failed smog, sux

[sammyg2]

Well I took my SC all back to stock in preparation for it's smog check at the specified test only station, all appeared to be fine.
Then I saw the results in big red letters, GROSS POLLUTER AAAAARRRGGG!

Darn O2 sensor was completely dead and I didn't realize it.
HC was elevated and just under the max, but the CO was 8 (max is around 1.8).
O2 was 0.0% and NO was very low.

Pretty obvious what the problem was, running decent but just too darned rich. At least the cat was doing it's job keeping the HC down. I knew I had it running a little rich with the turbo but didn't worry about it because I expected the O2 sensor to compensate.

I took it home and started checking, when I disconnected the O2 sensor and drove it around there was absolutely no change.
I stuck another one in and I could tell the idle had smoothed out and the car felt better, I also gave the mixture screw 1/8th turn towards lean.
Now it's time for the re-check.
I'm halfway tempted to pay for a pre-test just in case.
I shoulda bought that gunneson gastester last year when i had the chance.

Just a reminder for those of you who are freezing in other parts of the world and thinking about moving to somewhere nice and warm, Mexifornia sucks when it comes to smog checks.

[Steve F]

There is light in the tunnel my friend In California,with a test only smog check,if you fail,you qualify for the C.A.P program(Calif. assistence Program). with this,you pay the first $100,then the state funds up to $500 additional,(you pay the amount over) to get your car's problems rectified to pass smog.It's a really cool deal.I've used it twice now myself The tech should have offered to you on the spot,run back there and get the form and do NOTHING to your car until the process is completed


Good luck!

[Nine9six]

Originally posted by Steve F
There is light in the tunnel my friend In California,with a test only smog check,if you fail,you qualify for the C.A.P program(Calif. assistence Program). with this,you pay the first $100,then the state funds up to $500 additional,(you pay the amount over) to get your car's problems rectified to pass smog.It's a really cool deal.I've used it twice now myself The tech should have offered to you on the spot,run back there and get the form and do NOTHING to your car until the process is completed


Good luck!

Problem is that the o2 sensor is less than $100.

[sammyg2]

Hmmm, I might have to look into that.

If it fails re-test (which I don't think it will) I'll try this program.
I'm just a little afraid that they might come up with a whole bunch of really expensive and unecessary repairs (above and beyond the $600) that I would get stuck with.

So far I'm only out the cost of the initial test, it came with a free re-test which i have yet to use.
I had a spare O2 sensor on my bench becase I'm a parts pack rat so no additional cost there.

[makaio]

The smog issue is a crappy deal in Kalifornia. I'm all for cleaner air and reducing the amount of emissions, but when it's ILLEGAL to install electronic fuel injection on a 930 to make it run better and cleaner, come on. Or like the bull $hit that Drums from the Central Valley is having with his 3.6 transplant. If the car is clean or runs cleaner than stock, who gives a flyin' fuch if it's equipped with a check engine light.

Moving out of state sounds better and better all the time.

[Don Plumley]

Yeah, I've brought in a 993 from Oregon with cat bypass. So I've reinstalled the cat, getting two new O2 sensors tomorrow, then clear the codes, drive the readiness cycle, and cross my fingers on smog. It's a PITA for sure.

FWIW, Autozone had a generic heated 02 sensor for $99, best mail order price was $89 and I was able to get them to match it. I take my small victories with a big smile.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
Being labeled a Gross Polluter - does that mean you have to get a smog check every year now? (instead of every 2)

I don't know about that, but it means Test Only form now on and he was there anyway.

AFA the assistance, I was told you also had to meet minimum income standards. This info came from a mechanic that does smog. So take it as such.

The one thing that I was also told, and Sam proves it, is that you CAN work on your own car to meet smog. A lot of people are led to believe they have to take it to a Test and Repair Station to have any work done after failure. And you do if you want the assistance, from what I was told.

