did i misread your post, that you passed ( in CA ) with "no cats"? that's the way it impossibly reads.

 

They don’t do sniffers anymore, just OBD scan +visual. That’s the irony of the dumb Ca smog tests that you might pass with no cats at all. This a few years after they made every shop install dynos... But if they catch you on the visual=trouble. At a minimum, I understand the car will be flagged and you’ll be going to the referee forever after. You don’t want those guys finding any non-CARB compliant stuff on your car.

 

Year 2000 and newer do not do sniffer aka roller tests. Its just visual and computer check. Find a smog shop with an old guy and no lift on a Friday afternoon and you'll find someone who isn't looking to go crawling under a lowered Porsche.

That said everyone's got "their guy". I got tired of playing the game every two years so I sold my cars to a llc in Montana who lets me drive them

1999 -1975 gets examined like an alien, rollers and all. Unclear to me what happens if you are AWD between 1999-1975 and the shop only has a single axle dyno.

 

i get that. i go through this nonsense annually in CA, as recently as a month ago on one of my cars.. but hotrod said he passed with "no cats", which is why i asked if i misread his post.

i have decat pipes which visually "mimic" cats and i would never be so bold to even try that ( instant fail ) as they have shut thousands of black market testers in CA over the last several years. "no cat's" wouldn't pass visual in CA ever. is all i'm sayin'.

and as to the notion of having "their guy" we all did and have. but anyone that wants to continue to pick up the 60 bucks per victim for plugging in a OBD reader hooked up to Big Bro several times a day. is no longer taking any "chances".

 

yes, passed without catalytic converters....guy didn't even look underneath. I was short on time and didn't hae the time to swap stock exhaust back on. Figured worst that would happen is I'd get sent to a ref and would then put stock exhaust back on.

 

that has not been my experience in socal. More than a few shops that honor the all mighty greenback.

 

you are one lucky guy!

 

in my experience i find there are fewer and fewer "star" stations willing to "bend" rules or look the other way. any that remain, will be soon a thing ( and shop ) of the past. CARB is out in FORCE now and are not "playing". we live in a "captured" state.

 

My last smog about 6 months ago was similar. The guy never even looked under the car or at the engine for that matter. We talked about kids and dirt bikes. it helps to live in rural northern California, far cry form the bay area or LA.

 

yes, i'm hoping to re-locate to the "other" CA https://soj51.org/

meanwhile the LA mayor now says the city will be shutdown for another two months at a minimum. his marching orders from the CCP no doubt.
but smog tests and any non compliance "fines" will continue unabated. just a hunch.

 

is the secondary o2 cel tuned out or you have spacers?

 

Tuned out


I will say, i went to the dirtiest shadiest spot i could fine. No one spoke english.

 

that covers a lotta ground in CA..and i gotta believe that's right

 

this was the car that went before me

 

That is sweet, adaptive ground effects.