Ultimate California Emissions Thread

[banjomike]

Final Status of AB2683...
AB2683 was signed by the Governator.

1976 and later model year cars will forever have to pass the full emissions tests. In SmogII areas this probably means "test only" stations for all 911 owners, every time.

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Note: I live in the San Francisco Bay Area and we are now subject to the Enhanced Smog Check Requirements (Smog2).

Most of this has to do with this more stringent test. I imagine that if you follow all these tips to pass smog2 then the normal emission test will be a cakewalk.

Tips

1. Have your car in a good state of tune. (duh!) That means set it to factory specs, esp. timing since they will check that.

2. Get the engine up to operating temperature before the test. Our air-cooled engines are particularly sensitive to operating temperature, and testing a cold engine is a recipe for failure. The engine needs to be hot for good combustion, and the catalyst needs to be hot to do its job well.

3. Lean the mixture. This is easiest on CIS cars. This will decrease your CO output, but will increase you HC output and potentially NOx. Typically 911s fail CO and do fine with HC, so this can help. Remember to reset when you have passed. A lean mixture will make your car run hot.

4. Change your oil. Crankcase gasses are vented into the intake. If you have dirty oil, a greater amount of nastiness will be in your intake air and can push up you HCs.

5. Put plenty of pressure in your tires. The extra pressure will reduce the rolling resistance on the dyno, and therefore reduce the load on your engine during the test which will make it run a bit cleaner.

6. Use low octane fuel. Octane is a rating of a fuel's resistance to ignition. Use the lowest octane gas that will run in your car without pinging. It will tend to burn more completely.

7. Add alcohol, or use a gas with ethanol instead of MTBE. I've heard this suggested, I don't know the science behind it.

8. Try to get them to run your car in a lower gear. The testing procedures require them to run the test in second gear unless doing so will cause the engine to run at less than 1500rpm or greater than 3000rpm. At the least make sure they don't screw you by running the test at 1300rpm.

9. Replace one injector with a plugged injector. This will significantly decrease your emissions.


The Smog 2 test is more than just running the test with the car on a dyno. First they do a visual inspection. They have a reference book that tells them for each car, model, and year what emissions equipment should be present. For my car, which has a 1979 motor, the book tells them I should have exhaust gas recirculation, an air pump, and a catalytic converter. They poke around with a flashlight until they find all of these things. Then they check your timing. Their reference has the factory specs, so for my engine it has to be set at 5deg BTDC. Next they put the car on the dyno, in second gear usually, and run it at 15mph and 25 mph, while measuring the emissions. Finally they take the gas cap and screw it onto a tester and pressure test it.

NOTE IF YOU HAVE A NON-ORIGINAL MOTOR!! You have to have a BAR Sticker on your car (usually on the driver door frame. This sticker will tell them what year the engine was produced and what emissions equipment is required. I had one of these but didn't know it because it was on the front of the door by the hinge. So I had to go to the referee and show that it was a 1979 motor, then they tested it according to the rules for that motor.

California's Smog Test Webpage
http://www.autorepair.ca.gov/STDHOME.ASP?

BanjoMike's Experience (that's me!) [SC motor]
First Experience w/ California's New Emmisions Check

Emission's Experience [Turbo]
I FAILED the TEST ONLY smog check!

Ted Slick's Experience [Carrera]
CA SMOG test failure and unexpected results...HELP :(

Shrouded's Experience [SC]
Emissions / Tuning Advice

Interesting link - 6 things to do before your smog check
http://www.smogtips.com/six_things.cfm

Air Fuel Mixture Adjustment on a Carrera
Air Fuel Mixture Adjustment

Where is the mixture adjustment screw on a CIS car?
Help with mixture adjustment CIS

Another on CIS Mixture settings
1980 911 SC Mixture Adustment Question

Look at superman's post at the bottom of the first page nice description of how CIS works
1% CO Setting... Blazing Fast!


Exemptions for old cars.

