Passed Texas Emmisions Today

[TexasBlownV8]

yeah the place i go, they just hook up the computer, let the car idle a little (to hear it and let it rumble the building), and if the obdii says, pass, it passes. They usually don't even open the hood.

The right tune is what it takes.

For those in counties which do not yet have emissions inspections, it's a lot easier, but you'd be more susceptible to visual inspection instead of relying on the computer to tell them the state of things.

 

[Timmbo]

What gets me is the guys didn't even clue in to the fact of the raw exhaust smell from your car running without cats. Where I live they only do the OBD II test and stick a mirror under your car and look for cats. This last time for me the guy grabs the mirror, sticks it hap-hazzardly under the car while not even watching what he's doing. Obviously he didn't care. For me to pass here I have to change out my Pypes off road H midpipe to my Pypes catted X and load an emissions tune. A simple 17 mile drive to the test center has always reset my system monitors by the time I got there. 7 out of 8 monitors must be working to pass. I have a little Actron 9125 that I hook up to the OBD port and drive around with so I know when the monitors are ready. I'm always nervous pulling in there because of the loud exhaust and cams loping but they don't seem to care as long as a "PASS" shows up and they get their 10 bucks.

 

[8306gt]

What gets me is the guys didn't even clue in to the fact of the raw exhaust smell from your car running without cats. Where I live they only do the OBD II test and stick a mirror under your car and look for cats. This last time for me the guy grabs the mirror, sticks it hap-hazzardly under the car while not even watching what he's doing. Obviously he didn't care. For me to pass here I have to change out my Pypes off road H midpipe to my Pypes catted X and load an emissions tune. A simple 17 mile drive to the test center has always reset my system monitors by the time I got there. 7 out of 8 monitors must be working to pass. I have a little Actron 9125 that I hook up to the OBD port and drive around with so I know when the monitors are ready. I'm always nervous pulling in there because of the loud exhaust and cams loping but they don't seem to care as long as a "PASS" shows up and they get their 10 bucks.

My car doesn't have any bad odor at idle, it actually runs very clean. I would in fact be shocked if it couldn't pass an actual sniffer test. Also for the record my last car which was a built, cammed, 95 Thunderbird SuperCoupe passed a sniffer test without cats without any trouble. The only car I own that would not pass is my Fox bodied big block car, fortunately it's old enough I am not required to do emissions testing.

 

[benjytps]

Id sure like to see some more pics......................ya got my email address?

 

[1bad65]

Hays county here we come.

It sucks because you cant get a sticker in a non-test county if your car is registered in a testing county. Thats one reason your registration has the county it's registered printed on it.

...but will not cheat to help you pass the OBDII test.

Because it's nearly impossible to. When they hook the car up to the computer it reads your VIN number. So they cant hook up a car that will pass in order to pass a car that wont pass. If they do, the system will not show your car as having passed since it's VIN wasnt hooked to the computer. And since your license plate is connected to your VIN number, a cop who runs your plates will know if you havent been inspected even without looking for a sticker. So if you buy a sticker just to put on your car, it will not work if the cop runs your plates, and you will get popped for having an illegal sticker. They can also tell if your registration is out by running your plates, and you cannot get your car registered if it's been longer than 2 years since it's been hooked up to the emissions computer.

 

[StangPhD]

I live in an area that does not require emissions. However, they do a visual so gutted cats are the only way around here to run an "offroad" set up and pass.

 

[Newman]

It sucks because you cant get a sticker in a non-test county if your car is registered in a testing county. Thats one reason your registration has the county it's registered printed on it.



Because it's nearly impossible to. When they hook the car up to the computer it reads your VIN number. So they cant hook up a car that will pass in order to pass a car that wont pass. If they do, the system will not show your car as having passed since it's VIN wasnt hooked to the computer. And since your license plate is connected to your VIN number, a cop who runs your plates will know if you havent been inspected even without looking for a sticker. So if you buy a sticker just to put on your car, it will not work if the cop runs your plates, and you will get popped for having an illegal sticker. They can also tell if your registration is out by running your plates, and you cannot get your car registered if it's been longer than 2 years since it's been hooked up to the emissions computer.

