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I’m not going to respond to Fester. I agree keeping things civil is best for Rennlist and something I’ve always liked.
To answer a question related to Smog - I have FabSpeed Headers amd AWE switchpath exhaust - I’m going to try to Smog it as is - it’s not throwing codes.
Also, I’d highly recommend not going to a SMOG only test station - they tend to be more stringent with visuals.
The bi-annual smog test is becoming to be quite mis-leading. They should call it "Inspection" period. If you live in any foreign countries their inspection consist of very stringent visual examination from all the brake lights, signals, just about everything down to the bumpers. Any stored codes MUST be cleared, no leaks of any cooling, engine oil or even windshield fluids. In other words, it has to be spiffy clean as a new car off the lot. All outstanding tickets and fines must be paid prior to the inspection. For example China requires an inspection ONCE A YEAR before they will issue you a registration. This applies to both commercial as well as private vehicles. That is one of the reasons people rarely do any mods on the car because imagine reverting everything back to original once a year. So we all here in US are quite lucky and California as such is trying to enforce a more stringent standard, but nowhere close to how other countries enforce theirs'. Personally I'll have a hard time abiding their their standards, but then whenever I see a huge smokey clunker on the road I wish the State acts more proactively in yanking them off the road.
The bi-annual smog test is becoming to be quite mis-leading. They should call it "Inspection" period. If you live in any foreign countries their inspection consist of very stringent visual examination from all the brake lights, signals, just about everything down to the bumpers. Any stored codes MUST be cleared, no leaks of any cooling, engine oil or even windshield fluids. In other words, it has to be spiffy clean as a new car off the lot. All outstanding tickets and fines must be paid prior to the inspection. For example China requires an inspection ONCE A YEAR before they will issue you a registration. This applies to both commercial as well as private vehicles. That is one of the reasons people rarely do any mods on the car because imagine reverting everything back to original once a year. So we all here in US are quite lucky and California as such is trying to enforce a more stringent standard, but nowhere close to how other countries enforce theirs'. Personally I'll have a hard time abiding their their standards, but then whenever I see a huge smokey clunker on the road I wish the State acts more proactively in yanking them off the road.
Not only vehicles have to be inspected once a year. In China, if you reach 62, you have to get a physical every year to get your drivers' license renewed. The physical requires, eye examine which consist of reading charts, color blindness, blood pressure, and everything relating to your general health. Another reason you rarely see any senior folks past 70 still drives because of the stringent physical. The bottom line is that once you reach 62 you need to get an inspection for both your car and your body every year. So consider all that before you all start complaining about living in California.
I was at a test only station, they used a mirror to look under the car, not sure what they could really see did not ask me to remove the fans. I’ve attached the print out they gave me when I failed.
If you own a GT4 in California remove the engine bay covers before you head over to the smog station because they have to do the visual inspection on the engine bay. Don't let them try to remove the covers because they will inevitably break something.
Quite a few lazy shops out there. Had a Cayman for 8 years, first shop required it open. The last three times I threw a trim tool and torx wrench in the back, asked if they needed it open, and got a ‘nah’.
I was at a test only station, they used a mirror to look under the car, not sure what they could really see did not ask me to remove the fans. I’ve attached the print out they gave me when I failed.
The failure on your car was because of a stored code that hasn't been cleared, or a code that cannot be cleared by a scan tool. There are codes stored internally that won't even light up on your dash display. That is why it is utterly important to get your car serviced to clear all codes prior to visiting a smog station. Not too sure of the algorithm used in determining the severity of the fault. I would assume safety related such as seat belt /airbag faults will have to be fixed before passing. That is why once your car fails it is already recorded with the DMV and red-flagged. The smog inspector has no other means of passing you on subsequent attempts if that code wasn't cleared.
It was a code that the dealer had cleared after fixing the problem (loose hose - evap sensor fail). They cleared it reset all my monitors and sent me to smog. I failed because that evap sensor fail code was stored as a permanent fault code in temporary memory. There seems to be a temporary memory space in cars that the dealer/scanners can't touch. The only solution is to drive 200 miles and have at least 15 warm up/cold start cycles. If the car does not detect the failure during this time it clears that code from the permanent fault code memory.
The reason I'm giving a folks a heads up is the dealer service techs didn't know about this requirement. They charged me to reset the monitors which they could do. They aren't able to reset the permanent fault codes. After I took it back post failure the dealer checked it out, they confirmed the only solution was to drive cycle the car.
Wonder what other kind of trickery that they play. "A permanent fault code in temporary memory" even fooled the dealer.....that no one can clear. What else they would come out next ?
Not only vehicles have to be inspected once a year. In China, if you reach 62, you have to get a physical every year to get your drivers' license renewed. The physical requires, eye examine which consist of reading charts, color blindness, blood pressure, and everything relating to your general health. Another reason you rarely see any senior folks past 70 still drives because of the stringent physical. The bottom line is that once you reach 62 you need to get an inspection for both your car and your body every year. So consider all that before you all start complaining about living in California.
i'm afraid if people don't complain this is exactly what we're gonna get.