I just went to try and pass smog today in my 87 na. Being loyal to the smog shop that has always smogged my car I drove over there in hopes of another flawless pass, but that was just to much too ask for. When I arrived there were 2 other customers waiting for the results of there vehicles and right when I asked how long of wait it would be, the smog shop I have used many times said we can't smog your mazda rx-7. Gotta love being a rotary. So I went to the next smog shop and the tech takes the car in while im sitting inside then comes back out and ask me "Do you want me to fail this thing?" I was like wtf and said why, hes like yeah dude this isn't even the same intake as the factory. I have done the tb mod so he was reffering to the jb weld he saw on the intake. I told him how it has nothing to do with emissions, its just for the aws and secondary butterflies. Then hes asked me why the split air has a cap on it and I told him it was for my actuators to open up my secondary ports, again nothing for emissions, and my actuator rods dont work so I stop the air from going to them. Next was asking why I ran my own fuel lines and didn't use the metal ones on the rats nest, again not emissions related. Then finally he said you don't have a carb sticker for this cone filter and mine filter for the smog pump. Hahahaha are you joking me. This clown won't even run my car because I had a cone filter without a carb sticker. Lovin the california emissons testers. Now im just gonna put my stock air box back in and run the split air hose to actuators even though my secondaries aren't functioning and see if the tech will run my car to pass smog.

 

I have a long thread about my ports not opening, but I finally got them to work...

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...uxiliary+ports

Anyways, sucks about smog. I had to put all my emissions, cats, and original manifolds back on (long story) to get it ready for smog. I just have to put the silencer for the ACV back on and the airbox and i'm ready to go. The reason they are not passing you for that stuff is because that's their job. The only advice I can give to you is try going down there and having them look it over first and see what they would not pass, fix it to pass, PASS, take it back off and enjoy not having to smog your car for another 1 to 2 years.

 

yup it sucks but they're simply doing their job. most of the aftermarket parts that are street legal have carb stickers. atleast he warned you before testing it but i would go somewhere else.

 

Dude, how new to Cali are you? This is nothing new. You can't alter ANYTHING on the engine without a CARB exemption number. Calling the guy a ******* clown for knowing his job and THE LAW is just stupid. Seems like you're the clown for expecting anything less.

 

Same setup has passed 4 times in 7 years with no problems in cali. How did the clown do his job? He pushed business away because he didn't want to get in trouble for what he didn't know. Clearly all parts have nothing to do with the emissions but the tech didn't know this. And please the air box was merely a scapegoat for him not knowing. **** I still have the vaccum routing diagram on my hood and I showed him everything was hooked up correctly. Like I said, same setup with cone filters on have passed flawlessly. Tech was a clown, enough said.

 

same **** for me too. i nearly socked the guy in the jaw. pieces of ****. i mean, what the **** is the difference, smog or not? goddamn
pissed away 70$, ******* ********.

Lloyd

 

does anyone here know a good smog tech in the bay area (im not asking for anything ilegal just someone whos fair and knows there stuff) ive yet to have to smog mine but am getting worried by this thread.

 

the tech could have been a real dick and failed you without warning. Smog laws are even tighter now for obdI cars with the addition of an evap system check. plus if a cop popped your hood and saw the cone he could set u up for a fix it ticket. i run a cone filter too but when it comes smog time everything stock goes back on the car.

 

Worse comes to worse, go in and get a practice smog. There's a better phrase for this, but it's basically testing without sending results to the dmv in case you have a gross polluter on your hands. That way, you get an idea of what needs to be fixed and if you go to a smog shop that is also an repair shop they can usually diagnose what is making your car not pass smog.

My gf's car did not pass smog a few months back and by not passing she qualified for a government assistance program that paid for up to $5-600 to get it repaired. She got it and all we paid was $70 for the smog diagnosis and a new cat and labor. Smog check is usually included in all that. Definitely ask about it if you don't pass smog this time around.

