California emissions and long tubes

[rocky61201]

There are smog exempt counties in CA. Which means as long as you own the car there is no sniff test. It would take an initial pass at any smog station and then registering your car at an address in one of those counties. You never have to smog your car again. Registration notice goes to whatever address you choose and you just pay your annual registration.

Do tell!!!!! Which counties are smog exempt???!!! I'm guessing if it's true what you say, those counties are not even close to San Diego. But if there is a legal way to beat CARB well that would be about the best news I've heard in awhile.

 

[01yellerCobra]

Buddy of mine in northern california sez you can't smoke in your car if anybody is < 21 years of age. And you can't smoke in the parking lot of the state parks either.
You 1st have to boot your < 21 kids outa the car, then roll up the windows, then light up.

We have warnings on all sorts of house hold products these days, + gardening products. Typ... 'may cause cancer as per California lab tests'. " this product has been proven to cause cancer in the state of california".

I remember being told it was 18. Not say it couldn't have been changed. My wife grew up in a smoking household and now has issues around smoke. As I don't smoke it doesn't really bother me either way. Like I said, I'd rather not have to walk through other peoples smoke clouds to get to my destination. But I'm sure that makes me some retard in some way.

As for testing in Cali. I can see that because we do have a lot of medical stuff around here. I have two friends that have worked in labs just for testing cancer and trying to cure it. So while you might look at it as stupid and wasteful, I think it's a good thing they're testing chemicals.

And I'm far from a liberal in case anyone is wondering. I own more guns than most of my friends. I'd prefer the government to step back and let more things work themselves out. I have my reasons for staying in Cali. The weather and VA benefits being a couple of them.

 

[NUTCASE]

The law states that the catalytic converter cannot be modified or relocated. (Maryland has the same law, because it also follows CARB.)

You cannot install long-tube headers on these cars without relocating the catalytic converter. Ergo, long-tube headers cannot legally be used on a street-driven car that has to pass emissions testing.

I live in MD and went through emissions 3 times on full length headers and a O/R prochamber. My tuner modified the rear O2s so they just read the situation as normal. Drove in one side of the emissions center and right out the other "lumpity lumpity lumpity lump lump lump lump grrrrrRRRRRR lumpity lumpity""

 

[Pentalab]

Yes, the CARB laws are overly-Draconian.

Maryland technically uses CARB's emissions laws, but they only check for the presence of a catalytic converter. The $10/hour state employees are not trained well enough to know if the catalytic converter has been moved from its stock location. So if the tune is properly dialed in and you're using a crossover pipe with cats, Long Tubes should pass inspection in Maryland.

Problem with LT's and cats downstream is... it will once in a blue moon spit out an error code. 'cats not ready' etc..which is easy to clear, on the fly, while driving. The typ fix is to just delete the rear O2 sensors in software. Can't do that anymore as the inspection folks will see it asap. Fix for that is an L shaped rear O2 extender..or resistors wired to the rear O2 wires, that will fool the ecu into thinking all is well. If no cats are used, mini cats can be plugged into bungs, with rear O2 sensors plugged into each mini cat. Some places will put a mirror under there and have a look. Some will tap on the oem cat, to see if it has been hollowed out.

Lito can typ provide a tune that will make the cats happy, pass the test, and not spit out the dreaded..'cats not ready'. But that's only on 05-10 cars. Too bad he doesn't do 11+ cars. Other tuners have provided at least a temp tune to pass inspection on 11+ cars. Some have resorted to re-installing oem exhaust system, for inspection purposes, then re-installing the LT's the next day... which is one helluva lot of effort.

 

[NUTCASE]

Yes, the CARB laws are overly-Draconian.

Maryland technically uses CARB's emissions laws, but they only check for the presence of a catalytic converter. The $10/hour state employees are not trained well enough to know if the catalytic converter has been moved from its stock location. So if the tune is properly dialed in and you're using a crossover pipe with cats, Long Tubes should pass inspection in Maryland.

This. In MD if you don't have a light on your dash go the the state facility. Even if they looked at the mirror they don't know what they are looking at. They make $10/hr and aren't qualified to judge anything. If you go to a shop they will actually inspect you because they want to keep thier license

 

[Sky Render]

This. In MD if you don't have a light on your dash go the the state facility. Even if they looked at the mirror they don't know what they are looking at. They make $10/hr and aren't qualified to judge anything. If you go to a shop they will actually inspect you because they want to keep thier license

I've been wanting to do long tubes, so this is awesome that I've found someone who actually passed inspection with them.

