Car did not pass smog test?

[9secondko]

I just took my car with a near brand new engine to the test center and it ended up being a gross polluter...

I had the exact same set up with an old and busted engine and it passes cleanly two years ago.

One change - my blower is now ported and has been tuned accordingly.

perhaps that is it? Or possibly the cats as well? they have been making the notorious cat smell lately and possible rattling coming from them...

first time I ever had this problem. any ideas?

p.s. Also, a PCV connector on the back of the drivers valve cover is open and has no hose connecting to anything.

 

[ninty9cobra]

Bad Cats and open pcv system will cause high readings. Did he run the entire test or did he aborted? If he ran the test and didn't abort it you might have to go to refer station to pass.

 

[9secondko]

Bad Cats and open pcv system will cause high readings. Did he run the entire test or did he aborted? If he ran the test and didn't abort it you might have to go to refer station to pass.

Thanks for the insight.

He ran the whole test.

He knew it was going to fail and ran the whole test, electronically submitted the results, etc.

Ouch.

 

[619Cobra04]

Just pay some dude extra under the table to pass it. Now that it's flagged in te system tho u have to drive atleast 50 miles away to do this tho

 

[rattle_snake]

What were the readings? how bad is 'gross polluter'

 

[cbr repsol]

I have a friend near me in hemet.

 

[Slow99x]

Find a family member or friend that lives out of state and register your car there. CA is run by a bunch of tree humping hippies that hate you and your car.

 

[cbr repsol]

CA is run by a bunch of tree humping hippies that hate you and your car.

Lmfao

 

[SVTgsxrdude]

Find a family member or friend that lives out of state and register your car there. CA is run by a bunch of tree humping hippies that hate you and your car.

This one..... or just move CA sucks anyway

 

[black 10th vert]

Finding a replacement H-pipe is pretty easy, and much cheaper than replacing just the individual cats. There are plenty of people that upgrade their H-pipe, and catback as soon as they get the car, so there are a ton of "like new" systems on people's shelves. I have to ask, though... how, or why would you leave a known vacuum leak in place without trying to fix it, or find out where it hooked to? That is probably one of the worst things you can do to a forced induction engine and likely is the main issue with you not passing.

 

[03 COBRA SB]

Been there every two years, if you ported the blower, have high flow cats, and a tune, this equals 'Never will pass emissions'. I have custom made a mid pipe w/ stock cat's to fit my headers, safe tune for the test, run E-85 and still fail every time. I'm now going to register the Cobra in a State that has no emissions testing. My biggest problem is NOX. The high temps that the Eaton blower puts into the cylinders causes all the problems. I really think here in Colorado that my Cobra stock would of not passed the new emission levels put in a few years ago.

 

[CobraBob]

Been there every two years, if you ported the blower, have high flow cats, and a tune, this equals 'Never will pass emissions'. I have custom made a mid pipe w/ stock cat's to fit my headers, safe tune for the test, run E-85 and still fail every time. I'm now going to register the Cobra in a State that has no emissions testing. My biggest problem is NOX. The high temps that the Eaton blower puts into the cylinders causes all the problems. I really think here in Colorado that my Cobra stock would of not passed the new emission levels put in a few years ago.

Huh? If that were true we'd hear of tons of emissions failures. Where are you getting your info from that proves that a ported blower, high-flow cats and a tune equals "never will pass emissions"? :shrug:

 

[03 COBRA SB]

Huh? If that were true we'd hear of tons of emissions failures. Where are you getting your info from that proves that a ported blower, high-flow cats and a tune equals "never will pass emissions"? :shrug:

Bob, almost every upgraded 03 Cobra in Colorado has had this problem. most are gone in the Denver metro area. Only ones that are still here are total stock. My tune shop Finish line deals with this all of the time. The problem started with Mile High they didn't really need to care about emissions when they were in business. I would of not wasted the money on the Eaton if I know what I know now. Scott sold his Cobra before he had any problems. Joe got rid of his after his 1st go around. Also Colorado has one the the toughest Emissions standard in the country. We have to pass a 5 gas dyno road course.

