V2Rocket

Ok, good luck with that, unless you've got some go-to shady smog guy in Glendale who'll pass you for $200 cash behind the building.

Visual check kills more than heart disease.

superloaf

Really? I've never failed for visual problems with 4 cars including a 77 Alfa, most of the testing being accomplished at AAA! And like I said, if it does fail, gimme 5 minutes with a screwdriver and it's solved. Smog isn't that difficult to pass with a properly running car. I have more trouble with them lugging the engine in too low a gear or I used to....that hasn't been a problem in the last few years.

Droops83

I agree with Spencer, the visual testing has gotten MUCH more strict in the last ~5 years, at least here in Santa Barbara. I do a lot of pre-checking of customer Porsches and BMW for smog tests, on everything from 1976 912Es to 2000+ OBDII cars that are plug in only tests. We have been taking some of the same customer cars to the smog station across the street for 20+ years in some cases, and in the last few years a few of the same cars have been failed for ridiculous technicalities, and numerous other customers have been reporting the same from other stations in town. The BAR has been cracking down big time. The days of the shady, back-alley smog station are largely over from what I have seen and heard from other techs in LA, Bay Area, etc. But, I am sure that there is the odd place out there that hasn't yet been caught.

And yes, a decent-running engine with a somewhat functional catalytic converter should be able to pass the tailpipe portion of the smog test in most cases. Even my junkyard '81 Alfa GTV6 passes with flying colors. I just need to remove the oil catch can before I take it in!

V2Rocket

you're right.
but go through the decades of posts here full of retards complaining about CA smog laws after failing for having a MAF conversion or cone filter.

when i take my car for smog, and i've now done it each of the 4 counties i've lived in since 2006, the smog tech spends probably 20 minutes with a flashlight tracing all the vacuum lines versus the diagram on the fender, and compares it to his "smog book" that has all emissions control info on all cars ever made...that's before even turning on the "gas analyzer" sniffer,

snb13

So glad I don't live in CA anymore.

superloaf

I thought I could bury the catch can under the air box or somewhere around those parts but geez, that area is pretty dense with things. Not sure where to put the can other than maybe where the power steering reservoir used to sit (I have a manual conversion) but that's about as obvious as you can get.

Also not sure of how much the can actually catches. I saw one post where a guy had a jar with a bunch of oil/goo but he said that was from years! Anyone with a can who can tell me how much comes out?


I've been in Nashville for a little over a year and I never thought I would miss CA as much as I do as I was never much of a fan...but, God, the cars people here drive! I miss Ferraris and Porsches in every parking lot, everyday, all over. I can go over a week here without seeing a Porsche (except mine.) And a Ferrari? Forget it! Just pick up trucks and American sedans. I even miss Priuses and that's saying something (they're as rare here as Porsches and if you're used to CA, that's a shock.) I mean, a BMW 3 series stands out when i see one. A standard 911 is a treat whereas in LA, it's hardly noticed.

And would you like to sit around and talk about Jesus and religion? Or their kids. Because that's subject number 1....Even God says, "For my son's sake, get a life!"

I'm 20 miles outside of Nashville so in the city, it's much different but still far from a CA lifestyle. I grew up here after moving from NY and hated it back then; hate it now. Nashville was always fun but back then it didn't have the horrible crime it does now. It's like LA used to be in the gang days. I guess every city goes through a cycle but LA has mellowed and is relatively safe now.

The only bad thing about CA is expense but anytime the main issue is money, the solution is to tough it out and deal with it, not to jump ship; otherwise, we would all sell our Porsches and drive Toyotas! Also, much of the food and even the rent in TN is just as much if not more (food, not rent) than in CA. It's not much cheaper to live here unless, of course, you're buying a house or property.

Anyway, variety is nice but I'm ready to get out of here....So stay tuned for early next year when I'll be bitching about LA....

V2Rocket

Trying my hardest to move to Nashville...can't stand LA/CA anymore, don't care about seeing Ferrari/BMW/etc anyways...my next daily car will be one of those American sedans (maybe small SUV).

Wife had a job offer in Franklin but turned it down, I thought we'd be living there by now...seriously, we can trade.

snb13

I didn't live in SoCal, but inland about 8 miles in Monterey county in Salinas. Most of the salad food the US eats is grown there. I now live in somewhat rural SW Missouri. Really not alot of vehicular difference between the 2. I lived in CA less than 2 years. It's nice to visit but I mostly see it as a scourge.

superloaf

Hope you like religion, guns, pick ups, racism, and crime....


Seriously though, murders (usually robberies/muggings where they shoot the person) happen nearly every week. Gang shootings on freeways, shootings in parking lots, etc etc. I've never felt unsafe anywhere in the world but here, I think twice.
And southern hospitality is a falsehood so don't get stuck on that crap. Biggest hypocrites i"ve seen and that says a lot after living in LA.
And the stupid accent! How do people sound like this after internet, tv, and all the exposure to normal speech.
Nashville is super fun to visit. Outside of the city is redneck heaven. And not charming country folk like in wyoming but uneducated and ignorant people who sport confederate flags on their pick ups and a hundred stickers about guns, America and Jesus! Hack!!!!

i know we're not going to agree here but there's a reason why tens of thousands flock to LA versus to 20 miles outside of Nashville...no comparison really. Now I'd take NYC over LA anyday but that's another story (and rant....)
Sure there are other people but diversity is not one of the strong points of the south. And i don't mean just racial or religious diversity but I mean finding another person who knows what a Porsche is, let alone how to pronounce it correctly. Seriously, many here pronounce the "L" in salmon so Porsche is never going to happen.

mj951

That was my post.
If you live in a cold weather climate you'll catch more fluid in early spring due to condensation. I'll check / empty the can in early summer and again when I put it away for winter. I only put a couple/few thousand miles on per year and maybe collect an ounce of fluid by the end of the season. Usually just a small mount, 1/16" to 1/8" deep at the bottom of the can. That jar was from maybe twelve years of use, probably 40 to 50,000 miles.