fpajonk

I had my smog check done last week (stock everything) and the guy went into the engine bay and underneath with his flashlight as if he was Perry Mason's little brother. I asked what he's looking for and he said 'anything missing or not original'. I don't now if he would have seen and recognized the hack but I'm wondering if people in LA ever had trouble passing the Smog check with the Gundo/Fister hack installed?
My guy was sensitized because he said, a dealer just recently had brought in a McLaren with the catalytic converters replaced by big tubes, O2 sensors sticked into the tubes and coded out. (Not sure if I believe him)

Jaws1

I don’t see why modifying the mufflers would have anything to do with emissions. Not the same thing.

Ironman88

The mufflers will not affect smog readings. They are mounted aft of the catalytic converters.

maekwl

It’s no longer about emissions, I think any modification is game?

Unsure if this applies. Re a 981 S, I talked to the owner of Fister (forgetting his name) and he said in the case of that muffler they would cut open the top side, weld the bypass pipe into the can and weld it up. That would make it hard to detect.

I don’t know about Fister for the 997 but the Gundo bypass pipe is external as far as I know.

maekwl

Does Cali still use a tailpipe sniffer ?

speed2th

They just plug in a OBD reader to test. I pass with F1 speed intake pipe and fabspeed maxflo muffler.

996AE

STAR TEST

They open hood, insert sniffer in tail pipe, crawl under car, test gas cap and yes all while OBDII is plugged into Sacramento

Ericson38

In Santa Barbara County they just monitored via OBDII. But they looked the engine area over (not from underneath).

PV997

No tailpipe test on modern cars in CA as it's only the OBDII emission readiness test and a visual inspection. You are allowed to change mufflers as they don't affect emissions (though that may run afoul of noise ordinances but that's not the smog guy's concern). You cannot change anything that does potentially affect emissions (cats, intake, cams, tune, etc.) unless it has an EO approval from CARB.

https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/replace.htm

That being said, if the smog guy doesn't know the rules very well he may give you grief over something legal (not covered or has EO approval) or he could miss something illegal. Best to be fully informed if you have mods so you can argue your case if needed.

jamesinger

These threads are kinda useful but the problem with SMOG and CARB is that every single shop is different depending on the person working.

I always seek out old sleepy grandpas that I interrupt playing cards with friends or napping. The last time I went the dude was just about to eat a sandwich. He just wanted to get back to his sandwich. None of these dudes are mechanics and most of them I have come across in 30 years do not know a thing about cars to the point where I have had to help drive my cars onto their rollers at points and beg them NOT to put my "lancer" on the rollers...

My point is—results vary.

I have had to beg a grandpa not to fail me for a "too shiny" UICP on my 100% stock EVO VIII when I first had it after he put it on rollers for no good reason. I swore up and down it was stock and even had to go get an EVO mechanic down the street in Santa Fe Springs to come and verify that it is OEM. I am not joking either, the owner of an EVO shop had to come tell the dude the UICP was OEM. This kind of stuff with EVOs is a big reason why I sold my EVO.

These people are so inconsistent, I got a stomach ache just from smogging a bone stock B8 A4 Avant after I sold my EVO.

Both times I have smogged my C2S, the 2 different places both seemed confused that the engine was even in the back. The first guy opened my frunk. I tried not to react when he did it. Both times I was smogged I had Fisters. Maybe the next guy will fail me. It is a literal gamble each time.

PV997

Yep, totally agree. That's why you have to know the rules yourself (which is why I posted the CARB link) and be ready to call BS if they just start making them up. This applies to pretty much to everything in life actually.

I go to a local "test-only" station and have found they are quite well informed on the rules.

Ericson38

I think what CAN happen is that if you fail in one CA shop (due to whatever), the VIN is flagged everywhere in the state until the issue is resolved or deemed not a valid concern.

996AE

True

Edward YG Li

I just did my smog check and it passed no problem with the fister mod.

nitewing117

I also passed no problem with the Fister mod, and my other car passed with an aftermarket cat back as well.