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Idiots Who Think a 20 Year Old Car can Pass New Emission Tests


bountyhunter

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I have to get the old 1992 Saturn smog tested in the next couple of weeks, I assume it's going to fail. It runs perfectly (had the engine and fuel system completely gone through by a diagnostic center). Problem is: it was never designed to pass the new "tradmill test" being forced onto older cars here in california. The car would easily pass the idle tests it was originally designed to pass.

About ten years back the state slapped all the older cars as "gross polluters" and required they go in for special testing. Mine failed, of course, and I put a bunch of money into it to get it to pass. The problem is the HC test at 25 mph which it was never designed to run. My auto trans shifts into 3rd gear at 25 and that lugs the engine at that speed. It's illegal to hold it in a lower gear for testing. The state first set the limit at 130 ppm. With the engine tweaked up and a new cat converter, it barely passed at about 115 ppm.

Two years ago it failed big time...... when they lowered the limit to 65 ppm. Turns out in cali the counties can lower emission limits to anything they want to. I took a chance and sprung for ANOTHER new catalytic converter because Magnaflow made one much better (and much more $$$) than the OEM cat. The car passed by 2 ppm with the brand new cat.

I assume that it will now fail.

Love it when a perfectly running car that is 100% reliable gets dumped into the junkyard because of unfair laws.

Edited by bountyhunter
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I can related to this.

When I lived in CA I had a nicely tricked out '73 Datsun 510 two-door with a pumped up motor and and dual SU carbs. After a bunch of new laws went into effect I couldn't even the car tested to see if it would pass because it wasn't stock (it actually ran clean and had passed smog checks before they passed the stock equipment requirement), and at that time it wasn't old enough to be an antique or whatever to get an exemption. I ended up selling it to a guy in Nevada who was into car racing. I loved that silly little car and was severally bummed, but at that time really didn't have any other realistic options.

Good Luck to you!

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As a dealership Tech for several years I can assure you that short of stupid Prius crap cars and other EV's it is very difficult for any car to pass such strict standards. You can bet your ass that my 2000 Tundra V8 wouldn't even come close. And I sure as hell wouldn't keep throwing cats at it to keep it passing. Having to drive late model gas sipper cars is just another tax on the citizens, a normal cost of living out there and something I would have no part of. I can barely keep my membership on this forum, let alone suck up all the rules required to live in LA LA LAND.

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pfhht, slip the testing guy a $20 bill.

Helps my long tube headered, no cat 2003 silverado pass every time.

No way to do it. Out here, ait's all automated. The car goes on the "treadmill" and the tester has to hook his computer to the state's computer system and the results are logged as the test is run.

The only way to "trick" it is "clean piping" which would be to put a new car on the rollers and enter the older car's info into the computer. Back in the day, a Dodge dealer did that with my old 1986 Charger. The law then was there was a max cap of about $300 that you had to pay and then the seller had to make all repairs so it would pass. I know the weasel clean piped it because it could never pass and the results were ridiculously low readings. Too bad that law is no longer in effect, they just want all the old cars in the junkyard.

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run the fuel pretty low then add a gallon of rubbing alcohol, do the test on grain ,

I plan to do that with some E85 which is 85% alcohol in a blend about 50-50 with regular gas. It's dangerous because it attacks all the rubber parts but no way to pass otherwise. If my car bursts into flames, you'll know what happened.

Rubbing alcohol can't be used because it's about 30% water.

Edited by bountyhunter
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Rather than dump it into a junkyard, can you not sell it out of state? Or is it a situation where it has more value to a scrapyard than it does to anyone other than you?

And not even gonna comment on California...

The funny thing is that it would be legal in many counties right here in Cali. They set their own standards. Northern Cali is really bad and I assume LA area is as well. I might try it but not sure the effort would be worth it if it had to be driven several hundred miles. The cars

is probably only worth maybe $500.

Edited by bountyhunter
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I understand Nevada PO Boxes are pretty cheap... ;););)

Get a buddy across state lines to let you use his address. Get a Nevada drivers license, then register the car there. Go visit your buddy once a year and get the car inspected while your there.

And prepare to potentially have the insurance company deny any liability claim for insurance fraud......

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Donate it to Goodwill and take $1500 off your taxes.

Not any more, they changed that. Now when you donate a car to charity, you can only deduct whatever they get for it... and they usually dump them off at a wholesale auction.

The actual amount you are able to deduct is dependent on what the charity does with the donated vehicle. Your charity could do one of the following:

  • Sell the vehicle Your deduction is limited to the gross proceeds the charity receives from selling the vehicle. If that amount is less than $500, you may be able to deduct the fair market value up to $500.

http://www.cars.com/go/advice/car-donation/tax-deduction.jsp

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