Sniffers measure emissions. OBD reports whatever you programmed it to report.
onramp emissions testing in CA
- Thread starter spackard
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Well my last smog check (Vue) was just a plug in. No sniff.
Shop was nice enough that they actually cut their prices based on less work. I was surprised by that and the no sniff test, as I hadn't heard of the change. I think its on 2000+ MY cars.
Makes sense to go after the gross polluters. One bad car can out-pollute a thousand clean ones. Better ROI by cleaning up the old dirty ones.
Shop was nice enough that they actually cut their prices based on less work. I was surprised by that and the no sniff test, as I hadn't heard of the change. I think its on 2000+ MY cars.
Makes sense to go after the gross polluters. One bad car can out-pollute a thousand clean ones. Better ROI by cleaning up the old dirty ones.
there's only a soot test for diesels here. but since my car has dual exhausts (left/right) I'm even exempt from that.
Originally Posted By: surfstar
Well my last smog check (Vue) was just a plug in. No sniff.
Shop was nice enough that they actually cut their prices based on less work. I was surprised by that and the no sniff test, as I hadn't heard of the change. I think its on 2000+ MY cars.
Makes sense to go after the gross polluters. One bad car can out-pollute a thousand clean ones. Better ROI by cleaning up the old dirty ones.
IIRC the last 4-5 years the smog test station I went to was just a plug in, no tail pipe test. But the technician did many visual inspection of various parts under the hood and checked/tested fuel cap, he also look under the car for catalytic converter.
In and out in less than 10 minutes.
Well my last smog check (Vue) was just a plug in. No sniff.
Shop was nice enough that they actually cut their prices based on less work. I was surprised by that and the no sniff test, as I hadn't heard of the change. I think its on 2000+ MY cars.
Makes sense to go after the gross polluters. One bad car can out-pollute a thousand clean ones. Better ROI by cleaning up the old dirty ones.
IIRC the last 4-5 years the smog test station I went to was just a plug in, no tail pipe test. But the technician did many visual inspection of various parts under the hood and checked/tested fuel cap, he also look under the car for catalytic converter.
In and out in less than 10 minutes.
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Its all jack booted Nazism.
Nazism? Pretty over the top comparison, no?
Its all jack booted Nazism.
Nazism? Pretty over the top comparison, no?
Originally Posted By: SlipperyPete
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Its all jack booted Nazism.
Nazism? Pretty over the top comparison, no?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Its all jack booted Nazism.
Nazism? Pretty over the top comparison, no?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
how do they test diesels?
So far the diesel test consists of a visual inspection, check for codes present, and a smoke check. Funny because I have seen 6.0s with no EGR cooler and no EGR valve pass the visual because the smog tech had no idea what they were looking for.
I remember long ago when we had sniffer testing in Fl. My truck had an elaborate exhaust for a vacuum blower system as well as the factory exhaust piping. The tech ran his mirror under the truck then ran off to get someone else. After several minutes of babbling they finally asked ME which system were they supposed to check?
Originally Posted By: Jetronic
how do they test diesels?
So far the diesel test consists of a visual inspection, check for codes present, and a smoke check. Funny because I have seen 6.0s with no EGR cooler and no EGR valve pass the visual because the smog tech had no idea what they were looking for.
I remember long ago when we had sniffer testing in Fl. My truck had an elaborate exhaust for a vacuum blower system as well as the factory exhaust piping. The tech ran his mirror under the truck then ran off to get someone else. After several minutes of babbling they finally asked ME which system were they supposed to check?
No sense changes to me - just today I took the wife's SUV in for a smog test and had to find a STAR station this time per the registration renewal notice. They ran the sniffer & rollers plus all the other stuff. STAR?
Last year with the Camry, no sniffer and/or rollers. I think they hooked up to the vehicle plus visuals.
My daily driver, 2010, I believe will be getting its first smog next year - don't know then what they want then.
What next?
Last year with the Camry, no sniffer and/or rollers. I think they hooked up to the vehicle plus visuals.
My daily driver, 2010, I believe will be getting its first smog next year - don't know then what they want then.
What next?
I don't like this idea for cars with gasoline engines.
When climbing the onramp, sometimes you have to floor the accelerator and go to open loop. That increases the HC in the exhaust significantly. Cars that would pass the test in normal driving could fail there. This is a good reason for using a dyno to test smog.
My dad's 1987 Hyundai Excel was like that. My grandmother had a 1988 Honda Civic was almost as bad. Although modern cars usually don't have such a bad power to weight ratio, I could see this having a similar effect on fully loaded trucks, vans, and RVs.
When climbing the onramp, sometimes you have to floor the accelerator and go to open loop. That increases the HC in the exhaust significantly. Cars that would pass the test in normal driving could fail there. This is a good reason for using a dyno to test smog.
My dad's 1987 Hyundai Excel was like that. My grandmother had a 1988 Honda Civic was almost as bad. Although modern cars usually don't have such a bad power to weight ratio, I could see this having a similar effect on fully loaded trucks, vans, and RVs.
Good I wish they would get the thrashed out Civics around here that burn oil with long dead cats. Or the coal rollers...
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