So some things I learned for people moving or transferring to CA:

1) Get an appointment at the DMV as soon as you move into the state. They book several weeks ahead and it saves an hour or more. You only have 20 days to register the car before you get hit with $100 in late fees. They don't require you to provide documentation for your arrival date, but you are signing your name to a state form under penalty of perjury, so...
2) Get smogged before going to the DMV (the reverse of what they suggest). I think (but can't be sure) this eased me through the verification required of all cars entering the state. I showed my smog paperwork and they just kind of glanced at the VIN and mileage, and EPA/CA smog certifications (a sticker on your hood if you have a X). The potential downside is that if during verification they send you to the referee, the smog test is invalidated, so you're out your $50.
3) Previous posts were wrong. You CANNOT use AAA when you have any kind of out-of-state business, including an out-of-state title transfer or new CA registration for a car previously registered in another state, even if you have a CA license. You MUST use the DMV. According to AAA they were allowed to do this a decade or so ago, but the state took the ability away from them.

I went in with the stock airbox, but an AMS UICP/Intercooler/Exhaust and no one questioned any of it. Granted the UICP looks stock, you can't see the intercooler, and the exhaust looks stock with its oval tips, but still. I was well under the max emissions levels. I went back to the latest stock tune for the test in preparation for this potential ROM CRC-like check that's been rumored.

 

Sup guys so I took my evo 8 to a large autoshop to get it smogged and it failed the visual. I don't have any of the stock parts (besides the cat, which I put back on) and my intake+exhaust are not carb legal. Any advice?
HKS hi power catback, downpipe, hks intake, hks 272 cams, boost solenoid, fftec dynotune
I was able to pass a year ago at a place in richmond but they're out of business now.
I need to find a good shop in the bay area, CA please help!
thanks

btw feel free to post dope pictures lol

 

I did a ridiculous amount of research on this recently and ended up at a highly-rated STAR station even though it wasn't required, so I'll try to help. You were probably hosed by your intake, which it sounds like is the very first thing they're trained to look for. Without a CARB legal intake or the stock airbox, you're not going to pass. I've seen people ask to temporarily borrow stock boxes on the Bay Area Evo Facebook group.

Catbacks sound like a grey area. From what I've read, as long as it's quiet you're usually not hassled because they're technically permitted as they don't affect emissions. If it is loud, it will trigger closer examination or get you sent to the ref, who will measure how loud it really is to ensure it's less than 95dB.

The downpipe is not permitted without a CARB exemption, but unless you get put up on a lift it won't get noticed. If your exhaust is quiet, it probably won't go up on the lift. Mine didn't. If it goes up, it will probably be caught.

If it passed the emissions portion, your cams, while technically not permitted, are fine. They can't see them in the visual. Same with the tune.

Did they say anything about the solenoid? It sounds like that gets caught relatively frequently as well. Both the smog station and the DMV Verification (my car was from out of state) traced the vacuum lines, but didn't seem to notice the cut and teed line for the boost gauge.

So you may have some work ahead of you. If I can help out with anything let me know.

 

I've been reading about the STAR program and how it works. Seems like smog shops are really under pressure. Both the smog station and the technicians have a star rating. If a station hires a tech that has a bad rating it affects the ability to maintain the STAR certification. This is really important to smog shops because the DMV directs vehicles only to STAR stations. So if a shop wants to keep getting these vehicles they need to keep their star rating.

The system is based on statistics at the state level. So if a shop fails or passes more vehicles of the same year, make model, engine beyond a threshold (who knows what that is) they can lose their license.

The short of it is that smog shops are going to be way more by the book then they were in the past. Funny thing is that the Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) keeps a report card on each shop. Perhaps a imaginative person could look for a shop that wasn't so good and patronize that establishment. I know I'm just saying.

Anyway, I read about this stuff at a web site http://www.check-smog.com and it links to this site http://www.whatisastarsmogstation. Anyway the first site has a lot of info on smog checks and the second has a list of nearby smog locations.

 

Hey evom, I got my 9 about 2 almost three years ago and it's time to smog. I need help with my rear o2 sensors, in my knowledge there's only 2 one in the turbo o2 housing and one in the exhaust. So my question is where does the rear one plug into the cat or the cat back exhaust piping??? I pulled off my 3" test pipe and gonna put stock cat on, and noticed there's a bung for the o2 sensor on it but my rear sensor is connected on my piping. Should there be 2 rear sensors in total of 3 o2s or should I just remove the one on my exhaust and plug it into my cat then cap the bung on my piping. This has me scratching my head and confused. Putting in Jdm rear and turbo o2 is easier then this lmao. Thanks everyone.

 

if you have or know someone that has an tactrix 1.3 cable you can simply flash in the o2 sim patch or tephra and turn the code off so it automatically passes... i get tested annually in texas and i have never failed... i hear visual inspection in cali is harsh so you would still want to run the stock cat housing...

but to answer your question the o2 sensor is a catalytic efficiency sensor. and can either be in or behind the cat... from the factory it is in the cat itself...

 

Ya Cali is harsh on the smog that's why not taking not chances, just putting everything back on so it can past visual and actual test. I also check for codes and no codes are piping up. So I should just pull it off my piping and connect it to my stock cat and plug the other one. Just want to make sure before igo tomorrow.

 

it goes in the back of the cat , plug the other

 

Will it still pass the readiness tests?

 

That i'm a little hazy on... I know i dont have an egr, evap canister, rear o2, and plenty of other things that the monitors need. But i pass... I was only ever told it turns off the coding in the computer so when the tester scans it cant find a failure and passes it. But i would fail if my monitors failed or hadnt run i have even disconnected my battery in the parking lot before getting tested, which should have reset the monitors but i passed...

Sorry while i was typing i lost track of the question... But i hope that helps

 

Has anyone tried to smog their OZ rally or any lancer for that matter in CA without the first cat? I have some experience with tuning my LS1 camaro and was going to tune out the warm up cat, this is my wifes car and I am not about to spend $700 to get a replacement exhaust manifold/cat.

 

This is for a 02 OZ Rally, they have two cats.

 

Depends on which cat is monitored, thinking it the first one...in other words the cat with the first 02 sensor in front of it and the second behind it is the main cat. I had the same issue with my wifes xterra --check magnaflow they do cat replacements at a good price, unless yours is part of the manifold. If it is, you dont have a choice and if your in cali you wont pass the visual. GL

 

It is part of the manifold. Being in CA that makes things alot different for you smog wise. I might try sourcing junkyards/craigslist/ebay for a used manifold.

Depending on how they smog your car (ie plug in computer or actually take readings of your exhaust) if they just hook up a computer then just get some spark plug anti foulers and thread them onto the end of your rear o2 sensor. This will pull the sensor out of the direct stream of exhaust flow thus giving it a cleaner reading thereby tricking the ecu into thinking the cat is working great. I have had no cats for 4 years now and run this setup to trick the ecu and I have never had my cel come on for cat issues.

 

I have had some tuning experience with my Camaro, and I can find a guy to just plug OBD2 in with no sniffer.

I got ecuflash and the cable with evoscan and I was going to try and tune out the second O2 sensor, I have the spark plug foulers in there.

I have been looking for a while for a used cat, I can smog it illegitimately too but that's expensive and I already have to smog the Camaro that way.

I will let you all know how it goes lol.