Cali smog and current smog atation software

Long tome on the other place. Bottom line is nevada has the same rules and I went back to stock tune maf and throttle body and have only one system not ready (catalyst) that I cannot get to clear. That got me through last year. Hope it will this time but am told not next. Just to be safe I'm going to pull supercharger and go back to original pulley and back to full stock before emissions test in Dec

Also I don't know how much if they give you about why but all I got from them here was it had a p1000 code (systems not ready) that does not cause the cel light to come on. To find out what isn't ready you need a full obdii reader. Based on advice here I got a $20 bluetooth plug and the free torque app for my phone.

PS with my cobra I got to learn alot about how digital fuel injection systems work. With the gt I'm learning way more about emissions s than I need to know. I think I'll apply to Ford as a ecu firmware wiener. Except I'm too old and they won't hire me. Except that vw might need some help soon

If you call a SMOG station that does the BASIC Smog test without dyno, modded cars will pass

See post from Andy on smog recommendation and my reply...

There's a station here in LA that passed his clients car

Kayvan, I think the point of this thread is that the testing procedure - at least for California has changed..... recently. We're going to find out first hand, I guess as we are picking up a GT tomorrow morning with a dead battery, and needing smog. Dead battery means that all monitors will have been reset. (Ughh.)

junior said:

Smog tests conducted on the failed cars did not include a dyno-

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Nevada does not seem to have a dyno option. The Colorado test is primarily dyno (the same Hamilton Test Systems equipment used in AZ) but they didn't put the GT on the dyno becasue of the HP and instead did a static tailpipe sniff at idle and increasing RPMs. The car passed that test with flying colors.

That dreaded 100 to 400 miles of driving aimlessly for the system to reset..... This last time it took ~100miles, but the time before that it look me ~400miles. I learned that when reswapping back to stock tune, make sure that you are confident that you've returned to stock. One of the reasons it took me ~400 miles was that after a couple of days when the Readiness test was still not complete...., I started to 2nd guess if I selected the stock tune, so I re-return to stock tune a couple of times, but not knowing that the Readiness test would start anew each time.... Live and learn...

nota4re said:

Kayvan, I think the point of this thread is that the testing procedure - at least for California has changed..... recently. We're going to find out first hand, I guess as we are picking up a GT tomorrow morning with a dead battery, and needing smog. Dead battery means that all monitors will have been reset. (Ughh.)

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GTED said:

That dreaded 100 to 400 miles of driving aimlessly for the system to reset..... This last time it took ~100miles, but the time before that it look me ~400miles. I learned that when reswapping back to stock tune, make sure that you are confident that you've returned to stock. One of the reasons it took me ~400 miles was that after a couple of days when the Readiness test was still not complete...., I started to 2nd guess if I selected the stock tune, so I re-return to stock tune a couple of times, but not knowing that the Readiness test would start anew each time.... Live and learn...

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Google search for "Ford drive cycle", it has the sequences needed to clear specific things. The assumption of "driving in a mix of city and highway conditions" will eventually cover them. But some have to be met in the same key on sequence. I did my drive with about 4 or 5 miles city to get to the freeway, then freeway for about 5 miles. That cleared most of them. The temperature was way too high for the evap system to clear (that took a cool morning drive later). The other one was EGR and I just did exactly the sequence (3 cycles of zero to 1/2 throttle followed by a no brake coast to 0) and it cleared in about 2 miles. The trick in Vegas and most cities will be to find a stretch of road where you can meet the conditions. I still cannot get the catalyst condition to clear.

Clarification: didnt mean dyno hp test, meant running on dyno with hook up to tailpipe sensor

BASIC Smog is just OBDI port check (no tailpipe sensor) and your done in LA, at least.

Kayvan said:

Clarification: didnt mean dyno hp test, meant running on dyno with hook up to tailpipe sensor

BASIC Smog is just OBDI port check (no tailpipe sensor) and your done in LA, at least.