The Status Quo
A few years ago as part of some restriction on emissions requirements a compromise was reached in which cars that were 30 years old and older would not be required to take emissions tests. So each year one more model year of cars became exempt from the testing. The requirement for maintaining the emissions equipment did not change, but who's gonna know if you were to change something?

The Future
AB2683 is a bill that will end the 30 year rolling exemption and stop it at 1975. 1975 cars will not have to be tested 1976 cars will. I own a 1976 !#@$%!#@. The bill has passed the assembly, and senate. It awaits signing or veto on the governer's desk.
A few links on the issue
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/postquery?bill_number=ab_2683&sess=CUR&house=B&search_type=email
Ca Smog Law
new California Smog Law, the time is NOW

Please add more useful links, and error check my post. I will edit this if I have made mistakes and to add any links I have missed.

[GettinHeadStuds]

Ultimate.

[IceBlueSC]

Excellent thread!

[juanbenae]

it seems that the last couple threads that have been smog nightmares have been either a turbo (banjo) and a 84 on carerra. what have been the recent results of SC's on the new enhanced test proceedure?

[vash]

mine came back squeaky clean. this is the one that the PO had to do, for me to buy the car.

[ubiquity0]

My SC passed w/ flying colors at a test-only station.

[cowtown]

Originally posted by banjomike

3. Lean the mixture. This is easiest on CIS cars. This will decrease your CO output, but will increase you HC output. (did I get that right?). Typically 911s fail CO and do fine with HC, so this can help. Remember to reset when you have passed. A lean mixture will make your car run hot.

Nice writeup, Mike. Just note that Smog2 also checks NOX, which will increase as you lean CO. So don't lean it too far.

[ZAMIRZ]

If all else fails, pay immigrant non-english-speaking smog guy $300.00 to make sure your car passes

[6 Shooter]

I thought that the reason the HC went up when he leaned the a/f mixture was because of a 'lean misfire' condition. I think that the NOx emissions are related to combustion temp/heat. The higher the combustion temp, the higher the NOx.

If I was setting up my car for the test (mine are exempt, no cat, '70, '72, '73), I would go to a shop that has at least a HC-CO meter (prefer HC-CO-CO2-O2) and adjust/richen it so that it is closer to the max allowable CO readings. That way, there wouldn't be a problem with a lean misfire and cooler combust. temps would lower the NOx readings. The reason for EGR is to lower combust. temps (and NOx) by running the exhaust gas back into the combust. cyls.

If the timing is allowed +/- 2*, I would retard the timing the max 2* allowed.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find out the max allowable limits.
Maybe there should be a list of P-car friendly testers....

[banjomike]

Originally posted by k911sc
it seems that the last couple threads that have been smog nightmares have been either a turbo (banjo) and a 84 on carerra. what have been the recent results of SC's on the new enhanced test proceedure?

My car has a 1979 SC motor in it, and Shrouded's car is an SC. both stories are linked to above. Emission has a Turbo. Ted slick's car is a Carrera. So there is a nice selection of stories from the various 911s (through '89) that are covered by these regs.

[pbflyz]

Excellent post. I recently brought my '84 down to California from Washington State and was fearing the worst. It failed it's last test up in Seattle ( now, I'm thinking it failed because it sat out in a cold drizzle for a half and hour before the test, and because the revs were too low during the test) I didn't retest it there, and instead, just registered it outside of the city at my folks' house for awhile.
Anyway, when I went for my smog appointment in California at a test only facility ( what did I know?) I got the car nice and hot, and they began the test shortly after I arrived. It did just fine, and was well below the limit in every category. What a relief...

[Joe Bob]

Originally posted by banjomike


The Future
AB2683 is a bill that will end the 30 year rolling exemption and stop it at 1975. 1975 cars will not have to be tested 1976 cars will. I own a 1976 !#@$%!#@. The bill has passed the assembly, and in the senate it has passed through the transportation and appropriations committees. It awaits it's 3rd reading on the floor. It appears it will pass before the session is over. Then it will just need the signature of the governator.

