it to R134a. Well the A/C worked and worked great. BUT...there were still some missing parts that I have been learning that I have.

There is an idle up solenoid on the driver's side fender. One hose goes to the dashpot on the top front of the carb. The other hose goes to the A/C vacuum supply hose coming off the brake booster's finned nipple coming off the intake manifold. All A/C equipped trucks that a small vacuum port off the side of that finned nipple. Mine did not. So a quick trip to SOR and I got the nipple and the solenoid. Now when those are in the truck and working its suppose to kick up the idle when the compressor clutch is engaged. Instead my truck drops idle when I turn on the A/C.

So I failed because I was missing the hose going to the dashpot on the carb. Which only is used for the A/C. So what did I do? What anyone here would do. I told him that my A/C doesn't work and that I took that stuff apart and will be removing the A/C. He said it doesn't matter. If that dashpot is there and there is no hose, it means there is potentially a vacuum leak somewhere. FAIL!

So I said fine. I'll accept it. So I asked him to please proceed and see whatever else he finds. He took off the gas cap and tested it. Tested fine. He put some gizmo onto the fuel filler and filled it with an inert gas, presumedly to put it under pressure. This was to test the evap system and carbon canister. That all checked out. He then did the 15mph test and the 25mph test. So far so good. He then crawled all over it and continued with the physical inspection.

The results? I failed physical inspection AND I failed on HC.

So now if you look at the results, I was high on HC. I was 150PPM (parts per million) and the limit is 129PPM. Average is 43PPM. So what does that mean? Running really rich. As far as SPIKE STRIP and I can tell, after adjusting everything we can, we are pretty sure that this can be attributed to the intake leak I have and why I have consistent 10" vacuum. There is no amount of carb tweaking that I can do to get it to not run rich AND not have the truck running like absolute crap.

The C0% max was .84% where I came in at 0.16% and average being 0.14%. Woohoo.

The NO(PPM) came in at 196PPM where max is 1076PPM and average was 414PPM. Woohoo x2

Now for visual inspection I see where I failed for the hose but I notice for "Ignition Timing" it says "Mech Prob". He never mentioned an issue with the timing and I am not sure if "Mech Prob" is a bad thing or just a neutral thing. Any thoughts?

So now. With this information I went back to AAA to hand them my failure. The girl told me that I would either have one day to bring it to compliance OR I would have to pay $50 in order to have 60 days to do so. So $50 later I now have a red square with a large "4" in the middle of it that now graces the top right corner of my rear hatch window.

Now in doing some research after talking to SPIKE I learned about something that CA has to offer. Its called the SMOG CHECK CONSUMER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM or CAP. Now there are two ways to qualify. Being as between my wife and I we make slightly more than the $39k annual household income required :lol: to be eligible under Income Eligibility, I opted for #2.

Here is what it says:
"TEST-ONLY ELIGIBLE
Your registration renewal notice indicates that your vehicle is required to have its Smog Check Inspection at a Test-Only or Gold Shield station. If you qualify, you must pay the first $100 toward diagnosis and repair of your vehicle. the State will then contribute up to $500 in emissions-related diagnostic and repair services to your vehicle at a CAP-approved station."

So how can I do this by doing the work myself and NOT going through some CAP station? :hmm:

I have til April 2nd to take care of it before I have to pay another $50.

The AAA girl was very helpful in getting all of this info into my hands. As I was getting my paperwork all put into a nice neat pile and getting the paper clip back on, the AAA girl then turns to me and says, "oh and btw, when you put in the request for the state re-imbursement, they are going to be sending you an IOU because of the state budget, sorry!"

Great.
smog-check2.jpg
smog-check1.jpg
 
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Hell, first time I've ever heard someone complain about 10 inches! :D

And tsssk, you're such a gross polluter!
 
LOL!

Gotta do your mani and find you a idle up VSV - Well, you got four months to play with your big 10, anyway....
 
Maybe K & H can do the CAP work ?
 
LOL!

Gotta do your mani and find you a idle up VSV - Well, you got four months to play with your big 10, anyway....

Well bought both at SOR yesterday. I love only living a few miles from there :flipoff2:

Got both used for $50
 
You have the original CAT? A weak CAT could cause the high HC numbers. You changed the cap & rotor recently?

You have to go through a CAP station to get the $500. I did this program which got me started on getting my cruiser to pass smog.

Since when does it cost $50 to get the temporary red sticker while trying to pass smog? I went back and got a couple of them while I was trying to pass smog and then rebuilding the engine but that was a few years back.

I think a intake leak would lean it out not make it run rich. Less air is pulled through the carb since there is a leak.

The high HC which is not too high leads to a ignition problem (rotor, cap, spark plugs), leaky valve, or weak CAT.
 
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Who is "my guy" ?
 
Well...CAT may be a possibility. Cap and rotor, plugs and wires are all brand new OEM.

It costs $50 since Jan. 1st. Before they use to just pass out the temp stickers but now that they charge money for them they are sequential now.

At this time there is both an intake and exhaust leak.

You have the original CAT? A weak CAT could cause the high HC numbers. You changed the cap & rotor recently?

