Anyone know the details of the visual test?

Is it just looking for the EGR and downpipe, or are they supposed to consider all other items (non-stock hoses / intercooler, etc.)?

M

 

I don't know what part of New York you live in, but down here in Long Island(and I thought that it applied to all of New York state), You need to have a dyno smog test every 2 years.

BTW, more and more of the rest of the US is following the smog regulations/testing of california.

 

Not in Upstate. Charlotte was the same way.

 

Michigan baby, (in a Hick voice that drives a 79 Camaro IROC with rusted exahust and burning oil 'Whas one of dem SmOgy testies for?' I have to thank the hillbillys in Michigan cause without them I'm sure my state would have smog too.

Nick

 

So...basically there's two methods (that I know of) that they use to determine what to look for in the visual. First, the sticker that should be on the underside of your hood has some information that explains to the tech what's supposed to be there. I don't have a pic of it right now, but it does show that you need to have EGR, PCV, precat, main cat, and maybe some other stuff. The techs are generally going to assume that you have everything, but will check to be sure. If something looks like it's sketchy and you have some kind of honest boy-scout of a tech, you'll be screwed (like me I was ).

Second, all of the shops that I've been to that do smog have this Mitchell manual that contains all of the same information as above, but in a convenient manual that gives info on a whole lot of cars. This is generally something they might use in place of or in addition to (i.e. cross-reference) the underhood sticker.

So...I don't honestly know exactly which items they're looking for...if someone can get a pic of the underhood sticker and post it, we can decipher it. I'll get one when I head down to my garage (heh, bein lazy ).

It's a major bummer that the CA smog techs have to follow these rules since the sniffer is really the key part of the smog check. If a car will pass the sniffer, it shouldn't matter one way or another what kind of equipment is going on under that hood. Also, since you asked, they will be keeping an eye on anything under that hood...basically, if it has anything to do with intake, exhaust, ignition, etc. they'll be looking out for it. Intercoolers must be CARB approved in CA, same for intakes, ignition units, and any exhaust mods that involve a catalyst unit (i.e. precat or main cat). They don't care about anything beyond the main cat though since the exhaust is being fully processed before that point.

There's a website you can go to and see what is CARB approved. It's a relatively small list of stuff, most of which doesn't apply to FD's, unfortunately. Here it is:

http://arbis.arb.ca.gov/aftermkt/aftermkt.exe

There's also a thread in the West forum about FMIC's that you might find interesting:

https://www.rx7club.com/forum/showth...highlight=CARB

*sigh* have fun

 

Hey I was comparing your readin's {SanJorx7} to mine and it's pretty close. Btw do u have any exhaust mod on car beside the downpipe? Anyhow here is mine test resluts reading. NOx =673 max is 1088, Hc=36 max is 141, CO% =0.01 max is 0.79, CO2% = 14.7, O2% 0.8. my car has hks catback, mind-train downipie and oem main cat.

 

My only exhaust mod is my DP. At some point I may go high flow, or MP, but not for a while due to $$. I also plan to do intake someday, as well as IC and catback, but only intake and IC are going to be of concern for smog purposes (and can potentially screw up my ability to pass the sniffer).