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I understand. My point was in CO they wouldn't run the car on their dyno because the car's HP was higher than they were rated for. They did just static throttle test only, no load.

nota4re said:

Kayvan, I think the point of this thread is that the testing procedure - at least for California has changed..... recently. We're going to find out first hand, I guess as we are picking up a GT tomorrow morning with a dead battery, and needing smog. Dead battery means that all monitors will have been reset. (Ughh.)

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I had to go through this 2 years ago. It takes about 120 miles, averaging 60-65 mph to reset the monitors. Don't put the baterry in, drive it for 10 miels and then get tested. Doesn't work.

Seems there is a lot of confusion in this thread. I'll take a whack at summarizing with the hope of clearing things up:

1. CA used to test cars by putting them on a rolling drum - NOT a dyno. The machine had the capability to weigh the car and there were parameters to make sure you weren't smogging a miata in place of your (much heavier) hummer. Whether a car has to us the rollers or not has NOTHING to do with a car's rated HP. However if a car was AWD or had traction control nannies that couldn't be disabled, the operator could choose to perform the test by varying engine speeds and NOT using the rollers.

2. In this previous test environment, the smog test technician also had a way to wave the readiness test of the monitors. CA used to let you have one monitor light on and still pass but all is a moot point when the operator was kind enough to overlook them.

3. The *new* CA test consists entirely of a connection to your OBD2 connector. The State software looks for any engine codes and for the status of the monitors. If the monitors have not been completed, you will fail. (I'm not sure if they will pass you still with only one monitor not set.)

4. The primary emissions monitors are EVAP, Catalyst, and EGR. For a properly running vehicle, the EVAP monitor is often the most troublesome to get to reset. The EVAP systems uses a temperature differential as part of its computation and if that differential is not achieved you are out of luck. It may be required that you let the car sit 8 hours or more and catch the temperature differential as the car warms up. Two things are in your favor for getting the monitors reset. First, many current gen OBD2 readers will also tell you the status of the monitors. You can leave the reader connected as you drive and watch as the monitors reset. I prefer the Autel AL519 http://www.amazon.com/Autel-AL519-Color-Screen-OBDII/dp/B007XE5LTG/ref=sr_1_13?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1443835075&sr=1-13&keywords=obd2
The second advantage is that you have Ford's recommended drive cycle to guide you. A copy of that can be found here; http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

Good lord. Get your head out of your ass, California.

nota4re said:

4. The primary emissions monitors are EVAP, Catalyst, and EGR. For a properly running vehicle, the EVAP monitor is often the most troublesome to get to reset. The EVAP systems uses a temperature differential as part of its computation and if that differential is not achieved you are out of luck. It may be required that you let the car sit 8 hours or more and catch the temperature differential as the car warms up. Two things are in your favor for getting the monitors reset. First, many current gen OBD2 readers will also tell you the status of the monitors. You can leave the reader connected as you drive and watch as the monitors reset. I prefer the Autel AL519 http://www.amazon.com/Autel-AL519-Color-Screen-OBDII/dp/B007XE5LTG/ref=sr_1_13?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1443835075&sr=1-13&keywords=obd2
The second advantage is that you have Ford's recommended drive cycle to guide you. A copy of that can be found here; http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

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I used this Bluetooth reader:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005NLQAHS?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00

and the free Torque app (only available for Android). It gives the complete status of all of the OBDII readiness indicators. Here is a readout from the GT during the process



The reader and app also have readouts for lots of other sensors and can do some limited data logging.

nota4re said:

3. The *new* CA test consists entirely of a connection to your OBD2 connector. The State software looks for any engine codes and for the status of the monitors. If the monitors have not been completed, you will fail. (I'm not sure if they will pass you still with only one monitor not set.)

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This is also the Nevada method. They also do a visual inspection for smoke from the tailpipe. Last year we were allowed one not completed but that is based on an EPA ruling and I heard it may not be true for much longer.

bonehead said:

Good lord. Get your head out of your ass, California.

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Most know that California is unrepairable and choose to leave rather than fight with the fruits and nuts.