Smog

[delfin]

So I have to get my car smogged this month and I have no idea if it's going to pass. Anyone have any tips on passing? or know of any smog shops that can "help me out" in socal?

[Mike325]

I would seafoam the engine and make sure the car has been driven for a while to make sure the cat is fully warmed up. The fully warmed up part is the key. Drive it on the highway for a little bit and you should be ok.

[clavinZERO]

Start with the basics...

TUNE-UP STUFF!!
-make sure your Cap and Rotor are in decent shape
-fresh spark plugs
-fresh fuel filter
-some places may NOT accept a chipped ECU, so don't talk about it with them, ask GoldE30 how he knows (not that he blabbed to them, but they did send him away I think). I however, have passed at least twice being chipped.
-clean oil, I guess its better when it is not so gas-soaked or something like that
-clean air filter
-SeaFoam can't hurt either (some in the tank, some sucked into the intake manifold vacuum line - just read the can)

OTHER HINTS
-make sure your car is running HOT enough, yes... hot enough (proper coolant operating temp, otherwise you never lean out the mixture from "warm-up mode"). You can look at the coolant temp and see if it is nominal and also check your gas mileage... if your MPG goes WAY down, you might need a temp sensor or a fresh thermostat.
-have a working gas cap (they vacuum check them now, here at least)
-have a solid gas tank (they vacuum check them now too, here at least)
-Don't use shitstain gas. :hitler: (I have waited to use that for so long!!)
-like Mike said, bring her in when she is good and hot from a drive

Anyone else wanna move to Cali? Hehe.

[delfin]

Thanks guys

[VacMan]

I just smogged 2 E30s this morning. The Delphin car, which was a gross polluter when I bought it, passed with flying colors. It has IE headers. All I did was weld in a new Magnaflow cat. ($65) It has a miss at idle and lopes a bit, too. It threw a Check Engine code on the way back home because the O2 sensor is failing.

My cabrio, which has Stahl long tube headers, a brand new Magnaflow cat, and a JC chip, failed miserably. I was pissed, since it cost me $40 to get it done. I mean, it wasn't even close. I'm going to put a new O2 sensor in it and swap chips with the Delphin to get it to pass, I guess. The car runs like a dream, throws no codes, and pulls hard. I'm pretty sure the chip is the issue.

Bottom line is, even if your car is running well it's a bit of a crapshoot. Tune your stuff up, put it as close to stock as you can, and drive the crap out of it before you get to the shop.

Tim

[clavinZERO]

fuck you and your passing with headers dood! I mean... tell us more, please :D