 

Yeah... the whole smog thing in Cali. is a joke. Just another way for the government to reach into the dwindling supply of cash in your pocket.

I have been dealing with this type of issue for a lil bit now... Heres what I believe will do the trick, for me...

Rotaries are hard enough to deal with in the air quality conscious, tree-hugging state... I'm lazy and don't necessarily desire to play musical bolts with o.e. parts and my modded ride...

Besides any truly fast rotary has some type of porting done, and you would then need to swap motors. Any smog jockey that hears the "brrrp .. brrrp .. brrrp" of a ported rotary will deny you the test (based on mods) &/or tell you that you need to repair a leaking vacuum line.

Leaves one 1 of 2 solutions, in my opinion...
Find a shop that will take a lil 'payola' to slip a different car on the shop 'puter and give you an 'Illegal" certificate...

or (since our cars are so bloody cheap to work on anyways... ;p )
simply look for, and purchase a stone stock RX that is the same(or similar) color and leave said car STONE STOCK, and sitting on side yard just for the occasional smog venture. After aquiring said legit. smog... you apply tags and simply "bolt-on" legal license plate to HEAVILY modded car, while placing registration and insurance card in glove box...

Nope, neither are really legal, but I vote to save myself HOURS of wrenching by using a little slight of plate(s)...

 

welcome back to california, where have you been?

 

i <3 ohio

 

Would it cost less money to just go buy another stock motor and swap it in?

Have one completely illegal motor with full mods, then on smog day, swap in the stock motor.

 

I know the cost of gas is making it difficult to simply "go for a drive"...
...it sounds to me like all ya'all like to wrench on yer cars more than drive them...
;p

 

Uhhh... See below...
**** that. Just do a completely legal TII swap from the same year or newer. More power and smog legal!

 

uh, just having a single cone filter or having any lines out of place is an automatic fail and has been for a long, long time.

 

Granted Juiceh, There are programs out there that will help pay the costs, or compensate you up to $1G for major repairs.
They're making it tougher and tougher to 'skirt' the system.

...to me; it seems a "cost effective" alternative (to spending alot of time with a wrench and emissions routing charts) to simply have a stone stock FC to drive down there to put on the rack. A 1 time investment of $1 - 2G (+registration, etc.) can save alot of headaches later... IMO

 

Ah... I love living in MI. Slam dunking my air pump, giving my EGR a new home on the garage floor, tearing out my rat's nest worry-free

 

yeah i need to smog my 7 before the end of this month :[ but at least i dont have to do much. just a stock intake and a exhaust leek caused by a broken seal at the end of my cat. lol

As much as i love cali for the great things we can do in this state, go to a mountain, drive to the beach, own a desert, farmland and hella rivers and lakes. i hate smog ****!!!! i love the world we live and and want to keep it driftable, but F#@K all that smog rules about keeping EVERYTHING factory organized and connected. The only thing that really needs to be left on for me is a highflow cat and i feel good about my car not putting too much crap in the air we breathe lol

 

All this hate about cali smog is the same old drivel. LA has the same amount of people as some STATES, and with that many people close together, the pollution from automobiles is just one of the worries that requires tight control.

There are counties in Cali that do not require smog, and there are counties in cali where you have to do the enhanced test (where they put your car on a dynamometer...for load...they don't tell you how much HP you are making part throttle at 2500 RPM lol.)

Back at the OP: Just because the original smog tech passed you doesn't mean he was right. I obviously take the more cautious approach to the laws, so I stay what I consider to be well inside them. I won't pretend to know exactly what they are, but our local State ref is based at our local community college, and I know he has a rep for not passing people if they don't have the OEM HOSE on the car.

All that being said, the system sucks, and actually hinders better running automobiles with bureaucracy. I say a variable load-based test, tailpipe only, would be a more realistic and beneficial solution.

Bright side: We could be like Japan and have total vehicle inspections.