Shane

Before you go do a smog check stop by Napa and pick up some of this stuff--> http://www.solpower.com/soltron/soltronmain.asp

This is the ****.

Ron_H

Well, all said and done, I am a reasonably content camper tonight. I took my car to Sanders who told me they couldn't do it anymore because the DMV paperwork required me to take it to a "test only" center. Those places do no repairs whatsoever and do only smog checks. The belief is that no vested interest in failure can develop since the test centers make no other money. So I took a chance and went to one Sanders recommended even though it is 20 miles from my office. Bottom line: my trusty Rabbit failed the test. I was pissed. The tech said it was because my oxygen sensor was not connected and he showed me the loose wire in the engine compartment. (Bear in mind that I do NOTHING to the Rabbit but put fuel, oil, water and buy tires to it most of the time.) How the wire was disconnected is a mystery to me. So I went back to beautiful downtown Sunnyvale to a local VW shop who sold me another sensor and then went next door to an "old fashioned smog shop" that still does repairs. They installed the sensor and did another test and the emissions dropped drastically. I paid them $115 and started thinking about choice camping sites for the summer. Today I hustled back to the test only center for a free retest.
Of course the Rabbit now passed big time. We all smiled and waved goodbye for another year and I went shopping for a new sleeping bag.

With the price of fuel now it is a happy feeling to have a more economical grocery getter than the 928. Bear in mind that I am old enough to remember when we had NO TV !!! That made me think of the days I remember in Smell A
(Los Angeles) when we could "taste" the smog in the air. It is not like that now down there. I could see the blue sky the last time I was down there and thought I had died and ended up in Hawaii, but I was actually in the San Fernando Valley. Unbelieveable. I guess it is all worth it when such a misereable condition has improved so much over the years. They said the smog laws would kill the performance cars; they didn't kill the 911 Turbos which are faster than ever. Just some of the moronic administration of those laws that gripes me sometimes.

Anyway, I am settling down tonight with my KOA campground book to search for sites on the way to the Grand Prix and the Porsche Parade. A camping I shall go! A camping I shall go! ........

Bill51sdr

I hate to say this, but the current smog regulations were set up, in part, just to find vehicles like yours with a malfunction causing excessive emissions. You never would have discovered this problem unless you had gone through this process, even though it is a PITA. As an added bonus, I'm sure your fuel econpmy has improved quite a bit

heinrich

Bill is correct ... for people like me, these laws don't usually help. I've never failed smog other than legitimately, in other words other than where there was a major tuning issue. I've got nothing against laws and procedures that work well, like this case. My friend lost his Porsche gas cap because they couldn't test it, so they confiscated it. It's cases like that one that make me wonder about our laws. And of course, speed.

Btw ... why is it that no-one bothers checking the underside for huge oil leaks in the US? They check it where I come from.

IcemanG17

Heinrich
I saw a special on TV a while back about smog laws....it said a typical 60's ford mustang parked on the street...not driving, just parked...puts out more emissions in the form leaky fluids dripping on the ground than a new vehicle does in driving 30K miles! Hard to believe, but true!
Brian

JP Rodkey

Here is SE Wisconsin, we get to have our cars checked every couple of years. If you move into state, you have to have all (1968 & up) cars sniffed. When we moved back here a few years ago, I ran into trouble with the '79. I'd removed the air pump and it never had a catalytic converter, and I also converted to electric fan in place of the stock setup. The electric fan never kept up with the needs of that car and overheating had to be monitored on warm days sitting at idle in traffic.

Unless a car can pass their 'quick test' (usually only newest of cars), it is put on dyno and tested at various speeds. The 79 would usually get too hot for them to complete the test. You get three shots before the license is suspended or waived. You have to prove you spent money (I think $350) on repairs either in parts or at a certified (State recognized smog) shop. They also inspect to insure that all components are in place (air pump, catalyst, etc) Even then, waivers are rare.

I wound up putting the air pump back on, along with the original fan setup. That's when I decided to install a new fan clutch which turned out to the be reason for engine heat problems. Found a catalytic converter on eBay, and the car passed. It took two months, about $500, and lots of work just to get a car that's driven maybe 1000 miles a year to pass the test.

