Emissions Testing

[scottfab]

Each state has their own way of measuring emissions.
In the state of Oregon one of the nice rules was that when
your car reached 20yrs old they no longer measured emissions.
That was very nice for my 73 LS6 because I had to put all the
air injection crap on it every 2yrs.

Anyway, I've just taken the ZR-1 down for testing here in
Washington and they no longer put the car up on rollers
for the test and they no longer inspect the gas cap !!!
Just a run up to 2500rpm for about 5seconds and that's it.
The PASS slip no longer shows levels of gases either.
Not sure if the FAIL slip does.

In a time when I see and hear that other states are stiffening up on
emissions it's good to live in a state that seems to be lightening up.

I am curious about how many states still use the rollers when doing emissions testing.

[tomtom72]

Hi Scott, yes I experienced the same change in testing procedures that NYS/DMV applied to cars in high density areas. It seems that two years ago the roller test was abandoned in favor of a short, fixed rpm test with an exhaust gas analyzer and a data link using the ALDL. Even the results of the analyzer are left off in favor of a "pass/fail" statement. The roller was not a state wide procedure, it was only in high density areas that actual tail pipe emissions through out a "simulated driving loop" were measured. There was a bit of 'raising the bar' with the emissions levels that they would call "passing" on older OBDI cars. It wasn't as bad a creep as CA is using, but I was beginning to think where will they stop. NYS/DMV Antique status is 25 yrs, and they have not decided to include OBDI cars in the same group as pre-OBDI cars that have an exemption from emissions testing in high density areas. I was always proud of my OBDI LT5 passing the testing even if it was shooting at a moving target.

I miss the actual gas content results. I used to use them as a "window" of sorts to what was going on inside the combustion chambers.


Tom

[Z Factor]

No testing whatsoever here in Florida.

[Paul in SC]

Originally Posted by Z Factor

No testing whatsoever here in Florida.

Ditto for South Carolina...

[dredgeguy]

In Maryland you can put Historic plates on your car when it is 20 years old. No emissions or state safety inspection is required with Historic plates.

[Locobob]

Scott, last time I checked the Oregon 20yr old rule only applied to cars up to 1975 - so basically anything built after 1975 still had to pass emissions. Has this changed? Would be great if it has.

[scottfab]

Originally Posted by Locobob

Scott, last time I checked the Oregon 20yr old rule only applied to cars up to 1975 - so basically anything built after 1975 still had to pass emissions. Has this changed? Would be great if it has.

Ya know, I actually don't know where they are with that now. I lost interest in that along with the Ducks and Beavers in favor or the Huskies and the Cougars a decade ago
I do know my 73 did not have to go in anymore.
PS I decided to go with "Neighborhood Watch" for my new router name.
That should get some attention.

[ghlkal]

In WI, a 20+ year old car can apply for "collector" plates. The car is inspected once to get the plates, but no inspection after that. There is no annual renewal fee for collector plates either. Both of our Corvettes have collector plates. For non-OBDII cars, the test is on rollers.

Originally Posted by scottfab

PS I decided to go with "Neighborhood Watch" for my new router name.
That should get some attention.

Good one!

[Hib Halverson]

California has three levels of its "smog check"

In areas the CARB has determined have air quality problems, primarily urban areas such as the greater Los Angeles area, the greater San Francisco area, the greater Los Angeles/San Diego areas and a large part of the Central Valley, the "enhanced smog check" is required. The enhanced smog check is run on a low-load, low-speed chassis dyno and the test is run at 15 mph and 25 mph. All cars registered in those areas must test once every two years and at change of ownership.

In areas other than those which the CARB has determined have air quality problems but just not as bad as those listed above, the test (called the "basic smog check") is run at idle and at 2500 rpm with no load on the vehicle. Vehicles registered in those areas must test every two years and at change of ownership.

The remaining areas of the state not covered by the first two (primarily rural areas without air quality problems, such as northern California other than the Central Valley, east-central CA and southeast CA) are tested at idle and at 2500 rpm. Cars registered in those areas must test only at change of ownership.

Want to know what areas of CA have to do which test?
See: http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResource...rogram_Map.pdf

"Scottfab" makes the point that it's getting tough in some states with "enhanced" emissions tests to pass a ZR1. Usually, that happens in liberal states which intend to force old cars off the road. One way California does that is by periodically, reducing the maximum allowable emissions for a given type/model year of vehicle. With respect to 93-95 LT5s, the State of CA has changed the maximum limit for NOx emissions three different times that I know of and that has forced some owners of those cars to either modify the engines such that they will pass or forced them to sell the vehicles out of state. One problem with the 93-95s is the calibration for their engines' digital EGR has EGR enabled at 17-mph which doesn't work very well in an emissions test run at 15-mph. I had a problem back in the early-00s with my car flunking NOx no matter what I did, short of major engine work so, I had my calibration vendor at the time, do a new "chip" for the engine that turned on EGR at 14-mph rather than 17. Problem solved.

With the 90-92 cars, it's not so easy because they do not have EGR. The solution for them is not easy and would take up to much bandwidth here.

[mike100]

Originally Posted by Hib Halverson

...

Want to know what areas of CA have to do which test?
See: http://www.bar.ca.gov/80_BARResource...rogram_Map.pdf

Thanks for the link. As you can see 1/2 of SDCo is not under the biannual check and I often think to buy a cabin in Ranchita or Pine Valley.