Emissions in No Cal (1 Viewer)

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Cali smog laws are a bunch of political BS! I had a car fail because its timing "was not to spec". I had it re-timed, it then passed with almost twice the emissions as before and running like crap.
 
sounds like mechanic flaw to me
 
I work for a dealership with 30+ ASE cert mechanics. All of whom think the Cali smog laws are more political then environmental. For my car to pass it had to pump out more polution. Sounds like a political problem to me.
 
I just passed. They had to drop it down to a 145 Main from a 147 main to get it under on all of the numbers. Run like stripped dawgshiat now, but at least it passed! Now to get the vee-ate in within the next two years.
 
I work for a dealership with 30+ ASE cert mechanics. All of whom think the Cali smog laws are more political then environmental. For my car to pass it had to pump out more polution. Sounds like a political problem to me.

Oh. That backround clears things up. I hope mine doesn't have to run like junk to pass...

To try to get thing to pass, I'm going to get a new air rail as mine has holes in it. Would this help me? I guess I should check my vacuum, I've never really checked it before and I've always wanted the vacuum gauge in the truck. Where's a good place to draw from though? I think I've heard off the manifold before...
 
hi southbound I recommand you bring to someone who know about cruise like Mudrad Gary I bring my there.after that bring to smog last time I bring my fj60 to smog cost me $600 to get it passed and my cruise running like crap and they burn my emmsion board so I dont know how they make passed but cause me $$$$.

good luck
 
One option is always registering the vehicle in a different county within California. My FJ62 failed pretty badly before I bought it in the bay area (some of the strictest emissions standards in the state, along with LA & San Diego). I registered it in San Luis Obispo and it passed just fine. Some counties in CA dont even require smog (just a few, and who knows for how long). I realize this isn't an option for everyone, since you need an address in that county and you need to have the smog check done in that county as well. But if you have friends or family in a more rural county, this is always an easy option.
 
to all in california who fail smog...take advantage of CAP (consumer assistance program.) every smog tech who fails a car should be informing you of this program. if they don't, ask about it. basically the state will pay up to something like $500 towards any repairs needed to get your rig to pass smog. if you read the fine print, you can also get a waiver after you've spent "x" amount of money and you still can't pass. a waiver basically means you get a 2 year free pass until your next smog check. here's the CAP link:

Consumer Assistance Program Fact Sheet

take advantage of it!
 
Ellington12 is spot on, but that's not much help for the long run unfortunately. When we were testing 1985-87 FJ60's during 1998-99 attempting to get our TBI conversion smog legal, what we discovered was that 98 percent of all emissions equipment on all test vehicles was already dead. We had rusty water pouring out of valves, valves falling apart in our hands, etc.. Some of the pieces we needed to continue the Federal Testing which were not even available any longer. We had to epoxy some pieces together just to continue testing. Most people will not have the $1.000's to replace a complete smog device, nor will the State assistance go very far. I've found that many times just installing a fresh Cat after flunking will get the rig to pass on your return visit to the tester.
 
This made me happy.

to all in california who fail smog...take advantage of CAP (consumer assistance program.) every smog tech who fails a car should be informing you of this program. if they don't, ask about it. basically the state will pay up to something like $500 towards any repairs needed to get your rig to pass smog. if you read the fine print, you can also get a waiver after you've spent "x" amount of money and you still can't pass. a waiver basically means you get a 2 year free pass until your next smog check. here's the CAP link:

Consumer Assistance Program Fact Sheet

take advantage of it!

This made me sad.

Ellington12 is spot on, but that's not much help for the long run unfortunately. When we were testing 1985-87 FJ60's during 1998-99 attempting to get our TBI conversion smog legal, what we discovered was that 98 percent of all emissions equipment on all test vehicles was already dead. We had rusty water pouring out of valves, valves falling apart in our hands, etc.. Some of the pieces we needed to continue the Federal Testing which were not even available any longer. We had to epoxy some pieces together just to continue testing. Most people will not have the $1.000's to replace a complete smog device, nor will the State assistance go very far. I've found that many times just installing a fresh Cat after flunking will get the rig to pass on your return visit to the tester.