[Steve F]

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051017/176310.html?.v=1






Press Release Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs


New Rules Allow More Californians to Participate in Breathe Easier Program
Monday October 17, 7:17 pm ET


SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2005--Legislation recently signed by Governor Schwarzenegger will protect the environment and encourage people to Help California Breathe Easier. Assembly Bill 383 will allow more low-income vehicle owners to participate in the Bureau of Automotive Repair's Consumer Assistance Program (CAP) by obtaining financial assistance for smog-related repairs.
ADVERTISEMENT


"In signing this legislation, Governor Schwarzenegger has helped make more Californians eligible for financial help to repair their polluting vehicles," said Consumer Affairs Director Charlene Zettel. "But it doesn't just benefit vehicle owners. It benefits all of us by helping to clear our skies of smog and making the air we breathe cleaner and healthier."

CAP will pay a motorist $1,000 to voluntarily retire their high-polluting vehicle and have it crushed, or up to $500 toward smog-related repairs for qualified consumers. AB 383 by Assemblymember Cindy Montanez (D-San Fernando) allows more low-income Californians to qualify for repair assistance, and get their vehicle to pass Smog Check. The new law takes effect January 1, 2006, and the Bureau of Automotive Repair is already preparing to amend its regulations to expand eligibility under for CAP.

Assemblymember Montanez commented, "Governor Schwarzenegger's support for my bill, AB 383, is a clear signal of his desire to protect California's environment. By signing this important legislation, more low-income motorists will qualify for repair assistance, and this will make a difference in the quality of our air."

Help California Breathe Easier is a public awareness campaign launched by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger earlier this year to help reduce air pollution by increasing participation in CAP, which helps people deal with a vehicle that fails Smog Check. In July, the Governor increased the funding for CAP by $18.5 million.

The campaign is also focused on raising awareness about high-polluting vehicles, their contribution to air pollution and the associated negative health effects, particularly on children.

According to the 2001 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS), one out of ten children in the state suffers from respiratory disease. In another study, the California Department of Health Services reported that asthma hospitalizations cost $480 million in California in 2000. Each year, 15,000 children are hospitalized because of asthma, forcing parents to miss work and children to miss school.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
California Department of Consumer Affairs
Luis R. Farias, 916-653-4090



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source: California Department of Consumer Affairs

[sammyg2]

The assistance is available if you meet the minimum income standards (i don't) or if you were called to a test only station and failed (I did).

I've been called to a test only station the last two times, kinda seems like a pattern.
I checked the DMV website, no mention of having to test more than every other year even if labeled gross polluter, just the test only thing I am already doing.
With any luck I will be retiring to Idaho in 6 years anywho.

[stlrj]

I can't believe that people would move just because of smog testing that we all have to go through including our non P-cars.

What's the big deal?

[baldman]

Originally posted by stlrj
I can't believe that people would move just because of smog testing that we all have to go through including our non P-cars.

What's the big deal?

The big deal (to me) is that it is so unfairly applied it is rediculous.

I was behind a car a few months ago who took off at the intersection and I had to sit there for a few minutes until the air cleared due to the oil smoke. It made Uncle Buck's car look good!

I have never done this before, but it was so bad I went to the DMV site to turn the guy in as a gross polluter. When I got there I found a place where you can enter the plate # and get the vehicle's smog history. When I did that I found he had been a gross polluter for not one, not two, but THREE years. Three years this car has been on the road belching fumes I have to breathe, and the state can't simply say "give me the keys" - they have to voluntarily retire the car. If they decide to the state gives them $1000.

Not only that, but they let these gross polluting cars on the road and they are talking about pollution standards for lawn mowers.

[bigrubberjeep]

My 89 Jeep Wrangler is labeld a gross poluter, (Probably someone reported me when my exhaust broke off the day I had to drive it back after off roading) I am ordered to have it smoged every 2 years like the rest. I also used the cap program, most of the repairs were covered (ERG valve, new cat, new mufler) I paid initially for a new manifold stud that was broken off as well as the inital smog check at a smog check only station that did not participate in the CAP program.