The "Ahnold" is a buddy of Leno, Leno was on record as saying repealing the 30 year rolling exemption is a dumb idea.....Ahnold does not make comment on bills until they hit his desk.

If I was a betting man, my bet is that this bill will get his veto....it then gets sent back and has to pass with a higher majority to overide. Don't think it will happen.

[PorscheDV]

ive been sweating AB2683 since we first heard about it...

mikeZ tell me its so! i bought a 76 for this reason~ (full galvanizing, and soon to be smog exempt...soon after the purchase, the created AB2683!)

man..if it passes...

[jc]

Damn. I went to smog my '88 today and blew over the NO numbers. The HC and CO were in range:

speed RPM HC (meas) CO (meas) NO (meas) NO (max)
15mph 1530 92 0.51 1381 807
25mph 1675 84 0.41 1028 746

I had replaced MAF intake with stock equip for test but left MSD unit in because it would be pain to rip out. SmogGuy thinks MSD may be increasing head temp and causing raised NOX levels. I know the MSD does use a bigger coil, and plugs are gapped a little wider.

Which leads me to ask, has anyone passed Cali Smog2 test with an MSD unit in their 911?

Thanks,
jc

[banjomike]

veto AB2683

Below is the contact information for the governor's office. Now would be a very good time to write a letter, (mail delivered letter's have the most impact) send a fax, send an email, and or call his office. I would recommend that you contact his office in the capitol, and the nearest branch office.

If you want to be taken seriously, please consider the following:

don't curse or use abusive language,
include your name and home address,
mention that you are a registered voter;,
politely and briefly explain your opposition to the bill;
include a phrase like "veto AB2683" in the subject or title of your message, and
send it soon!


This is not a good reason to oppose the bill (in your letter at least).
"I have a 1976 and I want to put headers and carburators on it and throw the catalyst in the trash."

Here are some good reasons:
*The bill will disproportionately impact the poor.
*The bill is unfair to collectors of old cars who drive limited miles and keep the cars in excellent condition.
*The bill breaks the deal that was made when the last emissions law was passed. It is wrong for the democrats in the legislature to promise a 30 year rolling exemption as part of a deal to get legislation passed and then break their promise and eliminate the exemption at the first opportunity. This is sneaky politics at its worst.
*The statistics used to justify this bill are nonsense. They ignore the fact that older cars have a very high rate of attrition. They also ignore the fact that the few old cars that do remain on the road are collector cars that aren't driven much and are well maintained. Ignoring these facts allows them to inflate the future impact of emissions from these cars.



Governor's Office

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Phone: 916-445-2841
Fax: 916-445-4633

To send an Electronic Mail please visit:
http://www.govmail.ca.gov

To help us keep track of correspondence and to ensure that we are able to respond to California residents, please be sure to include your name and address when you communicate with the Governor's Office. We do not accept e-mail attachments.

District Offices

Fresno Office
2550 Mariposa Mall #3013
Fresno, CA 93721
Phone: 559-445-5295
Fax: 559-445-5328



Los Angeles Office
300 South Spring Street
Suite 16701
Los Angeles, CA 90013
Phone: 213-897-0322
Fax: 213-897-0319



Riverside Office
3737 Main Street #201
Riverside, CA 92501
Phone: 909-680-6860
Fax: 909-680-6863



San Diego Office
1350 Front Street
Suite 6054
San Diego, CA 92101
Phone: 619-525-4641
Fax: 619-525-4640



San Francisco Office
455 Golden Gate Avenue
Suite 14000
San Francisco, CA 94102
Phone: 415-703-2218
Fax: 415-703-2803

[banjomike]

bump

so the monday morning crowd can write a letter to Arnie

[GettinHeadStuds]

Passed smog...barely.

Max NO #s are 1148 at 15mph and 978 at 25 mph. I was measured at 1148 at 15 mph ( ) and 970 at 25 mph. Close call.

As far as the new smog law, f$%k you Arnold.