The Smog Check Fiasco

[REDOVAL]

Your smog check deal definitely sounds like a fiasco, but be thankful you didn't have to go to the BAR to have the whole thing examined. That was an experience I'd like to forget as it was their mission to find any and all issues that could ever exist.

Scott

[nyyankees588]

I'm about to have to go to the referee down in Monterey for our van. Cat converter was replaced in BF Utah while on a long trip... Enough rust to barely read the code on the cat if you clean it up and shine a light on it the right way. Looking forward to that discussion...

We also had to take our Honda element to them bc it had an aftermarket cat after the OEM one was stolen. They had my partner wait outside in the rain for the entire hour as it was being checked bc their inside seating was closed due to covid. California is an interesting place.

[Nathandeuel]

My ability to fuel up is also hampered constantly by the nozzle clicking off. I have a Chevy. Do they have the same problems as your Fords, anyone know? (We ruled out the "vent solenoid" last summer, whatever that is. Next step in theory is to drop the tank and swap it out but this vent thing clogged with dirt sounds easier!)

[moorefc]

Originally Posted by boywonder

I sometimes have the pump annoyingly click off when filling......so I need to clear the vent line from the tank to the carbon canister?

Several years ago I tired of the gas fill clicking off. From memory the problem could have come from overfilling the tank (baja), but I checked the hoses and tank connections, cleared the carbon tank breather, and ended up replacing the carbon tank/filter by the rear axle. I did dissect the canister and could not find anything obvious....pain in the....Apparently overfilling puts gas in the canister and can affect the charcoal....
I still have the problem at some costco pumps, but others don't and for a while pre-fix it was almost all pumps....

[b. rock]

Since you linked to this from your other post, a question on the tune: I thought putting on an ECU tune will alter the checksum stored somewhere in the memory. So in theory you couldn't just flash a car back to stock, get it smogged, then re-tune it. I'd love to be wrong though - sounds like whatever you're doing with the 5 star tune is working?

[rltilley]

I have had the tune off the van since the last smog check but neither time I went through the smog process did I have any issues with anything showing up regarding the tune. I think you may need to drive 100 miles or so to clear everything out once going back to stock?

[Orv]

Originally Posted by nyyankees588

I'm about to have to go to the referee down in Monterey for our van. Cat converter was replaced in BF Utah while on a long trip... Enough rust to barely read the code on the cat if you clean it up and shine a light on it the right way. Looking forward to that discussion...

We also had to take our Honda element to them bc it had an aftermarket cat after the OEM one was stolen. They had my partner wait outside in the rain for the entire hour as it was being checked bc their inside seating was closed due to covid. California is an interesting place.

Interesting. I replaced the OEM cat with a California-compliant aftermarket one on my Honda, after the OEM cat failed. I didn't have to take it to a referee, the smog check place just used a mirror to verify it had the code on it.

I also find smog check stations vary a lot in their attention to detail, if you know what I mean, and I tend to favor the ones that really just want to get you out the door...

[EricW]

Originally Posted by Orv

Interesting. I replaced the OEM cat with a California-compliant aftermarket one on my Honda, after the OEM cat failed. I didn't have to take it to a referee, the smog check place just used a mirror to verify it had the code on it.

I also find smog check stations vary a lot in their attention to detail, if you know what I mean, and I tend to favor the ones that really just want to get you out the door...

A word to the wise regarding CARB-compliant aftermarket cats.... I had an exhaust shop replace the cat on my aging BMW Z3 back in 2017-ish to pass smog at the time. Fortunately I put the paperwork in the glove-box and forgot about it. Then next time round when the smog tech read off the number from the converter he was going to fail it because the number didn't show up in his database. My wife (who was getting the check performed) called me and asked "didn't we just have that cat replaced?" and I remembered the paperwork in the glove box. She pulled it out and showed the tech when/where it was replaced and that it was CARB approved at that time. He said as long as we could prove it was compliant when it was installed he could pass it.

Lesson learned -- always keep the paperwork handy if you have an aftermarket CARB-compliant converter installed. It may well save you a headache down the road!


Eric W.