California Emissions and 1HDFT Diesel Swap into a Gas 80 Series (1 Viewer)

[alaskacruiser]

After reading up on CA emission laws, I'm of the understanding that:
1. It is ok to import and register in CA a 97 80 series with the 1HDFT motor (e.g., HDJ81) because it's over 25yrs old so federal rules waive modern emissions standards, and in CA, any diesel made before 1998 is smog exempt.

2. It is not ok to register in CA a US 97 80 series that originally came with a gas motor, swapped with a 1HDFT because CA treats the vehicle with that VIN as a gas vehicle, and state law states an engine swap must be the same fuel type and must have a CA emissions certification for that year or newer. Since the 1HDFT was never certified in the US, a referee will reject the swap and the DMV will not issue registration.

However, I've been told there are some CA-registered 1HDFT-swapped 80 series running around CA. Can those lucky people please respond here or DM me with what I need to know to make this happen?

 

[Skter505]

After reading up on CA emission laws, I'm of the understanding that:
1. It is ok to import and register in CA a 97 80 series with the 1HDFT motor (e.g., HDJ81) because it's over 25yrs old so federal rules waive modern emissions standards, and in CA, any diesel made before 1998 is smog exempt.

2. It is not ok to register in CA a US 97 80 series that originally came with a gas motor, swapped with a 1HDFT because CA treats the vehicle with that VIN as a gas vehicle, and state law states an engine swap must be the same fuel type and must have a CA emissions certification for that year or newer. Since the 1HDFT was never certified in the US, a referee will reject the swap and the DMV will not issue registration.

However, I've been told there are some CA-registered 1HDFT-swapped 80 series running around CA. Can those lucky people please respond here or DM me with what I need to know to make this happen?

Its not just diesels. CA has restrictions on imports in general. Most imports, even gasoline cars are registered out of state. I'm sure it depends on where you are in the state and what connections you have but it's not common.

 

[Outono]

You will never be able to import directly to CA. And you will never get CARB certified no matter how hard you try. They won't do diesels anymore.

The only way people are getting CA plates on imported diesel Cruisers is by pure luck that the DMV issues plates. In these cases, the owner already has a title from another state.

There is no legal way to do it (and really, there never was, but the rules were murkier years ago).

For those that have FTs, they either (A) got lucky like I outlined above, or (B) swapped after getting lucky at the DMV.

 

[TreadingLight]

I don't know what it takes, today or in the past, to swap motors and do a fuel change.

When it comes to importing any vehicle, gas or diesel (coincidentally, all diesel Toyota's are going to be imports), you need an exception from CARB to register in-state.

That exception is available via two methods.

1) a letter from Toyota asserting that the vehicle meets us standards at the time of manufacture. Toyota will not issue this letter for any diesel because they never tested them against US standards.

2) a test performed by the state-granted monopoly, CEE, in Santa Ana. Per other owners who have done this, expect to pay north of $10k and wait a year for said test.

It is extra confusing because prior to mid-2017, there was an exception to the exception process. If you owned your imported vehicle for at least a year prior to moving to CA as a new resident you could register your vehicle. If that vehicle were a pre-1997 diesel, it would have been smog exempt and you were golden.

After mid 2017, they ended that exception to the exception and started telling people who moved to CA with an imported vehicle to go pay CEE or get a nonexistent letter from Toyota. OK, actually what they said is "I dunno what to do, I am an ignorant moron and I don't understand the byzantine rules."

Long story short, if it is a factory diesel, pay CEE or register out-of-state and cross your fingers.

It is a mess.

 

[TreadingLight]

After reading up on CA emission laws, I'm of the understanding that:
1. It is ok to import and register in CA a 97 80 series with the 1HDFT motor (e.g., HDJ81) because it's over 25yrs old so federal rules waive modern emissions standards, and in CA, any diesel made before 1998 is smog exempt.

To the best of my understanding from talking to DMV and CARB and lots of folks trying to do the same, this requires a CARB exemption via testing at CEE (expensive) as I noted above. Pay the massive fees and you get a sticker that says it is what it is. I think this is probably a punitive measure to discourage people from doing imports but who knows.

2. It is not ok to register in CA a US 97 80 series that originally came with a gas motor, swapped with a 1HDFT because CA treats the vehicle with that VIN as a gas vehicle, and state law states an engine swap must be the same fuel type and must have a CA emissions certification for that year or newer. Since the 1HDFT was never certified in the US, a referee will reject the swap and the DMV will not issue registration.

In the past this was possible. You submitted a REG 256, Statement of Facts, to switch the fuel type to diesel. I have no idea if this has changed but I'm curious to know if fuel changes are still possible.

 

[alaskacruiser]

Thanks, all! Any thoughts on the risks of buying a US 80 series that somehow has a diesel registration, even though it still has the original gas engine and corresponding gas VIN #? I'm wondering if it's safe to diesel swap or if it may eventually be caught by an audit of VIN # vs reg. or by insurance?

 

[mudgudgeon]

Thanks, all! Any thoughts on the risks of buying a US 80 series that somehow has a diesel registration, even though it still has the original gas engine and corresponding gas VIN #? I'm wondering if it's safe to diesel swap or if it may eventually be caught by an audit of VIN # vs reg. or by insurance?

The EPA exemption is for "unmodified" vehicles with original OEM engine configuration.
If you import a vehicle that's been engine swapped with anything other than a direct replacement oem engine for that vehicle, its not legal.
If you import a gas vehicle, register it, and later do a diesel engine swap, its no longer in is original configuration, and the 25 year EPA exemption is made null and void. The vehicle can not be legally registered in USA

 

[mudgudgeon]

There's good information on this stuff in the "Import" section of the forum.

If you are thinking of importing, do some reading there

 

[alaskacruiser]

The EPA exemption is for "unmodified" vehicles with original OEM engine configuration.
If you import a vehicle that's been engine swapped with anything other than a direct replacement oem engine for that vehicle, its not legal.
If you import a gas vehicle, register it, and later do a diesel engine swap, its no longer in is original configuration, and the 25 year EPA exemption is made null and void. The vehicle can not be legally registered in USA

Thanks. I'm asking about a US 80 series that somehow got a diesel registration even though it still has the original gas engine and corresponding VIN

 

[TreadingLight]

I don't know why you'd bother with that kind of shenanigan when you can file forms to do a "change of motive power" and convert a gasser to diesel, both physically and on paper.

Having a title that doesn't match the fuel type probably wouldn't be an issue since the folks who do the inspections at the DMV generally don't know s*** from shinola, but it could cause an issue for smog testing. Or maybe they'd exempt you from smog testing. Hard to say. I wouldn't risk the hassle personally.

 

[Skter505]

If you're still asking about California it's not happening. Requires an inspection when selling/buying and then every couple years after. Needs to be registered in a free state without jumping through a lot of hoops.

 

[TreadingLight]

Well you have the inspection on transfer into the state. Thats done by DMV employees and sometimes CHP depending on what they see. They are dufuses and will literally not notice (sometimes) if the fuel type of the engine doesn't match the paperwork. I've seen this. But it is a crapshoot.

Then you have smog, annually/biannually. They would absolutely notice. However if you did miraculously manage to get a pre-97 cruiser titled and registered as a diesel even though it really had a gas engine, you'd mistakenly become smog exempt and not have to see the much more knowledgeable smog people.

I sure would not count on that. A lot of mistakes would have to be made. But stranger things have happened.

 

[peneumbra2]

So, anyone interested in purchasing stationery with Toyota letterheads?