Not many shops offer the CAP program, so make sure you ask.

Good luck.


Total cost out of my pocket $109.50 Cap paid the blance of $356.00

[stlrj]

CAP is offered only on test only stations. Went through it with my grand caravan when it failed the NOx portion. I only had to pay $100 for a new cat...not bad!

So what's the big deal?

[sammyg2]

No big deal. Pretty soon Southern California will be completely populated with liberal tree huggers and illegal imigrants, the rest of us will be retired out of state

One of my parent's neighbors in Wickenburg, Ariz. recently stated in a lettrer to the editor "Arizona doesn't need to build a fence to keep the Mexicans out, they need to build a fence to keep the Californians out".

[bigrubberjeep]

Originally posted by stlrj
CAP is offered only on test only stations. Went through it with my grand caravan when it failed the NOx portion. I only had to pay $100 for a new cat...not bad!

So what's the big deal?

I don't think that true, because a Test only station does not do repairs, so CAP would not apply.

In my case I "Failed" at the Test only station, then I had to take it to a repair shop that participated in the cap program.


Could just be my situation though.

[sammyg2]

If they didn't have this test only crap, the technician could have said uh oh, high CO. I would have walked over, pulled the allen key out of the glove box, made a small adjustment to lean it out, and passed the test with no more hassles.
But.... Noooooooo........
We have to make a big, complicated game of it.

Just for the record, I like my vehicles to run clean. I dont want to have a gross polluter. If I had known the O2 sensor was bad I would have replaced it smog test or no. I just hate the red tape and hassle of a flustercluck the darn law makers have dreamed up.

Why test only? Why $55 (including $8 for the DMV plus and a $3 electronic transfer fee)? Does it really cost $3 to send information over a modem?
I really don't believe all this crap is to make the air cleaner, there would be so many easier ways to accomplish that. No, I believe it is to generate additional revenue to cover their collective overspending liberal butts.
Unfortunately when i vote for people I think will be different, I get outvoted in this great state.

[bigrubberjeep]

My question is why do I have to register my car evey year?

I still own it, it's still parked in the same garage. Why do I have to pay you every single darn year to tell you, "Nothing has changed"

And then if I'm even a week late, you charge me 10% of my registration as a late fee.

[stlrj]

"I don't think that true, because a Test only station does not do repairs..."

They have a list of approved repair shops where you then can take your car for the needed repairs.

[Joe Bob]

That's why "Red" goes on the scope PRIOR to being tested...Gross Polluter gets you an extra test every year last I heard.....

[Lorenfb]

"Darn O2 sensor was completely dead and I didn't realize it.
HC was elevated and just under the max, but the CO was 8 (max is around 1.8).
O2 was 0.0% and NO was very low." - sammyg2 -

Another one who expresses knowledge about Porsches and then:

1. goes to a smog test with the O2 sensor disconnected, and
2. has the fuel distributor setup for a CO of 8% (like pouring raw
fuel into the intake).

"I knew I had it running a little rich with the turbo but didn't worry about it
because I expected the O2 sensor to compensate." - sammyg2 -

Totally incorrect to assume that an early Lambda system can compensate
for an excessive rich mixture. This system is very limited over which AFR
range it can correct for. Even the OBDII Lambda system has it limitations
where it can correct for minor problems as air leaks and small fuel pressure
changes.

"I've been called to a test only station the last two times, kinda seems like a pattern." - sammyg2 -

Cars like this and owners who don't maintain them, cause problems for other
Porsche owners, as the state begins to classify "clean" Porsches with those
"rat" cars that fail smog tests.

A 911SC passes smog tests super easy, but for some DIYers there's no hope!
Another one who needs to find a good Porsche mechanic, stop DIY things
especially on a Porsche, and post just about chrome wheels and car polish.