 

[NUTCASE]

I got busted by local mall security at 11:55 PM, waiting for a friend to pick up a prescription from the late night pharmacy. The pharmacy was the only store open, and they closed at midnight. I was the only car in the parking lot, way down at one end, closest to the main street / sidewalk. Mall security prick must have walked for 15 mins to find me, it a huge L shaped mall parking lot. Reads me the riot act about smoking on mall property..(in a light wind no less). I walk 6' over to the sidewalk..and all is well. Friend comes out, mall cop is off shift in 2 mins at midnight, then we proceed to lay some rubber on the way out.

I am at the end of working as a security guard for the last 4 years. That guy is a toadstool. I would have laughed at him myself. 95% of the time its seriously counterproductive to be a hardass.

I save the tough guy stuff for very select scenarios. I think I have gotten tough with somebody once in the last year and I have worked some rough areas. I find its better to just let them think they won, then call the police. If the cops are getting good citations and arrests out of you the'll start showing up faster.

Its not about being a pussy or lax, its about that shits not in my job description.

 

[NUTCASE]

Daughter was at a Subaru dealer a few years ago, looking at new cars ( I was with her, told her don't buy a subie). The old geezer who owns the place, mentioned there was also an optional.... 'near zero california emissions device'.. which was a whopping $1100.00

Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle. PZEV. Basically they are charging extra to put the california engine in the car. Its not a device, its a special cat, injectors, intake, and tuning package.

 

[07 Boss]

When I worked at Pebble Beach, smoking was permitted on the golf course but not on the golf cart path because that was considered public access.

Yeah there are signs on every public building. And you're right, they are now so ubiquitous that no one pays attention to them. Kinda defeating the whole purpose of having them.

What kills me about the whole thing and about California is that this was done through a proposition. Meaning somebody got a petition together and got enough signatures on this stupid shit. And then they voted it into law. That is the mentality of people there. No thanks, I know enough stupid people, no need to move to where they're all at.

 

[Wes06]

Someone said when they visited CA, they pointed out a little sign on the driver window of their friends car, it was one of those cancer causing signs. The owner had never even noticed it, and said literally EVERYONE ignores those signs, because they are on EVERYTHING.

 

[travelers]

I'm not arguing with u. I just didn't understand their rationale behind moving cats aft.

Look at all the political bull shit that's going on and they are some real nuts running that state. Maybe it they split it up and have New Cal. it will help.

 

[Marble]

So you're thinking is because you're swapping out the cats

So you're thinking is because you're swapping out the cats entirely it doesn't count as relocating them?

The law is that the cats can't be moved from the stock location. The further you move the cats away from the engine the longer they take to heat up. Not something the emissions people like. And modifying the exhaust is actually a federal offense. Just some places don't look as hard as others.

Does it suck dealing with smog? Only once every two years. Does it end my fun with my car? Nope.

Federal offense?

Do tell!!!!! Which counties are smog exempt???!!! I'm guessing if it's true what you say, those counties are not even close to San Diego. But if there is a legal way to beat CARB well that would be about the best news I've heard in awhile.

Just look up smog exempt counties in CA and you will find them. I think DMV has them listed. Smog is only required during change of ownership in some counties, or when registering your cat inn the state for the first time.

My car is an 06 and it's never been on a sniffer

 

[01yellerCobra]

Just look up smog exempt counties in CA and you will find them. I think DMV has them listed. Smog is only required during change of ownership in some counties, or when registering your cat inn the state for the first time.

My car is an 06 and it's never been on a sniffer

I know a couple guys that have PO boxes in one of those counties. One of them owns a pro street El Camino with a blown big block.

 

[Wingrider]

This thread is why we Californians can't have nice things...

I had to search far and wide for something better than those stock logs they call exhaust manifolds for my '11 GT500. Yes I could have probably done the out of county thing but that's only marginally better than the rest of it if you should get stopped. Most cops are performance car aware so part of the drama is "is this your current residence" on the reg. "Why do you have here", blah blah.