More info: Bassani high flow cat's are not federal approved for emissions. I talked to one of their engineers when I was 1st having problems. I had the emissions results from both my tunes, max performance and safe for emissions. called Steg, he was really no help. Not many Cobra owners from back then followed this forum in Colorado. This was based on talking to owners at car shows and at the track.

 

[sabotage]

take a picture of the results, what did it fail high co or high hc? or both.....and if its a gross poluter your chaces of getting a hot smog is very minimal ...you have to take it to whats called a gold shield.....or a ref they usually dont do them..

 

[SVTChris10]

I have a stock h pipe for sale, it has 4 cats in it. 140 shipped. Perfect to bolt on just to pass emissions.

 

[j-tan]

Put the stock tune back on and drive around for a week or 2. Stay out of boost of course. Before you take it to the sniffer test make sure you drive the car around for at least 45 minutes. You should pass easily.

 

[arodsvt]

Pm if u need smog...just smogged mine yest. . L.a. area

 

[46stang]

Been there every two years, if you ported the blower, have high flow cats, and a tune, this equals 'Never will pass emissions'. I have custom made a mid pipe w/ stock cat's to fit my headers, safe tune for the test, run E-85 and still fail every time. I'm now going to register the Cobra in a State that has no emissions testing. My biggest problem is NOX. The high temps that the Eaton blower puts into the cylinders causes all the problems. I really think here in Colorado that my Cobra stock would of not passed the new emission levels put in a few years ago.

I would say high flow cats, yes likely, the ported blower-not likely, and a tune-maybe.

The problem with HIgh flow cats isn't the cats it's the location and the number of them. The stock H pipe has 4 cats but more importantly two of those cats are located very close to the exhaust manifold which helps heat them fast and keeps them hot.
The cool thing about the stock h pipe is 2 cats are for HC-co and two are for NOx reduction, which would likely offset most pulley combos.

The blower being ported isn't much of a factor, but more likely the pulleys turning it. Under light load the blower is bypassed by way of the bypass valve. You are likely being smogged under load on a dyno, so it would be best to lower the boost as much as possible by way of pulley combos which will help reduce nox.

In California, and likely Colorado they check your obd2 monitors by way of the OBD2 connector. In my experience both SCT and Diablo both disable most of these monitors which 'could' result in a fail. It is best to reload the stock tune and drive the vehicle for 75 miles or more before smogging it.

So to sum it up, put the stock H pipe on it, as little boost as possible, and a stock tune will = a pass nearly every time.

 

[03 COBRA SB]

You must live in Colorado to know

I would say high flow cats, yes likely, the ported blower-not likely, and a tune-maybe.


The blower being ported isn't much of a factor, but more likely the pulleys turning it. Under light load the blower is bypassed by way of the bypass valve. You are likely being smogged under load on a dyno, so it would be best to lower the boost as much as possible by way of pulley combos which will help reduce nox.

The Eaton causes more heat to the cylinders, which raises the NOX that is tested in Colorado w/ the 5 gas test. Pulleys are the cause for spinning the blower more, porting allows this process to work. the same end no matter which port or pulley size.

and likely Colorado they check your obd2 monitors by way of the OBD2 connector.

Not true in Colorado. They drive the computer road course with the 5 gas sniffer in the tail pipes while it is on the dyno. The tester who drives does not care how much blower PSI are seen while they drive the car. A good high performance person may understand and feather the throttle and stay out of boost. Almost always not the case. No OBDll connected to the computer while the test is being preformed.

In my experience both SCT and Diablo both disable most of these monitors which 'could' result in a fail. It is best to reload the stock tune and drive the vehicle for 75 miles or more before smogging it.

Not guaranteed on ether statement

So to sum it up, put the stock H pipe on it, as little boost as possible, and a stock tune will = a pass nearly every time.

 

[46stang]

Actually California, but many of the states have caught up to California's crappy smog laws. The funny thing is from what I'm hearing in California is that the next Gen smog machine will only be checking Obd2 monitors and a visual. We will see though.