Interesting loophole for Smog in CA
08-20-2005, 02:09 PM
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Interesting loophole for Smog in CA
So I sold my car and had just put in a new battery so I knew the readiness codes would not be set and I have not time with moving right now to even do the readiness reset driving thing (which works great BTW). So I just called up the State Referee and made an appointment at a local station. I figured no need to get a smog at some other place, pay the stupid fee, fail, and then fix it or go to a Referee station where it will just cost more money. So I just tried to save a little time. Well when I showed up they were surprised that I did not have a failure in the system. I told them why and they said that was pretty smart. It seems that the Referee stations are state subsidized. So it wound up costing only $38 to get it smogged and everyone knows what a B*#$% the 993s are to get to reset so they did not even give it a second thought as long as the tailpipe numbers were OK.
Last edited by viperbob; 08-20-2005 at 02:39 PM.
08-20-2005, 03:32 PM
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Bob...So, if someone had a SAI problem and the check engine light was on and the car needed to be smogged he could disconnect the battery, let the codes clear and go to the referee before the check engine light comes on again?
08-20-2005, 03:55 PM
#6
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I've heard on the radio not too long ago that there is so much corruption in the system; Many smog stations passing all kinds of polluters and cars that normally wouldn't pass by tweeking their computers or whatever, and that the State's Smog program is at the verge of failure.
08-21-2005, 01:28 AM
#7
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After I had my SAI problem fixed we could not get the readiness codes to reset. No matter what we tried, even Steve's method, they would not reset. Much like Viperbob I took my 993 to the smog ref. The guys at the smog ref were great. First off they were just happy to see a porsche coming through, I guess they see a lot of pieces of s--t and secondly all they really cared about was that it passed out of the pipe. Overall it was a much more enjoyable experence then I expected. Just some more FYI.
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08-21-2005, 03:15 AM
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I had the EXACT same experience at the Alameda Smog Referee Station as mac993. Actually I think the smog referee was much cheaper! $40 vs $90+ at the local gas station.
08-21-2005, 11:04 AM
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Somewhat related to an earlier reply, I hear that Colorado is doing away with their yearly smog check, for whatever reason. Interesting...
08-21-2005, 09:10 PM
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Originally Posted by Mark in Baltimore
All right, Chris! Congrats on your "Guru" status! Your real-world/racing-world technical qualifications are quite prized on the board.
One highlight of this weekend at Road America was helping one of our chassis users with gearbox trouble. Kyle Kelley is one of our very young and talented drivers, with no budget. Kyle and his Dad ARE the crew and rely on race winnings each race weekend to continue. They dont even have a transporter, but rather rent space with whoever has room AND who is going to the next race. One DNF or poor finish, they are done for the year, period. As most of you know, in open wheel racing, one small slip, and your in the wall with mega damage.
Anyhow, during the first practice session of the weekend, Kyle left the pitbox to learn the track since he has never driven RA, one of the most beautiful, high speed but ever so tricky tracks in North America. A lap and a half (~6miles
) into this session, his gearbox overheated and seized. Bob, his dad, came over to my trailer dejected and told me 'we are done.'I told him that I would be over asap and have a look at the damage. Sure enough, all the bearings are blue, gears are black. Box of junk it was.
On top of little funds, they really didnt know how to rebuild such a gearbox. I told them, your in luck, I do and will help you through this, even though this is well beyond my scope of duties at the track. I like helping appreciative people, and appreciative these two guys are.
Around the paddock I went, searching for used gearbox bits that the well funded teams were willing to sell cheap, our give us.
One team gave us a ring and pinion and a pinion bearing. Another sold Bob three shift forks and some dog ring hubs very cheap. Yet another team rented Bob an intermediate case with shift barrel and all aft bearings along with a few needed gear sets. Other teams loaned us the specialized gearbox set-up tools and high-capacity torque wrenches, green high temp loctite etc.
9 hours later, it was midnight and I had setup their ring and pinion and bearing preloads, reset the shift fork clearances. Cool, we are getting close! Installed the gearstack and poored in oil. We all thrashed to get the driveshafts and suspension bolted back onto the car. By now I was beat and eaten by mosquitos. Yes, this IS Road America
The big question was, will this thing last one practice session, one qualifying session, Sunday morning warm-up and finally, the race. After all, this gearbox was a hodge-podge(sp?) of used-up, and mileaged-out parts.
Kyle learned the track over the course of two sessions on Saturday without any trouble, thankfully. I had a look at the ring and pinion Sat night, all looked good, miraculously enough. We made some ratio changes for Sunday as Kyle qualified 13th. In other words, he will have a draft and WILL be into the rev limiter starting behind 12 other cars.
The race was today, Kyle drove a great race and finished 6th! Now, he and his Dad are headed to Montreal for next weekends race. This is very satisfying for me to be able to help out people like this. My way of giving back after having the oportunity to work with some very talented gearbox people over the years. Gotta pay it forward!!!!
BTW, sorry for the OT ramble..
08-21-2005, 09:37 PM
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Originally Posted by chris walrod
No need for congrats. I am just another moron who sits in airports and works mega hours at race tracks helping racers with their problems.
One highlight of this weekend at Road America was helping one of our chassis users with gearbox trouble. Kyle Kelley is one of our very young and talented drivers, with no budget. Kyle and his Dad ARE the crew and rely on race winnings each race weekend to continue. They dont even have a transporter, but rather rent space with whoever has room AND who is going to the next race. One DNF or poor finish, they are done for the year, period. As most of you know, in open wheel racing, one small slip, and your in the wall with mega damage.