As I'm typing this my car is at the shop where one of the mods is a set of rather interesting looking "shorty headers" from "Doug's Headers" AKA now JBA, now Petronix. They are coated, polished, and have a pretty wild 180 degree loop in them to wind up back at the stock CAT location- and have a CARB DO number. They're also "longer" than just 4-6 inch long legs coming into a collector. I did this because I wanted something better than stock, and at least this leaves a little back pressure to make boost with the new supercharger. So we'll see how it all unfolds.

Worst case, I'll be looking for my "Tiny House" (P.O. Box) somewhere up in the gold country to register (Err) "store my classic car" before my next smog in 2 years. If that ends up happening then long tubes here we come.

 

[46addict]

There are smog exempt counties in CA. Which means as long as you own the car there is no sniff test. It would take an initial pass at any smog station and then registering your car at an address in one of those counties. You never have to smog your car again. Registration notice goes to whatever address you choose and you just pay your annual registration.

I always wondered how this worked. Wouldn't the address on the driver's license have to match mailing address and registration address?

My advice to OP is swap back to stock manifolds and stock cats before moving. Installing LTs after registering in CA doesn't make sense because you still have to pass smog. There are ways to make power with stock exhaust so it's not the end of the world.

Also, be advised that if your tune is not legit, your car will rat you out.

Joe

What is the difference between a legit tune and an illegit one? Will Bama tunes not pass smog then?
Or are all aftermarket tunes banned in CA?

 

[01yellerCobra]

What is the difference between a legit tune and an illegit one? Will Bama tunes not pass smog then?
Or are all aftermarket tunes banned in CA?

I'm sure there are legal tunes. Most tunes turn off rear O2's. So the drive cycle never completes. But the tune I have in my 04 has everything turned on. So the smog tech doesn't know the difference when the car is plugged in.

 

[46addict]

Same here. That is how I've been able to pass Georgia OBD inspection.

 

[07 Boss]

I always wondered how this worked. Wouldn't the address on the driver's license have to match mailing address and registration address?

My advice to OP is swap back to stock manifolds and stock cats before moving. Installing LTs after registering in CA doesn't make sense because you still have to pass smog. There are ways to make power with stock exhaust so it's not the end of the world.


What is the difference between a legit tune and an illegit one? Will Bama tunes not pass smog then?
Or are all aftermarket tunes banned in CA?

License and registration don't have to match. What if you have multiple residences and have a car at your summer home?


Now I'm old and my memory is not as good as it used to be but I thought I remember somewhere reading about new smog machines in Cali and a couple of other states that could identify non factory tunes. It is my understanding that no, aftermarket tunes are not allowed without the CARB certification. I could be wrong about the new machines but I thought I remember reading it on some hot rod site or something like that.

 

[Pentalab]

With the rear O2 sensors turned on, all is well.... until you get the dreaded pair of codes for ..'cat eff sucks' . P0420 and P0430. Those pair of codes will kick in once in a while, with LT's installed. No big deal, as I can clear them..on the fly, with the aeroforce gauges. Just make damn sure they are not there, when they go to plug into the OBD. The L shaped O2 extenders will normally get rid of the pair of codes permanently. Stainless steel L shaped O2 extenders simply plug into the bung 1st..then the oem rear O2 sensor plugs into the extender. That puts some distance between oem rear O2 sensor... and exhaust gases. Big daddy's garage sells the Stainless steel version. http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/

http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/angled-cel-fix.html This is the fix for high flow cats + LT's.


http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/mini-cat-cel-fix.html Mini cat..This is the fix if you are catless..and LT's.

 

[Sky Render]

With the rear O2 sensors turned on, all is well.... until you get the dreaded pair of codes for ..'cat eff sucks' . P0420 and P0430. Those pair of codes will kick in once in a while, with LT's installed. No big deal, as I can clear them..on the fly, with the aeroforce gauges. Just make damn sure they are not there, when they go to plug into the OBD. The L shaped O2 extenders will normally get rid of the pair of codes permanently. Stainless steel L shaped O2 extenders simply plug into the bung 1st..then the oem rear O2 sensor plugs into the extender. That puts some distance between oem rear O2 sensor... and exhaust gases. Big daddy's garage sells the Stainless steel version. http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/

http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/angled-cel-fix.html This is the fix for high flow cats + LT's.


http://www.bigdaddiesgarage.com/mini-cat-cel-fix.html Mini cat..This is the fix if you are catless..and LT's.

Do you still have the rear sensors plugged in? Your tuner should be able to prevent those codes by modifying the transfer function.