EPA Fining Tuning company $300K

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted by Brigadier
Definitely a money grab/show of power.

https://www.columbian.com/news/2017/may/05/state-vehicle-emission-tests-to-end/




Absolutely. Unelected people accountable to no one with ridiculous powers...

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted by Kawiguy454
It is my understanding that after 2018-19 it is going to be almost impossible to hack into vehicle controllers. The industry already sees this coming and IMO it will kill off the new car hotrod industry. That may make some of you happy to hear that the "childish behaviors" have been put down. It is sad to hear this huge chunk of Americana will be ending and some have no clue what that really means in cultural and economic terms. The little guy innovating in his garage like so many in the past will be forever locked out.


That may not be completely true. Commonly available stand alone engine computer systems can run just about any engine and transmission. They ain't cheap, but they can be excellent.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Originally Posted by Linctex
This is eventually going to hurt diesel truck sales..... most people don't want to deal with how finicky they have become.



Yup, all the guys I know who own late model diesels bought them with the idea that they could tune out a lot of the emissions stuff to make them more reliable. Not saying it's right, but how can you blame them when the truck already costs $60k+ and the emissions system repairs cost in the tens of thousands just to run the thing.

The guys who just blow as much smoke as possible are a different story and their trucks should be impounded.


One of the trucks at work just came back from Ryder for a STOP ENGINE light.

Needed a new exhaust filter...repair cost a cool ten thousand dollars.

 

[Garak]

Originally Posted by StevieC
I think that is how this happened....

Nice!

 

[DriveHard]

Originally Posted by Audios
I just flashed my diesel GL with a green diesel tune and have seen 2 mpg on my 12 mile round trip commute, and 5 mpg on longer highway trips, all while gaining batter throttle response, 25 hp and 65 lb ft of torque. If anything, this is helping the environment! The rolling coal crowd gives it a bad name, and im sure those pictures were all over their website. The GL's exhaust tips are very clean, no soot at all.


I am not condemning you, but you do realize this new tune, while more efficient, is producing much more NOx.
Personally I agree with the approach of making the engine more efficient, and optimizing combustion to make a few more XXX to make it more efficient overall.

 

[SeaJay]

IMO, plenty of vehicles available for sale that are rocket ships right off of the dealer's floor. Buy one of those if you need all of that power and speed. Problem solved.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by SeaJay
IMO, plenty of vehicles available for sale that are rocket ships right off of the dealer's floor. Buy one of those if you need all of that power and speed. Problem solved.


Agree, but people love to work on their cars. It's the same reason why some people perform 30k mile ATF flushes and 5k mile OCI with synthetic. They want to wrench on their cars and will look for any excuse to do so.

 

[StevieC]

It's definitely an itch for me. Love getting underneath my vehicles and doing something like changing fluids. I try to resist the urge but it's fun., I don't however change them that frequently unless it's a newer vehicle and I'm trying to get rid of break-in wear.

 

[spasm3]

I have a tune in the avalanche ecm. Tows so much better and no spark rattle ( clinebarger, you were right!) Even though its tuned for 93 octane, I have towed with 89 and it tows much better than stock.

 

[powerlifter405]

After Obama was elected he appointed Lisa Jackson to the EPA.

Lisa Jackson spoke at the 2009 Power Shift Rally38 and was introduced as "one of us" and a "scientist bringing back science to the EPA". She paid homage to the Power Shift movement, saying that she was excited by its impact in bringing about social change: "African Americans and women got the vote because of a power shift. We have the first African American head of the EPA and the first African American President; we have changed the face of environmentalism. We have a $10.5 billion budget, the largest in EPA history, that's a power shift, EPA is back on the job. (cheers, yelling). Science has been resurrected and will guide our actions."

This EPA going after aftermarket companies began back at that time under the guise of environmentalism. KEM and H&S were fined. H&S was just fined by the California EPA for $1million. Both KEM and H&S were relatively small companies but the EPA grabbed them 1st.

At the end of the day, the ball got rolling under Obama as more appointed positioned were of similar political mindset and new employees were similar in the political fashion. I've seen it in a variety of branches and i've been w/ the gov for almost 20 years. Expect no changes from the EPA for another 15 years or so until those top level employees age out. It will be the same for the DOJ and other branches. It is what it is, the EPA has been pushing "renewables" and electric cars for several years now and will continue to squeeze out industries that compete w/ the ideal.

 

[BMWTurboDzl]

Originally Posted by powerlifter405
After Obama was elected he appointed Lisa Jackson to the EPA.

Lisa Jackson spoke at the 2009 Power Shift Rally38 and was introduced as "one of us" and a "scientist bringing back science to the EPA". She paid homage to the Power Shift movement, saying that she was excited by its impact in bringing about social change: "African Americans and women got the vote because of a power shift. We have the first African American head of the EPA and the first African American President; we have changed the face of environmentalism. We have a $10.5 billion budget, the largest in EPA history, that's a power shift, EPA is back on the job. (cheers, yelling). Science has been resurrected and will guide our actions."

This EPA going after aftermarket companies began back at that time under the guise of environmentalism. KEM and H&S were fined. H&S was just fined by the California EPA for $1million. Both KEM and H&S were relatively small companies but the EPA grabbed them 1st.

At the end of the day, the ball got rolling under Obama as more appointed positioned were of similar political mindset and new employees were similar in the political fashion. I've seen it in a variety of branches and i've been w/ the gov for almost 20 years. Expect no changes from the EPA for another 15 years or so until those top level employees age out. It will be the same for the DOJ and other branches. It is what it is, the EPA has been pushing "renewables" and electric cars for several years now and will continue to squeeze out industries that compete w/ the ideal.




For decades, modifying the emissions system of your on-road vehicle has always been a violation of federal law.. Don't whine just because the agency opted to enforce the laws. You're not that special.

 

[DoubleWasp]

I think it is important to remember who signed the Clean Air Act and created the EPA before assigning this to be an issue of a certain base or ideology.

Way back when GM dropped the LT1 engine in the 1990's, it allegedly featured an "uncrackable" ECM. We all know how that worked out.

Everyday companies are trying to make systems the Chinese can't hack. We all know how that is working out.

The big tuning companies will suffer, but companies that make tuning software that can be programmed to defeat emissions will continue to thrive. The thing about "boxed" tunes is that the emissions defeat is already in there. Make a tuner that has the capability to do so, if the end-user so chooses to program the defeat, and the whole thing goes out the window. This is how deletes that do not come from a "boxed" tune continue to go on.

Or just make a completely emissions compliant tuner that mysteriously has a "Middle East" delete software running rampant all over the internet.