hey
for those of you who are running this, what issues do you have when its time for emissions testing??
thanks

 

If your states emission test requires that they plug into your OBD-II connector, you will have some problems. The AEM has no OBD-II connector....So you will have to uninstall the system and reinstall your OEM ecu before going to get your test done.

SC~

 

Moving to the AEM forum.

 

Does anyone know if you have a ported head, with cams that the stock ECU will idle it good enough to pass emissions without throwing a CEL?

 

What cams? If you have a piggyback and stock ECU, and they are tuned right, it will not throw a CEL. Of course, reset your ECU before you get to the station.


George

 

putting the stock ecu back in sounds like a major pain in the ***.
i think ill swing by the testing facility and ask them what their policy is if theres no obd 2 connection to the ecu....
maybe they'll just sniff test it?

 

that will automatically fail your car , you are require to have it

 

It's actually not that bad since the AEM is pnp. The PITA would be if you have anything that trips up a CEL on the stock ECU. It might also be suspect if you show up with a lopey idle if you had cams

Mark

 

I've been kicking this around too. I want to have the flexibility of using the AEM for tuning but I don't want emissions inspection hassles. My first inspection will be in just over a year.

Virginia is in the process of migrating to an ODB-II type of inspection. Aside from a visual check for required components, no sniffer will be used. In Virginia, if no code is pulled and you pass the visual, you should pass the test.

http://www.deq.state.va.us/mobile/mobobd.html

I'm thinking the route to go for me is to come up with a "baseline" configuration that won't throw a CEL. I might have to have it reflashed which is not a huge problem or investment since I already have a flash. Then I can revert to this config with the factory ECU when taking the car into be inspected.

Swapping the ECU doesn't take long to do. I suppose that as long as you don't hack the factory harness too badly if you convert to speed density, you shouldn't have too much of a problem converting back to MAF.

Opinions?

 

If you are really concerned with emissions, I would do a small subharness for the MDP/MAP, and teh MAF/IAT. So when time comes for emissions, you can convert the car in 5minutes. Just upplug the MAP and plug in teh MDP, unplug the IAT, plug the 2 wires back to MAF, and then switch ECUs.
Mark has a god point though: what about if you are running a GT35R, 1000cc injectors, and cams? Then you gotta pull some connections...

 

Good info. I wasn't aware that N. Virginia was that close to adopting the OBD-II test. That's good news as it seems to take a lot more to set a code than to fail the sniffer. I'm interested in the AEM as well, but I don't think it would be prohibitively difficult to switch back and forth for the test so long as your car isn't modded really over the top.

 

So should I stay away from cams and injectors if I need to switch back to the stock ecu? What would you think the associated cost of prepping the car for emissions would be? Would a reflash be necessary? How much would the associated cost of the "subharness" for the MAP and MAF be? I've got basically no experience with this and I need a fool-proof way of passing emissions with the EMS. Has anyone tried asking if a new ECU (w/out a port) will auto-fail you? Maybe they would just defer to the snif test, in which case you would just need a catalytic converter, right? Why hasn't this been brought up before- no one has had problems with this? Is there some sort of loophole no one has told me about Anybody with practical experience doing this? I'm pretty confused about this and this could very well determine if I go with the EMS or just the SAFC II. Any guidance would be appreciated.

 

another thing that you can do, is to have your stock ecu flash (with a conservative tune) to pass and control the type of injectors that you have and set up as well. That way when time comes you can swap to MAF and stock ecu (custom flash) and have the car pass with no problems.
Then you can go back to speed density and the EMS

 

Ha! if this was true Busted Solutions should have done it when they installed the AEM EMS in my car. The way they did it it was not plug n' play but rather splice n' pray . I just got through converting my car back to the stock ECU and it was a major catastrophe and cost me probably more than the AEM plus the installation and tuning.

 

You can run cams and injectors with the stock ECU and a flash of some kind or with other piggyu-back options. The AEM is unquestionably better for WOT tuning but if you are concerned about passing emissions you probably are not a good candidate for the EMS (any stand alone EMS)