Nick Intercooler & CA smog

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1973Guppie

1973Guppie

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"the whale's vagina", CA
would like to hear from ca 80 series owners that are running nicks air to air intercooler setup and if they are having any problems with getting their cars CA smogged with this setup installed? I know I can always remove it before smog but not sure I want to deal with the hassle. Just curious to see if it has caused any problems during the visual inspection for other mud members in CA. Here is a link to the air to air IC I am speaking of:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/intercooler-kit-for-sc-gauging-interest.554217/

thx,

Noah
 
Does it have a CARB certification and # on it? I think it mainly depends on the smog shop and how much the guy testing the truck knows about the engine. I've always tried to make my engine compartments as dull and non-flashy as possible, my last two vehicles were a cummins dodge ram that had a bunch of power adders on it and a subaru sti with tons of aftermarket parts on the engine and re-worked ecu maps. I failed once on a visual with the dodge because of a non-stock airbox with no CARB #.
 
You'll be at the mercy of the guy at the test station and whether he assumes the I/C is part of the S/C install (i.e. he incorrectly assumes that the S/C EO # covers the S/C and I/C).

So, whether someone has successfully gone through smog testing without issues won't mean you will be as lucky...

cheers,
george.
 
I hear ya, but just wanted to see what other experiences have been like, I asked my smog guy recently and he said as long as it was not past the throttle body it should be ok, in the end it is not a huge deal as it is fairly easy to go back to stock to smog....
 
1973Guppie said:
I hear ya, but just wanted to see what other experiences have been like, I asked my smog guy recently and he said as long as it was not past the throttle body it should be ok, in the end it is not a huge deal as it is fairly easy to go back to stock to smog....
Click to expand...

If I read your 'smog guy' response correctly, then the I/C is definitely past the throttle body - since it sits between the S/C and intake plenum. Or am I misreading what you wrote?

cheers,
george.
 
NLXTACY said:
Where else would the IC even go?
Click to expand...

Yes, obviously the I/C goes between the S/C and the intake. My point is that the 'smog guy' is implying if stuff is not past the throttle body it would ok and I'm just pointing out that it certainly isn't ok in the case of the I/C. And so, the I/C would 'legally' be an issue come smog test time and would fail without its own CARB EO # **IF** the smog guy doesn't "assume" (incorrectly) that the S/C CARB EO covers both the S/C and IC.

cheers,
george.
 
Ah gotcha ;)

FIRST TOY would know best, he's had to smog his truck locally. In talking to smog guy I use, he said so long as the OEM air box is NOT modified AND there is a CARB# for the SC, he will visually pass it so long as it blows clean. Doesn't make it right/legal, just his view.
 
NLXTACY said:
Ah gotcha ;)

FIRST TOY would know best, he's had to smog his truck locally. In talking to smog guy I use, he said so long as the OEM air box is NOT modified AND there is a CARB# for the SC, he will visually pass it so long as it blows clean. Doesn't make it right/legal, just his view.
Click to expand...

Exactly - as long as the smog guy assumes the TRD S/C comprises the S/C and I/C then all will be fine (visually) since there's a CARB EO # and sticker to make everyone happy...

Of course what really makes sense is that if it passes the actual measurement part of the smog test then everything should be legal. Unfortunately they have that stupid visual inspection part and some of us live in states with some seriously retarded enviro-nuts.

cheers,
george.
 
Oh, and I also went to the carb dmv part of their website where you can pull up various EO's and looked up our TRD S/C one - interesting reading since there's some not-fine-print that mentions carb's uncertainty of the TRD S/C regarding pollutants at various points that aren't in the test sequence and that they could possibly pull the EO # on it if they later ran tests showing failure. I guess we're safe after all these years, but one has to love that carb leaves the door open for themselves to void the 'permission slip'...

cheers,
george.
 
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