smog check questions

[gerard vaglio]

My smog check is coming up for my 79sc this week here in the California bay area.

I've heard that useing an ethanol-blend gasoline will lower my tailpipe emissions.
Is this true and if so which stations use the ethanol-blends in my area?

Two years ago the car pased smog fine, in fact, it did well is what I was told but this year will be the smog 2 check which will place the car under load which I'm a little worried about.

Of course, the car now has the air pump in place as well as the cat and I've tuned it to the best of my ability including valve adjustment. My mechanic usually pre checks the tailpipe before the car gets tested to lean out the mixture as well.

Are there any tips from people who have been through this? Is there anything I'm overlooking or should know?

Any advice is appreciated,

Thanks all.

[SteveStromberg]

Give it an Italian tuneup just moments before you take the test. Make sure it nice and hot.

[Paulporsche]

Check out Sunoco for ethanol in fuel. They can have up to10%

Whether this helps your emissions numbersor not, I can't say.

[pgsandiego]

I think youre getting too worried about it. Change your oil before you go, get it nice and hot, and if you're that worried about it passing, ask the guy to do a pre-check on it (does the emissions test without reporting it to the DMV). Might cost you an extra $10 on top of the real test, but that's what Ive always done with my older cars here in San Diego.

Good luck! (I dont think you'll have any problems)
Patrick

PS: My 82SC was just smog tested w/o the oil change or even heating it up much (I was in a hurry). Passed with tons of room to spare and it was at a test only center to boot!

[makaio]

Definetley run it hard 30-45 minutes before the check.

[gerard vaglio]

I passed smog 2 today.

Gave the car to the mechanic this morning, he tested it first, adjusted air fuel mixture at his shop then drove it to the smog place ran it on the dyno, adjusted more, it passed. Then he drove it to his shop, made some additional adjustments to make absolutely sure it ran well and gave it back to me four hours later.

For all this he charged... $200.

I thought that level of service was well worth the price. Especially when I think about what could happen if you don't pass smog in CA.

So, what do you think? Too spendy? Well worth it?

Do other mechanics work this way?

[tsniu]

In my opinion, well worth it if your car has over 100,000 miles and you have made any modifications.

In fact, I wouldn't mind if you could refer me to your mechanic/smog guy, as I am facing this same issue in the next two months on an SC that is driven only 2 or 3K miles a year, if that, but does have some mods. I would be greatly appreciated if you could email me offline with the name or number as I only periodically access this board. Tom.niu@grubb-ellis.com. Many thanks in advance.

FWIW, I paid similar amount for similar "tuning" last time around for the old style smog test (no dyno).

[bigrubberjeep]

JUST FYI something that many people don't know -

The state of California has a program to help you pay for repairs "to pass smog" for up to $500 after you spend $100 on any repairs.