If what I'm currently doing doesn't work, I'll just replace the cat as it seems that would help me out a bunch.
 
before replacing your cat, make sure your air injection system is in good shape. a few years back i tried to throw a cat on my truck hoping it would pass. end result? i failed again due to a stuck AIR check valve. air injection is key on the 2f and without it your chances of passing even with the most efficient cat out there are slim.
 
isnt there an age limit to where you do not have to pass smog any longer? I just found that many of the emissions parts are discontinued by Toyota or will be shortly such as the HAC Valve which is already gone except in secondary markets.

I would think a 20 year old vehicle would not be held to the same standards since most manufacturers do not keep parts for that long....Toyota is an exception.
 
isnt there an age limit to where you do not have to pass smog any longer? I just found that many of the emissions parts are discontinued by Toyota or will be shortly such as the HAC Valve which is already gone except in secondary markets.

I would think a 20 year old vehicle would not be held to the same standards since most manufacturers do not keep parts for that long....Toyota is an exception.

The smog exemption in CA is 75 or older. To pass smog all the emission parts need to be working to get it in the range to pass.

I wonder if they have the same requirements for the levels on all cars?
 
75 years old or built prior to 1975? Wow so how do they hold a vehicle built in 70s or early 80s responsible for smog if the parts are no longer available through manufacturer or aftermarket? Is that when they tell you to crush the vehicle and get another?

That is ridiculous.....feel sorry for you 40 and 60 guys as it is impossible to find a new HAC Valve I just found....and used ones are hit or miss if they even work.
 
before replacing your cat, make sure your air injection system is in good shape. a few years back i tried to throw a cat on my truck hoping it would pass. end result? i failed again due to a stuck AIR check valve. air injection is key on the 2f and without it your chances of passing even with the most efficient cat out there are slim.

Where is this air check valve? I don't know too much about the air injection system:confused:, only that my air rail has holes in it. I'm putting on my new (to me) air rail on thursday, and I ordered new vacuum lines from mcmaster-carr.com that shipped yesterday.
 
75 years old or built prior to 1975? Wow so how do they hold a vehicle built in 70s or early 80s responsible for smog if the parts are no longer available through manufacturer or aftermarket? Is that when they tell you to crush the vehicle and get another?

1975 or older are exempted. They don't care what parts are available only what number blow out the tailpipe.
 
Where is this air check valve? I don't know too much about the air injection system:confused:, only that my air rail has holes in it. I'm putting on my new (to me) air rail on thursday, and I ordered new vacuum lines from mcmaster-carr.com that shipped yesterday.

There are too that look identical. One threads onto the end of the air rail on the fender close to the exhaust. The other one threads on the air rail that goes on the head and is on the front side of it where the air come into the rail from the ABV.
 
There are too that look identical. One threads onto the end of the air rail on the fender close to the exhaust. The other one threads on the air rail that goes on the head and is on the front side of it where the air come into the rail from the ABV.

I see what your saying, I also downloaded the emmisions pdf so I can see how to test allllll of that junk, maybe I'll clean out some of those filters too.

I just finished putting on that new air rail and the motor is soooo much quieter and there is even a little bit more power. this weekend I'm going to replace all of my vacuum lines too.
 
Finished the vacuum lines today, some of them felt like they weren't even on. The new ones are tight though, I just wish they were a little darker blue.
 
So I've been dinking around with this for going on three months now (all the while driving with an expired registration) and now my time is up for a free re-test of emissions (otherwise it's another $80 bucks). I'm 95% sure my problem is with the air injection system but everything seems to be working fine. I'm thinking there must be a blockage somewhere. A drastic but possibly effective fix, just to pass emissions for now, would be to reroute the air from the pump so that it goes directly to the cat. Normally this is bad since the catalytic converter can overheat, but I'm thinking it might be OK as a temporary solution. Anybody ever try this? Not sure exactly what to connect to where or how, but should be able to figure that out with a closer inspection...

Thanks!
 

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