• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Passing emissions in Orange County

M

m3ta1head

CEG'er
Joined
Apr 27, 2008
Messages
116
Location
Buena Park, CA
Me and my tour are moving out to California! :cool: Which brings up a few concerns on my part regarding emissions. From what I have read, emissions testing in OC consists of an OBDII scan, a sniff test on a dyno, and a visual inspection. My contour passes the OBD in Wisconsin with flying colors, but I'm not sure about the sniff test? :shrug:

Currently I am running no precats (wr headers), wr ypipe, magnaflow hiflo cat, and the stock catback. The car is fairly quiet at idle, but quite loud at WOT even without an aftermarket exhaust. Are they going to check for precats during the visual inspection? Do you guys think I have a chance of passing the sniff test with just 1 cat if I warm it up nice and good before the test?
 
You have a high chance of passing with just a main cat provided the car is running well. It should pass visual.

Bring the car inot a ghetto gas station that does tests for cheap - no smog only stations. make sure the car is HOT! Ensure you have that main cat sizzling - if you are told it will be a 15-minute wait. Either keep it idling or go drive around for 10-minutes.

Car is ran on a light dyno to put a load on the engine - once again you should pass fine and they do not care about loud exhausts. They do not get on it.

If you have a CEL they will not smog test you - it has to be clear.

If you fail - you can generally find a shady shop who will smog you for some extra cash.
 
Fmr12B said:
You have a high chance of passing with just a main cat provided the car is running well. It should pass visual.

Bring the car inot a ghetto gas station that does tests for cheap - no smog only stations. make sure the car is HOT! Ensure you have that main cat sizzling - if you are told it will be a 15-minute wait. Either keep it idling or go drive around for 10-minutes.

Car is ran on a light dyno to put a load on the engine - once again you should pass fine and they do not care about loud exhausts. They do not get on it.

If you have a CEL they will not smog test you - it has to be clear.

If you fail - you can generally find a shady shop who will smog you for some extra cash.
Click to expand...

Exactly the answer I was looking for, thanks a lot! :laugh:
 
+1 to everything FMR said. my car has the same stuff as yours, possibly even more, and it passed just fine. the guy said, "that's odd, it shows xxx and xxx arent present....but whatever, its still passing" :laugh:

you can also tell them that youre concerned it might not pass. they can hook it up for a pre-test to see if it will pass the sniffer. if/when they do hook it up, it automatically notifies the dmv if pass or fail. but not for a pre-test.

you should be ok with your set up though. keep it warm as he said. and not only no CELs showing but none showing recently that were merely turned off. i dont know if those show up during the scan or not.
 
well if you do have a CEL on, just unplug the battery and ull be fine, for like a day? Anyways, welcome to CA! I wish i could meet some CEG's.
 
There is always a chance that they will notice the pre-cats missing, but not likely. I'm more concerned about the hi-flow main cat. Many of them are not effective enough. With the pre-cats missing, the main cat has to be VERY healthy. Having the cat hot is essential. It can cool off just from idling.

The shop I go to works on appointments. They take me in as soon as I roll up. I make sure it is hot on the way there. My readings are always extremely clean, but mine has everything there.
 
Nerawkas said:
well if you do have a CEL on, just unplug the battery and ull be fine, for like a day? Anyways, welcome to CA! I wish i could meet some CEG's.
Click to expand...
Ah, No. If you clear the codes you have to drive a complete analytical cycle before you can go in and get it tested. So if the CEL was on before, it will probably just come back on again.
 
in replience to SVTC1136
user_offline.gif

Veteran CEG'er

because i dont know how to reply, im new still getting used to forums.
When i was getting my car smog'd, i had a CEL on because of a faulty O2 sensor, i didnt have time to fix it so i unplugged the battery and went into the smog garage. they didnt ask me to do anything like a cat cycle or whatever, they just passed me. i guess? iunno, all im saying is that it worked for me.
 
Nerawkas said:
in replience to SVTC1136
user_offline.gif

Veteran CEG'er

because i dont know how to reply, im new still getting used to forums.
When i was getting my car smog'd, i had a CEL on because of a faulty O2 sensor, i didnt have time to fix it so i unplugged the battery and went into the smog garage. they didnt ask me to do anything like a cat cycle or whatever, they just passed me. i guess? iunno, all im saying is that it worked for me.
Click to expand...
I wasn't trying to take a dig, but you must have been lucky. Generally you will throw a code for not having completed the cycle if you reset the PCM = automatic fail. I sometimes get CEL's that just disappear after a while so I wasn't completely discounting your advice.
Just got my new car passed on the weekend with my 3l in. Failed the visual the first time because of an open element filter. :(
 
Also they can tell if you reset the light. A P1000 code is present until all the monitors have run. They are supposed to check the PCM to see if P1000 is present. If it is, they need to check to see if a certain number of the monitors have run. If not, no pass.

Either you finished the drive cycle (or enough of it) so P1000 wasn't present before the sensor code set again or they didn't check.
 
well then i guess i did get lucky that time. btw since we are on the topic of smog testing in Cali, aftermarket air intakes, i hear, cant pass on smog. Is that true? If so, then how do you guys pass smog, do u reinstall ur stock air filter or do you just get one with a carb sticker?
 
Nerawkas said:
well then i guess i did get lucky that time. btw since we are on the topic of smog testing in Cali, aftermarket air intakes, i hear, cant pass on smog. Is that true? If so, then how do you guys pass smog, do u reinstall ur stock air filter or do you just get one with a carb sticker?
Click to expand...

Really? I have a weaponr on my car....may have to throw the stock airbox on!
 
m3ta1head said:
Really? I have a weaponr on my car....may have to throw the stock airbox on!
Click to expand...

YES- stock air-box is required to pass!

Open element filters are fine if they have a CARB sticker on it. None for the Contour have a CARB sticker so you will need to put the airbox back in.
 
Fmr12B said:
YES- stock air-box is required to pass!

Open element filters are fine if they have a CARB sticker on it. None for the Contour have a CARB sticker so you will need to put the airbox back in.
Click to expand...

Roger. I was about to call weaponr and request a CARB sticker for my intake but I won't bother. Only takes 10 minutes to swap the intakes anyway :shrug:
 
okay two questions, first, how do you quote somone on these threads? second, i thought K&N had carb stickers for the contour?
 
SVTC1136 said:
Just got my new car passed on the weekend with my 3l in. Failed the visual the first time because of an open element filter. :(
Click to expand...

My open element consists of the stock airbox cut back to expose the K&N and they wouldn't even accept that. Luckily I still have my old car, so I just swapped the stock one over. The fender piece is a real pain to remove. After I got it out I modded it so that it is easier to take in and out.

I'm thinking of getting a spare box and using it as a CEG loaner :laugh:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top