Emissions Update

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S

SasSi

Senior Member
I decided to go early for the emissions test because I was curious- and curiosity killed the cat. I called the MVA yesterday & the stupid bitch I talked to on the phone told me all I had to do was go into the office before the test & tell the guy that my car was OBDI, not OBDII, & they would test it like that. WRONG!

The guy in the office was old & a TOTAL ASSHOLE. I knew the second I saw him that I was making a mistake by telling him, but I did it anyway because the woman on the phone had assured me. He totally treated me like shit & like I was stupid. To make a long story short, I told the guy to just hook it up & we'll see what happens.

OBDII test results
MIL Engine Off: pass
MIL Engine On: pass
DLC Tampering: pass
OBDII Communications: FAIL

The guy was an "office guy", but he made sure he was out there while the guy was testing my car, just to be an ass. I watched the computer screen from the waiting room. "OBDII trying to communicate".... "Failed". They retried & failed again. I sat there with a grin on my face thinking "I told you so".

I had to go back in the office to talk to the old asshole & he was like "It couldn't communicate". I felt like telling him that it could be his computer's fault, not mine, but I bit my tongue. So, it's extended until March 2004, & by that time I have to try to get it to pass. I told him unless I put a new motor in the car it would never pass. He said that I have to spend $450 dollars to try to "fix" it so it will pass & if it fails again, then I get a waiver if I show them receipts.

But let me tell you what he did next.... he made me pop my hood so he could see that all my emissions equipment was hooked up. Like he knew what the fuck he was looking at!!! Then he got down on the ground & looked underneath my car, probably to check the O2 sensors & catalytic converter. I felt like beating the shit out of him while he was laying on the ground. He was so pissed off & disappointed when he got up- he couldn't find anything out of place. I just smiled at him, shut my hood, & said "Thanks!"

I know there's got to be a way around it. If I plug in my OBDII computer, it will read, but it will also show an engine code. But it's ok. I have until March & the car will be sold by then.

I'm a little angry about the way things are done for the simple fact that I know if they hooked a sniffer up to my car it would pass. I mean what's more important- being factory OBDII or not polluting the air? It doesn't make any sense- I thought the point of emissions inspection was to prove that your car is under a certain ammount of pollution, not that it's factory. But whatever... fuck it.
 
On cars that are 96 & newer, the government knows that from a factory standard, they have the government standard OBD2 Emissions compliance systems and that the cars wont be putting out alot of emissions, unless something is wrong with the car, and the emissions systems aren't working, which would throw a CEL.
 
Originally posted by Green92HatchDX@Nov 21 2003, 10:16 PM
cant u get a simulator for the extra sensors?
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only for o2 sensors, and thats only if she's still running obd2.
 
Originally posted by Green92HatchDX@Nov 22 2003, 04:40 PM
gotcha. can the ecu be chipped/flashed?
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obd2 ECU's can not be flashed...

The only option that you have to be able to pass with how it is now, depending on how you did all of your wiring for the Sir2 swap would be an AEM EMS b/c it uses an OBD2 ECU.

But that depends on how you wired up your motor.

EDIT: And she can't run the obd2 ECU, b/c the Sir2 motor has no crank sensor, and a few other sensors missing... the ECU says "Holy shit! This motor is missing half the shit! No way i'm running right!" :) :D :lol:
 
But let me tell you what he did next.... he made me pop my hood so he could see that all my emissions equipment was hooked up. Like he knew what the fuck he was looking at!!!
Click to expand...


in connecticut, this is illegal. consult your local laws. it is against the law for an emissions agent to open your hood for ANY reason, even with your consent.
reason being, they don't want them to tweak anything... and its not a visual test.

i'd look into that if i were you
 
Originally posted by pissedoffsol@Nov 23 2003, 04:46 PM
in connecticut, this is illegal. consult your local laws. it is against the law for an emissions agent to open your hood for ANY reason, even with your consent.
reason being, they don't want them to tweak anything... and its not a visual test.

i'd look into that if i were you
Click to expand...

You sure about that B? What about on a Civic DX or HX? If they want to do a visual test for a cat they have to pop the hood to see the cat b/c its directly attached to the header.
 
I think Scrape is right here. It used to be that they couldn't open your hood - That's very true. But if they don't see a catalyst under the car in a usual place, they will look for one. Hondas are known to have the cats at the manifold, so it's reasonable to expect that they would look.

If they look under the car and obviously see a test pipe, then you're screwed. They won't look further.

Emissions folk are under a lot of restrictions, but they also have the leeway to play some real games. They will pass a car because they like it. They DO have that kind of power and knowledge to allow something to slip through. Loopholes.

And if they want your car to fail, whether you (like I) show them a nasty attitude or the like, they will fail it.

For my 1989 Turbo Grand Prix, they broke my crossover turbo pipe. I told them to "Run it with the fan in front, because it is a Turbo car" and he put the fan in front of the car, waved at me behind the window, and didn't turn it on. He was a damned prick. After I lunged at him (The TGP won't start with a cracked crossover) and talked about all the damage, They wound up calling the cops. I passed all of my gas emissions, and when I returned in 2 weeks they failed me on CO. My CO was twice what it was 2 weeks earlier.

So they can play all sorts of games based on how they feel.

-> Steve
 
shoulda went to court with those assholes... noone i repeat noone will fuck with my car without my consent. especially not a shop. that is why i refuse to buy a vehicle i cannot work on myself.
 
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