My failed smog test rant

[SVcabron]

Here goes, I go to a test only center for my 95 camry. The car fails on the HC in the 25 mph test.

I take it to a shop where they do some emissions work on the car. I get my car back with several tests saying my car is clean. This shop has a smog test center as well. My car passes with ease at this shop. Now I head back to the test only center because I have a free retest and I also have to go to a test only center, per DMV. The tech at the test only place says that my car has failed smog again.

I'm so close to loosing my cool. I take a deep breathe and go back to the shop and tell them WTF!. They tell me that not all test only centers are created equal. They send me to a place that they have confidence in. My car passes here with about the same smog stats from the shop that did the work. So my car failed and passed a smog test with in 1 and a half hour.

I'm glad that my ride finally passed smog and now I can get it registered. Lesson of the day, not all test only places are created equal. All of this took place in the south bay of California. Good luck to everybody on their smog tests.

[eddie926]

Starting last year, in Missouri, you no longer have to get an emissions test for any car 1995 or older. Woohoo. That means I only have to emission test one of my families 3 cars.

It's pretty ironic though. Obviously, newer cars are less likely to fail those tests than older cars, so it seems that the whole emissions test thing in Missouri is more of a money maker for the state than it is an environmental protection issue.

It used to be that the emissions tests here were performed by auto repair shops along with your annual mechanical inspection. Then several years ago the state took over the emissions testing. They built these high dollar emissions test stations for millions of dollars. They immediately got the attention of several investigative reporters in teh St Louis area who hounded them for years. Last year they announced that their program would be shut down and the emissions tests would revert back to the automotive shops.

My tax dollars. Hard at work.

When I lived in Ohio, they had NO mandatory mechanical or emissions test. They would just set up checkpoints at various places and pull random people over to check their vehicle. If you never got pulled over, you could renew your license year after year with no inspections. I think they still do it that way.

[Venom_5]

you guys have it rough in Cali ... idk why ...for my 95, this is what i have to do:

+ Go to Test Center (its about 15 mins from my house, school, or work)
+ Wait in one of two lines for as much as 25 minutes
+ Roll into bay ... sniffer in the tailpipe, mirror to check for a cat, probe on gas tank lid
+ Pay $9
+ Receive statement saying i passed, get comments from workers about my afro

for OBD-II, they do all that plus plug a module into the OBD-II port on the inside of the car ... which doesnt take up any more time

[redtigerrocks]

personally, my car (94' Camry V6') failed the emissions test once and the testing center gave me a free retest. All i did was fill up a fresh tank of gas and put in some fuel injector/engine cleaner and drove around for 50-150 miles or so to let the gas dissipate/seep in. Then i took it back to the test center and it passed .
Just some advice!

[SVcabron]

Originally Posted by redtigerrocks

personally, my car (94' Camry V6') failed the emissions test once and the testing center gave me a free retest. All i did was fill up a fresh tank of gas and put in some fuel injector/engine cleaner and drove around for 50-150 miles or so to let the gas dissipate/seep in. Then i took it back to the test center and it passed .
Just some advice!

I tried that, getting it fixed was the last option.

[bigbird]

HA...in MD its state controlled and state facilities. u dont pass there, u dont pass at all.

glad ya passed.

[Chris Crash]

We don't have emissions on newer cars. I think our cutoff is 93. Maybe 94. All I know is my dad's 90 Ford E-250 needs one and my mom's 94 Mercury Villager does not.

[rebel8ball]

when tx started it, they built huge centers for teating, then built training centers to train the testers, then before they had it up and running for a year, they shut it all down and handed it back to the local shops...

[TheKevin]

my altima didnt pass and still hasnt passed. my camry is due for a smog test soon and i dont think it'll pass but hopefully it will.

[nikita]

Originally Posted by eddie926

It used to be that the emissions tests here were performed by auto repair shops along with your annual mechanical inspection. Then several years ago the state took over the emissions testing. They built these high dollar emissions test stations for millions of dollars. They immediately got the attention of several investigative reporters in teh St Louis area who hounded them for years. Last year they announced that their program would be shut down and the emissions tests would revert back to the automotive shops.

CA tried that in the early 1980's, same result. Huge waste of everyone's time, and the state employees running the centers were too lazy, so the underhood inspections were always skipped for my Econoline because it required some effort.

When I lived in Ohio, they had NO mandatory mechanical or emissions test. They would just set up checkpoints at various places and pull random people over to check their vehicle. If you never got pulled over, you could renew your license year after year with no inspections. I think they still do it that way.

1960's in CA, Reagan, when governor, put a stop to it because he wanted the Highway Patrol patrolling, not setting up roadblocks. I was a long-haired kid in a VW back then and they tried hard to fail me, but I always passed. My German Shepherd in the car also helped speed up the inspections.