[masraum]

Originally Posted by jyl

In Portland OR, emissions testing is simply sniffer in the tailpipe, takes 5 minutes every 2 years.

If there was no testing, I think some people would start abusing it - pulling catalytic convertors etc.

In Texas, if you're car is pre-OBDII, then you get the sniffer (they may not test cars older than 25 years or maybe it's a certain date). If you have a car with OBDII (everyone except Glenn) then if you have no CEL (really, they connect a OBDII scanner to see if your ECU reports "READY") then they don't bother with the sniffer. I think the theory is that if your ECU says "READY" then everything is working as expected and you should be running clean.

You can't just turn off the CEL if you've got one and then go test, because you have to go through a fairly long driving cycle before your ECU goes to "READY" after you turn the light off. I assume the theory is that if you have a problem, then the light will come back on before you complete the required cycle of driving.