Anyhow, during the first practice session of the weekend, Kyle left the pitbox to learn the track since he has never driven RA, one of the most beautiful, high speed but ever so tricky tracks in North America. A lap and a half (~6miles) into this session, his gearbox overheated and seized. Bob, his dad, came over to my trailer dejected and told me 'we are done.'
I told him that I would be over asap and have a look at the damage. Sure enough, all the bearings are blue, gears are black. Box of junk it was.
On top of little funds, they really didnt know how to rebuild such a gearbox. I told them, your in luck, I do and will help you through this, even though this is well beyond my scope of duties at the track. I like helping appreciative people, and appreciative these two guys are.
Around the paddock I went, searching for used gearbox bits that the well funded teams were willing to sell cheap, our give us.
One team gave us a ring and pinion and a pinion bearing. Another sold Bob three shift forks and some dog ring hubs very cheap. Yet another team rented Bob an intermediate case with shift barrel and all aft bearings along with a few needed gear sets. Other teams loaned us the specialized gearbox set-up tools and high-capacity torque wrenches, green high temp loctite etc.
9 hours later, it was midnight and I had setup their ring and pinion and bearing preloads, reset the shift fork clearances. Cool, we are getting close! Installed the gearstack and poored in oil. We all thrashed to get the driveshafts and suspension bolted back onto the car. By now I was beat and eaten by mosquitos. Yes, this IS Road America
The big question was, will this thing last one practice session, one qualifying session, Sunday morning warm-up and finally, the race. After all, this gearbox was a hodge-podge(sp?) of used-up, and mileaged-out parts.
Kyle learned the track over the course of two sessions on Saturday without any trouble, thankfully. I had a look at the ring and pinion Sat night, all looked good, miraculously enough. We made some ratio changes for Sunday as Kyle qualified 13th. In other words, he will have a draft and WILL be into the rev limiter starting behind 12 other cars.
The race was today, Kyle drove a great race and finished 6th! Now, he and his Dad are headed to Montreal for next weekends race. This is very satisfying for me to be able to help out people like this. My way of giving back after having the oportunity to work with some very talented gearbox people over the years. Gotta pay it forward!!!!
BTW, sorry for the OT ramble..
One highlight of this weekend at Road America was helping one of our chassis users with gearbox trouble. Kyle Kelley is one of our very young and talented drivers, with no budget. Kyle and his Dad ARE the crew and rely on race winnings each race weekend to continue. They dont even have a transporter, but rather rent space with whoever has room AND who is going to the next race. One DNF or poor finish, they are done for the year, period. As most of you know, in open wheel racing, one small slip, and your in the wall with mega damage.
Anyhow, during the first practice session of the weekend, Kyle left the pitbox to learn the track since he has never driven RA, one of the most beautiful, high speed but ever so tricky tracks in North America. A lap and a half (~6miles
) into this session, his gearbox overheated and seized. Bob, his dad, came over to my trailer dejected and told me 'we are done.'I told him that I would be over asap and have a look at the damage. Sure enough, all the bearings are blue, gears are black. Box of junk it was.
On top of little funds, they really didnt know how to rebuild such a gearbox. I told them, your in luck, I do and will help you through this, even though this is well beyond my scope of duties at the track. I like helping appreciative people, and appreciative these two guys are.
Around the paddock I went, searching for used gearbox bits that the well funded teams were willing to sell cheap, our give us.
One team gave us a ring and pinion and a pinion bearing. Another sold Bob three shift forks and some dog ring hubs very cheap. Yet another team rented Bob an intermediate case with shift barrel and all aft bearings along with a few needed gear sets. Other teams loaned us the specialized gearbox set-up tools and high-capacity torque wrenches, green high temp loctite etc.
9 hours later, it was midnight and I had setup their ring and pinion and bearing preloads, reset the shift fork clearances. Cool, we are getting close! Installed the gearstack and poored in oil. We all thrashed to get the driveshafts and suspension bolted back onto the car. By now I was beat and eaten by mosquitos. Yes, this IS Road America
The big question was, will this thing last one practice session, one qualifying session, Sunday morning warm-up and finally, the race. After all, this gearbox was a hodge-podge(sp?) of used-up, and mileaged-out parts.
Kyle learned the track over the course of two sessions on Saturday without any trouble, thankfully. I had a look at the ring and pinion Sat night, all looked good, miraculously enough. We made some ratio changes for Sunday as Kyle qualified 13th. In other words, he will have a draft and WILL be into the rev limiter starting behind 12 other cars.
The race was today, Kyle drove a great race and finished 6th! Now, he and his Dad are headed to Montreal for next weekends race. This is very satisfying for me to be able to help out people like this. My way of giving back after having the oportunity to work with some very talented gearbox people over the years. Gotta pay it forward!!!!
BTW, sorry for the OT ramble..
That kind of menatality that was shown by you & other competitors that helped os why there still is some hope left in this world.
08-21-2005, 09:48 PM
#14
Race Director
Chris,
This is the Rennlist spirit I have known from my brief time here. As the saying goes: It' s better to give than to receive. You, Jim, Dan, Bob, Glen and many many more Rennlisters are living proof of these words of wisdom. We are blessed.
CP
This is the Rennlist spirit I have known from my brief time here. As the saying goes: It' s better to give than to receive. You, Jim, Dan, Bob, Glen and many many more Rennlisters are living proof of these words of wisdom. We are blessed.
CP