On the other hand, the '88 passed the short test three years ago, and passed it again just two days ago.

Ron_H

Bill:

I agree that it is a good thing that the disconnected wire was caught and legitimately corrected bringing the emissions down. My point about LA was that the air HAS improved and also the longevity of our engines and other parts has at least doubled. I bought my 928 with 135,000 miles on it and would never have considered buying any car with 100,000 miles on it in the '70s or before that. I have seen the combustion chambers of another 150,000 plus miles Rabbit with CIS injection torn down and the chambers were unbelieveably clean and plugs just the right color. The cars are now more efficient, faster, cleaner, more reliable and last longer.

I am just angry at the original reason for directing me to a "test only" center after only one year (in California, smog tests are usually required only every two years). The 2 shops last year that made up bogus reasons for failure caused the car to be pushed into the suspect catagory, even though it was clean and passed at a legitimate shop. I think now that this new system is probably a better idea because it eliminates any incentive for the test center to fail the car since they are prohibited from making repairs. Of course, the tech there could have simply re-installed the wire on the oxygen sensor and run the test again, which points out the absurdity of the process. Well, with Yin you must have Yang.

Nicole

I can definitely see a difference in the LA air today, versus my first visit in 1981, when catalyst equiped cars were not that common, yet. I'm glad I breathe cleaner air today, and am willing to make a few sacrifices for it.

That does not mean there is nothing left to improve. I can't wait for the sulfur free Diesel to become normal, and for the black smoke from busses and trucks going away. It dose not have to be that way, as you can see in Europe - no black smoke comes out of the trucks there.

A really nice thing in CA is that so few people smoke - that drastically improves air quality in most public spaces. A big reason for me to live here...

Susan K Thomas

What I find amazing in CA is that they inspect your car bi-annually for emissions, but NEVER, EVER check to see if your brake lights work, your car is leaking other fluids, or any other important vehicle safety features are functioning properly! In my homestate of NC they did a vehicle safety inspection every year. Here I guess they figure they will get more money out of you if they just wait for the cop to give you a ticket for something.



Have a nice day, y'all

Susan Thomas
DEVEK
www.devek.net

heinrich

I agree. Tail, turn signals ... it seems all they care about here are1) speed and 2) smog.

heinrich

Susan .. congratulations

Ron_H

Speed, smog, hot air, BS and revenue. Not taking, or letting anyone else take, responsibility for their own actions. The land of infantality.

macreel

In NJ they used to check for all those things,
and safety glass, and insurance. Couldn't
renew license tabs without safety inspec-
tion passed. Do they still?

SUSAN... pics, pls. Hope all 3 of you're well.

bd0nalds0n

When I have to take my cars to a test only station, I buy the "pre-test, official test and a retest-if-it-doesn't-pass" package for $90 or so. I figure then the shop is motivated to make sure it passes the official test so that the unneeded retest is extra margin. One of my vehicles is an old, lifted Chevy blazer with 35" tires, and it's passing on the first try used to be somewhat iffy. Since I've adopted the new strategy, it's passed the first time. Coincidence?

Nicole

I could not agree more with you. Where I come from, smog is tested yearly, and the whole vehicle inspected every two years. I think they changed it so that new cars don't have to go until the thrid, and older ones might be inspected more frequently.

Either way, inspections are extremely strict. Have a cracked windshield or light? Parking brake pulling unevenly (one side stronger than other)? Tires not required size and speed rating? Shocksk weak? Headlights not aimed correctly? All these would make your car fail. In fact, I believe that at least half of California's cars would never pass a German standard vehicle inspection.

It's easier to set up ridiculous speed limits, which nobody would follow anyway. This type of artificial "criminalization" of motorists gives cops an easy excuse to pull over anyone they like and make them pay an extra road tax. In traffic school they told lme that on average, every Californian gets a ticket every three years (I did not have one for 6 or 7, because I don't drive much). But average this, and you'll find yourself paying an average of about $100 per year in additional road tax.

I guess Ahnold needs that money for something... probably to pay a balooned court system.