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Ooookay, wish us luck.

[ QUOTE ]

HC standards 700 = her reading 640
CO standards 7.0 = her reading 5.7
N/A on CO2 and NOx
gas cap test-pass


[/ QUOTE ]

Congrats JB!

I’m a bit confused you said they did a rolling smog test. Do you know what speed they took those readings at? The reason I ask is that the standards seem kind of high for a rolling test.

Kalifornia tests at two test speeds, 15 & 25 MPH. Assuming we’re talking PPM for the standards neither of them allow the levels settings you quoted above.

BTW OBD stands for On Board Diagnostics – that’s a computer thingy. No concern unless you have a modern vehicle.
 
First off, congratulations - one less thing to worry about!

So, all the other stuff aside, what exactly did you do to Emma to accomplish this? Did you retard the timing? Lean it out? I think others who have to do the emissions thing will appreciate hearing the details...

Mickey
 
I drove her hard for about 20-25 minutes, 5000 RPMs, slowed, braked, downshifted. Whatever I could think to do to blow out the carbon. Steady for about 15 minutes at 70 or so mph (speedo doesn't work) Pulled up to the building, shut her off. The guy came out, started her, drove her inside the building, onto these rolly thingies. Put the hose thingy in her exhaust pipe and another guy got in, and 'drove' her on the rolly things. (he would have driven my car on the roads over my dead body) Revved her up (to the point I wanted to yank him out of the car). I don't know the 'figures' as far as mph or rpms, sorry.
 
Bret, those are the figures off the certificate. I don't know anything else. It's a joke if you ask me, the town 10 minutes from me is exempt from testing altogether.

Mickey. I did nothing to her. Except bribe her with a wax job if she passed. No fiddling with anything. I was going to, and decided to just see what happened the first time. Which was probably silly, because if she'd have failed, they would have really gotten serious with the inspection, under the hood, everything.

You know, I've gotten a lot of tips about this. Maybe we should compile them into a 'tech tip?'
 
Congrats J.B.
They are changing the emmision testing rules up here next year on "Herritage" aged cars, but no one seems to have a clue about how it will work.
I went and got my new sticker yesterday for the Grand Am and asked the woman behind the counter. She told me she did not understand either /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif So, she gave me a number to call... More beurocracy. As of now, all three LBC's are exempt of testing.
When do you have to go again in a year or how long is it good for?

Happy motoring.

Paul
 
Every other year, December '07. By then I'll have the SUs on her and possibly *antique* plates, which will exempt her from testing.
 
PHEW!
That's great news. Sounds like Santa made an early delivery to you.
This calls for a toast! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cheers.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thirsty.gif Ok,Ok I was going for a beer anyway. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Have one for me too Banjo, I don't drink beer!

Bret. From the Illinois EPA website:
Idle Tests--Vehicles from model years 1968 to 1980 receive an idle test. This single-speed idle (or “static”)
test is also used for heavy duty trucks and certain passenger vehicles and light duty trucks that
can not be reasonably inspected on a dynamometer (e.g.: full-time all-wheel drive vehicles and
traction control vehicles where the traction control feature cannot be disabled).
Test notices advise motorists that the vehicle should be driven for at least 15 minutes before
testing. Preconditioning of the vehicle is very important prior to any vehicle emissions test to
ensure that all emission control components are in proper operating condition (e.g.: at proper
operating condition, the catalytic converter reaches temperatures of about 1200o F). Vehicles that initially fail a test automatically receive a second-chance test after being pre-conditioned under load on the dynamometer for about 30 seconds at 30 mph, unless the vehicle can not be reasonably driven on the dynamometer. Vehicles that cannot be pre-conditioned on the dynamometer are idled at approximately 2500 rpm for 30 seconds before another sample is taken.
(yea well...Emma didn't JUST get the idle test, but I'll remind them of that next time)

https://www.epa.state.il.us/air/vim/guide/vehicle-emissions-inspection-guide.pdf

Vehicles are driven on the dynamometer through a specific, predetermined “drive trace” that must be closely followed for accuracy and consistency.
• The standard drive trace lasts for up to four minutes.
• The total simulated driving distance is two miles.
• The maximum speed required is 56.7 mph.
• The maximum acceleration required rate is 3.3 mph per second.
 
"After 12/31/2003, second-chance exhaust testing is no longer available for vehicles failing the OBD test."

What does this mean? Where I live (Kenai Peninsula Borough) we don't have emissions testing. Municipality of Anchorage & Fairbanks (North Star Borough) do, however.
 
Aw, Jim, you're not gonna move to one of the big cities are you?

You wouldn't like Anchorage - too cosmopolitian for Alaska; Fairbanks? I didn't recognize it what with all the big box stores & paved roads!

Stick with Seward & the Kenai!
 
OBD is for cars with 'computers' in them. I don't really know what that means at all or why it's not allowed for those vehicles.
 
NO WAY, Tony! I haven't even been to Los Anchorage since April or May. And Squarebanks? Why bother...
No - I just don't understand the significance of that statement. OBD? WTF!
So, you don't get a "second chance?"
 
Obviously not. Maybe they assume your on board diagnostics should give you advance warning? I have no idea. I know our other 2 'new' vehicles have both passed when they had to be tested (but each have only been tested once, since it's every other year)

I give UP figuring out the state of IL.
 
[ QUOTE ]
"After 12/31/2003, second-chance exhaust testing is no longer available for vehicles failing the OBD test."

What does this mean?

[/ QUOTE ]
Hi Jim,
What this means is after your car's computer is connected to and read by the test station computer and fails you can not ask to have the car tested at the exhaust pipe. So if your computer is malfunctioning you fail the test and you can not appeal and must have the fault repaired.
Once the repairs are performed you may return to the test facility for a new test.
 
J.B. I was sitting here, toasting, and thinking. I wonder if these guys were smarter than you gave them credit for. They do these things day in and day out. maybe they were trying to save you the retest by automaticly doing the "preconditioning" on the dyno. That may be something they do on older cars that are commonly "borderline".
Or, it's possible that Emma failed the first run, so they did the dyno run to give her the second try.
And yes, tha OBD statement basically means that, after the first of the year, if it fails the computer scan (i.e. the check engine light is on, or there is a code in the computer, or someone is running an aftermarket "stand-alone" engine control system that bypasses the OBD system) Then the problem that the computer sees must be fixed. It can't just pass the sniffer test.
All of which is irrelevant to our LBCs.. Or anything older than '96
 
I thought St.Louis was in Missouri,not Illinois.
Did they move it?
I've been told that a lot of British cars wouldn't
pass the current emissions stands when they were new.
They've been tightened since then.

- Doug
 
Thanks, RomanH - I get it now. Just add Illinois to states that I wont live in.
I wouldn't consider taking a car to a check-it post unless I did everything possible to ensure it would pass. But that's purely academic for me (at this time).
 
METRO STL, covers both sides of the Mississippi.

Nothing ventured nothing gained JimK. It saved me a lot of fiddling by just taking her down and seeing what happened. As it was, I didn't have to worry about anything.

Ben, they had her on the dyno before they had the hose in her tailpipe.
 
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