You have to go through a CAP station to get the $500. I did this program which got me started on getting my cruiser to pass smog.

Since when does it cost $50 to get the temporary red sticker while trying to pass smog? I went back and got a couple of them while I was trying to pass smog and then rebuilding the engine but that was a few years back.

I think a intake leak would lean it out not make it run rich. Less air is pulled through the carb since there is a leak.

The high HC which is not too high leads to a ignition problem (rotor, cap, spark plugs), leaky valve, or weak CAT.
 
Sorry man, state secret. I would not want him to get busted by the smog patrol as many of my other connects did in the '90s

PM me... I pay $$$ for State secrets :D:D ;)
 
I went through this last summer. I got my voucher but Arnold froze the funds for the program so the voucher was useless. I suspect the situation is even worse now, and if you want to do the work yourself the voucher won't help you because it's only good at a Gold Shield station.

Forget the voucher and move to plan B, whatever that is.
 
I went through this last summer. I got my voucher but Arnold froze the funds for the program so the voucher was useless. I suspect the situation is even worse now, and if you want to do the work yourself the voucher won't help you because it's only good at a Gold Shield station.

Forget the voucher and move to plan B, whatever that is.

Oh trust me, I don't consider seeing ANY of that money :rolleyes:
 
Joey, take it to K&H and I guarantee you will pass. Just tell Richard I sent you there. My 87 (238.000+mi) just got a smog check and passed on the first check.




co2 02 hc (ppm) co no (ppm)

test rpm meas meas max ave meas max ave meas max ave meas results
15 mph 1600 9.00 8.09 125 43 102 0.79 0.14 0.90 1062 414 283 pass

25 mps 1619 12.92 3.32 96 33 77 1.00 0.12 0.07 1073 372 356 pass
 
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Joey, take it to K&H and I guarantee you will pass. Just tell Richard I sent you there. My 87 just got a smog check and passed on the first check.

Does K & H send it out or do they test there? I've got to get mine done too... Someone told me I should get at least 1000 miles on a rebuilt motor before testing.. This true ?

(sorry for hijack)
 
He sends it out to another smog check, but before he sends it out he checks it on the machines he has to make sure you will pass on the first check.CALL richard 818-594-0088
 
Does K & H send it out or do they test there? I've got to get mine done too... Someone told me I should get at least 1000 miles on a rebuilt motor before testing.. This true ?

(sorry for hijack)

This is a myth from what I heard and my personal experience. I had less than 200 on mine after getting the rebuilt engine back in the cruiser. I ended up having to jet down the carb to finally pass with the rebuilt engine. I still never fully understood it but passed again last year after 2 years since I passed after the rebuild. Hopefully yours passes on the first try. The CO was crazy high after my rebuild with the factory jets. I would drive it a few hundred or less and then change the oil the first time and then take it in to smog it.
 
....."I went to the same smog guy I have been going to for years. Mainly because he speaks lousy English and he doesn't spend his whole time talking about how good we have it here compared to his home country of Cambodia.".....


I found this funny in my searching for any clubs or others 4 wheeling in Cambodia this post come up.

I spend a lot of time in Cambodia and working on moving there I'm a white guy I lived in So cal. and other states. But I think he's not talking about how good you have it because he knows it nicer in Cambodia. LOL. And no smog check there.

Really both country's are just as nice.

I'm just glad I don't live in CA any more. My Vega failed smog there because it did not put out enough smog. and the machine thought the sensor was not in the tail pipe.


Ok Im out of here just passing by.

C-Ya

Brian
 
I just did the smog check B-S in Oakland Ca, and it was a really awful experience. So I want to rant a little:
I looked on yelp and the top two places they listed were horrible.
the first place charged me Double what the going rate is. the going rate is about $60, any more and they're screwing you.
My truck bone stock and all original and runs crappy when it's cold, but fine when it's warm. I tuned it all up, warmed it up, and took it in. The emissions were excellent, but the turd failed me for two reasons:
-it was missing the sheet metal shroud that goes to the heat riser on the air cleaner. this is a big money maker for the smog shops. everyone always chucks this, and they will always fail you for it. I still have the part and went and put it on, and went back, and he still failed it because the bolt tab had rusted off and it wasn't attached properly. So I had to tig weld a new tab on.
-and because the idle was 750 not 650 as stated in his book.
This is wrong! the smog laws state that anything under 1000 is ok. In addition, it is not even possible to get the idle that accurate with a cheapo tach/dwell meter.

The bigger problem, is that of the multiple shops I went to, it was a very odd and specific type of kid that works at these places. Young kids, who don't seem especially mechanically interested, who seem like they just took a class and it's some sort of game to make you fail. They don't want old cars on the road, and that's bull s*.
I finally found a place, and at least the young kid that worked there had some motorcycle mags in the waiting room, and seemed to like cars, and he did an honest job.

In addition, my girlfriend's previa had the check engine light on, and the current rule is that if the check engine light is on, it's an instant fail.
At least my 82 doesn't have a check engine light.
I can't imagine trying to get anything to pass that isn't absolutely bone stock original.
 

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