Last year they scanned my registration sticker hooked the machine to a corolla and passed and i got papers. Is this something new ?

 

[1bad65]

Last year they scanned my registration sticker hooked the machine to a corolla and passed and i got papers. Is this something new ?

No, it's been this way for awhile. What's going to happen is if they run your plates it will come up that you haven't passed emissions.

I bought stickers for 2 years and was never hooked up to the emissions computer. I got popped for having a registration sticker that was expired. He didn't run my plates, he said the computer was down so he just visually checked the inspection sticker so I got lucky. When I went to get my car registered I was unable to, and they said it was because my car had not been through emissions in over 2 years and I could not get it registered until it passed emissions. My buddy who is in APD confirmed they can run your inspection and registration status simply by running the plates. He said had that guy's computer not been down I would heve been up shit creek.

Once I put my cats back on and got it re-tuned I got a legit inspection sticker. The next day I went to the exact same place to get it registered and was able to.

 

[scramblr]

Yeah you got lucky lol. They always look for cats everywhere I go.

That's not good to hear. Then again, I still have the stock cats I can put on if I fail, but would rather not. I haven't had to do an emission test since I bought the car in 2006, so I'm curious what the OBDII test will show and if they'll do a visual for the cats.

 

[panama]

What tuners have ya'll used that can do the emission tune? I tried to get an emission tune and they could never get my o2's to turn on in the tune, had to go back to stock which worries me for cams and headers. If I had known Hays didn't have obd2 I would have registered at my uncles house.

 

[Newman]

No, it's been this way for awhile. What's going to happen is if they run your plates it will come up that you haven't passed emissions.

I bought stickers for 2 years and was never hooked up to the emissions computer. I got popped for having a registration sticker that was expired. He didn't run my plates, he said the computer was down so he just visually checked the inspection sticker so I got lucky. When I went to get my car registered I was unable to, and they said it was because my car had not been through emissions in over 2 years and I could not get it registered until it passed emissions. My buddy who is in APD confirmed they can run your inspection and registration status simply by running the plates. He said had that guy's computer not been down I would heve been up shit creek.

Once I put my cats back on and got it re-tuned I got a legit inspection sticker. The next day I went to the exact same place to get it registered and was able to.

I saw cops running my plates all the time and never had a problem... even when i got pulled over

 

[KemahGT]

I use the O2 sensor hack and have always passed. You get one "Not Ready" in TX but no "Fails".

There is no such thing as an emissions tune to my knowledge. If the rear O2 sensors are turned off in TX you're gonna fail the OBDII test.

My inspector was more worried about my tint than he was anything else.

 

[1bad65]

What tuners have ya'll used that can do the emission tune? I tried to get an emission tune and they could never get my o2's to turn on in the tune, had to go back to stock which worries me for cams and headers. If I had known Hays didn't have obd2 I would have registered at my uncles house.

I get mine tuned by Brian Fennell at Kyle Automotive/Fennell Performance.

I saw cops running my plates all the time and never had a problem... even when i got pulled over

I'm just giving everyone a warning based on my personal experience. If you get popped with a sticker on your car that isnt legit, you're likely going to get your car impounded plus a shit ton of fines and possible criminal charges. Plus they can easily trace where the sticker came from and make their life a living hell as well.

 

[TexasBlownV8]

The VIN# here in Texas is currently NOT pulled from the PCM. It's clearly visible (and scannable?) from the window; that's what the station I go to uses. My inspection reports show the proper vin number, although it says on the paperwork its a 4.0L.
The last time I was pulled over a few months ago (stupid popo), everything came back ok.

 

[terry5357]

Correct on the one not ready. I have flanges on my cats and swap them out at inspection time. I put the stock intake on and use the strategy tune in my SCT to turn off the CMCV so I don't have a CEL. Also without the CMCV turned off the car will hardly run at all, not even enough to drive around town. I have always had trouble getting a sticker until this last time when i figured out the strategy tune. its all good now.