Getting a 3.2 through CA smog .. as a 3.0 ?!

[kristan]

Do you guys think I have a chance?
I have a Steve Wong chip in the DME which I will remove.
Apart from that, shouldn't the emissions from this newer
engine (1989) be better than those of the old SC engine (1981).

Thanks for any input or tips.

[stlrj]

You will still need to see the referee for a sticker.

Lots of luck.

[Hugh R]

I doubt they'd know the diff.

[m110]

As long as you have a cat and a motor in decent shape, I bet it will work in CA. Doubt the guy notices.

[stlrj]

Originally Posted by m110

As long as you have a cat and a motor in decent shape, I bet it will work in CA. Doubt the guy notices.

They put me through the wringer on my 74 with my 86 3.2 install.

[jimbauman]

Proceed on the assumption that they WILL notice..... Follow the rules and you won't have any trouble - at least no more trouble than the rest of us with 3.2's do!

JB

[johnnywishbone]

i would take the car to an indy you trust and tell him to get it smogged. why punish yourself?
if the indy is any good, money well spent.

[jimbauman]

Johnny - you got it wrong - you don't need to trust the indy as much as the indy needs to trust YOU. He's the one risking his license and all sorts of fines if he gets caught ignoring the obvious... Having said that, ya, if you KNOW someone in the biz.... all the better!

JB

[Zeke]

You want a smog tech to not notice the lack of a CIS system and overlook the presence of the EFI? I had a 964 deck lid on my car and the bar code was telling him it was a 3.6. He saw in the computer that the motor should be a 3.2 and I told him the lid was from a newer car, sorry about that.

You probably don't have that situation, but there are other tip offs. Most of the techs know to look for carbs when carbs aren't correct. I wonder if they are prompted by the computer to recognize the basic layout of the induction. Might want to try for a pre-smog.

[longhornchris04]

If you said 3.0 in a 2.7 car, then you could probably get away with it, but the CIS and Mototronic are clearly different and odds are the inspector will notice.

Better to be honest and let the guy know your engine's year... or move out of Cali.

(That last parts a joke, I quite enjoyed my time in SoCal)

[kristan]

I was hoping to find a really incompetent smog tech. Previous experience showed,
that shouldn't be too difficult. I am just wondering if any of the measured results will
be different between the engines?

[McLovin]

Originally Posted by kristan

I was hoping to find a really incompetent smog tech. Previous experience showed,
that shouldn't be too difficult. I am just wondering if any of the measured results will
be different between the engines?

yeah, the motronic 3.2 should be cleaner.

do they check the serial number on the engine in California? If they do that, you obv. won't get away with it.

If not, I think odds are good you would get away. They'll look for a cat, and that will be there. They will also have on their screen all the items the engine should have, and an SC engine will have a bunch of things a 3.2 won't have (a decel valve, for instance).

But I think most wouldn't know. As long as the 3.2 has all of its lines hooked up, nothing glaringly missing off the engine, etc. (i.e., is just a complete 3.2 with all emissions, etc. on it), you'd get by at least some of the time, and probably most of the time.

[joeblow]

Very likely the 3.2 will do better than the old CIS engine. That being said, you can still fail the sniffer just as well. I would still do the basic pre-smog stuff: New plugs, Chevron techron gas, run her hard and hot right before the test, do not let the car sit idleing after the new plugs go in.

Definetly do the pre-smog test. No reason to fail and get tagged a gross poluter, good money spent for sure.

If you don't pass you can adjust the the DME switch leaner or richer depending on why you fail. Lastly there are many more 'tricks' if you fail based on the fail points but they are all preliminary at this point.

I never agreed with California's stance on smog testing with the visual inspection. If an Independent owner or shop finds a way to be clean who cares how they got there? I had a race engine that was able to run much cleaner than the original engine but would never pass the visual. That is super politics for you at work. Lets require the car run dirtier as it was originally despite the fact is is cleaner the way it is! OK Ranting mode OFF.

Originally Posted by kristan

I was hoping to find a really incompetent smog tech. Previous experience showed,
that shouldn't be too difficult. I am just wondering if any of the measured results will
be different between the engines?

[jimbauman]

You may pass with flying colors on the emission results, but they have BOOKS and pictures. One friend got nailed because he had a non stock air filter housing. The tech couldn't find the make/model of the replacement to cross reference with approved aftermarket housings, so he had to fail it on the visual.

If you take the time to get it certified the right way, you won't have to go thru this song and dance every two years.

JB

[longhornchris04]

Originally Posted by jimbauman

You may pass with flying colors on the emission results, but they have BOOKS and pictures. One friend got nailed because he had a non stock air filter housing. The tech couldn't find the make/model of the replacement to cross reference with approved aftermarket housings, so he had to fail it on the visual.

If you take the time to get it certified the right way, you won't have to go thru this song and dance every two years.

JB

This last bit caused some trouble for friends of mine (not a P-Car). Original parts were NLA, and aftermarket equivalents were not CARB approved... so the options were either a working car that met the emissions, but not the visual inspection or a car that meets visuals but can't pass emissions and ran like crap.

If you can pass the tailpipe sniffer and your intake isn't having fuel fumes coming out of it (the main driver for CARB approved intakes), I don't see the problem. On older vehicles, they wouldn't pass the intake test anyway, so whats the damned point.

Anyway, good luck with the testing.

[aigel]

Your issue is that the emissions controls are completely different, including the routing of vacuum lines. You are bound to fail.

It all is no problem. You just need to go see a smog referee and have to get a sticker for your newer engine in the older chassis. For this your 89 engine will have to pass smog as an 89 engine. It will take half a day of your time, but they are very reasonable with this. The smog referee that does this will check engine numbers and emissions equipment, so make sure the 89 engine is bone stock.

Once you have the sticker from the referee you can get smog every 2 years easily at any station - they will smog your car like a 89.

George

Example, an 89 Honda with an 95 Honda engine.

[larrym]

agreed mostly - the B.A.R computer knows what it is plugged into not withstanding visual issues - your DME will report that it is a 89 - end of smog test in most cases when you claim it is other

the smog tech has a state book that tells if a later engine etc is acceptable in a older chassis - just go ask him to look it up B4 you do anything else

example - I have a 93 miata & want to transplant to a 90 body - smog guy looked it up & it is an OK swap - it helps if yu are already doing biz with him for a regular car - in my case 2 late model hondas

- if you just show up like a spook in a cloak, he will think yu are a state smog-cop and give ya the runaround

[kristan]

Now, you guys are making me nervous (Well, I asked for it).
A few things to consider about the visual:

- The SC doesn't have a DME so nothing to plug into
- The Carbon canister is still the original one and so is the oil tank
- Exhaust tip is the same
- Cat is nice and shiny
- Air filter is stock (yes it is positioned differently)
- The intake is slightly different.

I will give it a try with a pretest and then we will see.
Wish me luck.

[aigel]

It makes a lot of sense to just get the referee sticker. Any newer engine of the same model car usually qualifies. You are not legal with what you are doing now and you could be. I don't get your approach. But it is your decision. Keep us posted on the outcome. Even if you pass now, you'll sweat bullets again in 2 years.

George

[djdsc]

Originally Posted by stlrj

They put me through the wringer on my 74 with my 86 3.2 install.

This makes no sense. The '74 is California smog exempt and needs no testing. What's up?