Thread: Failed emmisions/cali smog test

As much as I take care of my motor these people had the nerve to fail my SMOG test yesterday. I have ZZP Item #: ZZ-TOG-CA25 aluminized downpipe with cat with 2.5" exit, but apparently my CAT is bad now and non C.A.R.B. certified. Now ive had this CAT for like 7yrs and ive always passed emissions bc it was legal but now they claim its not and is considered moddified and tampered with. I know just back in 09' the California association resource board was revised which probably for some reason then excluded my CAT. Now this was in 09', mind you I got my smog in 11' (smog required every 2yrs out here) with this very same CAT and passed visually and the emissions.

Emissions results:
15 MPH: HC PPM- Max 51 actual 53 NO PPM- Max 419 Actual 659 FAILED
25 MPH: HC PPM- Max 35 Actual 38 NO PPM- Max 706 Actual 577

Now the readings tell me that something may be wrong or clogged (mind you this was yesterday morning around 830am 55* outside on the chilly side and my car could'nt have been to full operating temp ( my fault) but im down with replacing anything needed to improve my cars efficiency.

Now I am dissappointed that my CAT was legal for 7yrs and now all of the sudden my numbers dont match and its not legal. Thats bull and they still charged me $40 after I failed. LOL they offered to change my CAT ($400 from their parts source) my O2 sensor, $200 for labor and ill get a free re-smog test.

I laughed so hard....Im getting this Cherry Bomb 656008 California OBD-II Universal Catalytic Converter for CARB Emission Vehicles for $186, Bosch O2 sensor for $28 and installing it myself. Then go to the smog shop 2 blocks away and get it done for $28 which is cheaper.

Totally saving a bunch of money. I love it when I go into a mechanic repair shop and talk to a mechanic but they have no idea that they're talking to a mechanic. FUNNY.........

Mind you less than a year ago at the shop I put a presssure gauge in the upstream O2 sensor port and back pressure read about .5-1.0 PSI which is totally fine and I just had my scanner on my car 2wks ago and my O2 sensors was between .1-.9volts very steady and fluctuating as necessary between the two O2 sensors.

At the end of the day my NO was well over the Max so ima just change the CAT(been having some hesitation anyway at low and high RPMs), knock out the O2 sensor since its very vital and only $30, and probaly a bottle of Techron with a nice long drive to knock off some carbon build up(fuel filter should be fine, changed it bout 5 months ago but only put less than 5,000 miles on the car since then). Everything else is literally new or fresh no hopefully these few maintenence solutions will do the trick.

Long story but the moral is to do your homework and to know about your car because these mechanics will rip you off(some will). Study emissions too, may help you on your next emission test or should i say save you a lil money......

I wonder if before you went in for the test, if you had stood on the throttle for 5 min at 2500 rpms to get that cat hot as ****, then went in for the test. A fully heated up motor and cat will produce less emissions.

I got an e-test yesterday too and all they do here is plug in to to OBD2 port and check for codes. No codes = pass.

Cali emissions suck A**, this makes me wanna move back to Philly like really. Although my car was running for like 15min while at one smog shop bc I was actually talking to him about the new emissions machine they're gonna get ( yeah, his so happen to be down and didnt want to repair it bc in a few months here in Cali all smog test will just be done through the OBDII port and the dyno/sniffer would be obsolete) yeah i kind of thought the CAT wouldve been pretty damn hot by then and then I drove to the other smog station almost a mile away. Funny, this being Cali I wouldve thought OBDII port readings wouldve been mandatory across the board by now.

So I contacted ZZP to verify my ZZP Item #: ZZ-TOG-CA25 was Cali legal and apparently it was then but now i guess bc of the new emission revisions its not. But then they told me that my Cherry Bomb 656008 California OBD-II Universal Catalytic Converter may not be legal either bc its a Universal CAT instead of a direct fit CAT. Well Bad news, I bought the damn CAT already but it should be legal and C.A.R.B. (Cali) certified regardless if its universal or dirfect fit. The CAT numbers match and is definatley CARB legal and thats all the smog Tech is concerned about, just that reference number on the CAT when doing the visual inspection.

But if my motor wasnt fully heated up for some odd reason, I know for sure it was at least 70-90% warmed up. With that being said my Nitrogen Oxide level was still way too high regarless and the O2 sensor and CAT is probably well do anyway. The O2 definately, but the CAT I didnt think would be bad yet bc they just dont go bad and usually takes something else to cause its failure like OIL or Coolant getting in the exhaust. But it could be bc of the O2 sensor, or being 7yrs old, a lot of short distance driving, and oh yeah a few months ago i had a throttle body gasket coolant leak and it entered the whole system all where it shouldnt have do to me driving while not knowing I had the damn leak. My fault again, but yeah this would definately add to the CATs life span LOL

As long as the tech see's something that is modified you will fail the visual. That is if he's being an ass about it. Happened to me with a K&N CAI that was CARB legal. The damn guy would not pass it even after I had shown him the CARB cert. The new emissions are for cars 00+ that only require the testing through the OBD 2 port. My 99 is actually due for a smog test at the new star station. I will see how that goes in a couple weeks.

By the way aftermarket and universal CATS have been deemed not smog legal over tha past couple years. I checked your profile and it says you have an 01 so you should be able to just tune the car for the new cat or I believe even set it to not report.

Well my LS is an 01' and my GS is the one that's a 00'. It's crazy bc I failed the other day bc the CAT numbers didn't match in their computer as CARB legal but he didn't even care about the type of CAT (which was a universal from ZZP which the numbers at once were good but since has been taken off the CARB legal list I guess). I don't think aftermarket and universal CATS have been excluded from Cali smog test bc for one there still wouldn't be high end manufactuers like Magnaflow or Cherry bomb still making California specific CATs. If that was the case that would mean everyone in Cali would have to get a CAT from the dealer and that would be unrealistic just for one simple fact alone and that's bc people can't afford it. Cali has one thing thats mandatory and that's not allowing us to use after market CATs within the original CATs warranty. In other words OEM dealer CATs until the warranty is up and then use can use after market CATs whether universal or direct as long as its C.A.R.B. certified (verified Cali legal part number and a EO#/executive order which is specific to all Cali CATs OEM/after market/universal and direct fit.

You are correct in what you are saying. What I should have said is that some high flow cats are not legal here. There are many places online that won't sell high flow cats to california residents. Either way California is strict when it comes to emissions.

dude you got what you paided for. California is the only state that doesnt want you to touch the car in any way. You have to put $900 headers on and any mods you do have to have the NEW EO number on it. wish i could have header my self i have the 3 inch exhaust all ready installed.

Yeah the TOG headers (Cali legal) ran me well over a Grand about 7yrs ago. Cali man, that shi* still hurtin my pockets LOL....