yeah they have actually made the standards HARDER over the years, and we can hardly expect the car to meet emission standards it didn't have to meet when it was NEW. so i agree, i haven't had to do anything to get an FC to pass, yet, but i'm not giving up MY car just because of some BS waste of time smog test result.

 

I got the FD tested last week, and noticed the HC max was 120..
so a 1988 rx-7 gets an allowable HC max of 85, and a 93' Rx-7 gets a max of 120?
yeah, I'm prepared at this point to say the tests are BS

 

and the FD also has the benefit of having a MAP sensor based management system where the FC has the AFM based system where any leaks in the system cause irregularities in air/fuel correction resulting in higher numbers.

the issue is as i mentioned, the cars from the 80's have a higher rate of failure so they clamped down on them harder in an undisclosed method of getting those vehicles off the road to save the failing new car market during the economical decline.

 

+1

I've seen the denatured alcohol trick work with my own eyes at my smog shop.

Oh and if anyone is interested.. all the CA smog limits are now posted for all cars.
http://smogcheck.ca.gov/pubwebquery/.../ShowMake.aspx

 

I figured out the discrepancy between the FC and FD..
automatic cars have way higher max emissions standards for some bizarre reason..

 

^ You know what's funny about that? Automatic FDs are easier to pass smog because you can keep it in the gear you want too since there isn't an RPM limit like their would be if it were a manual car.

 

what sucks is whatever that tech enters in the computer goes into your car history, so he puts tampered or whatever and it notes it in there. california emissions is retarded imo, espcially its a bases to get expensive tickets from cops who pull you over to pop your hood.

 

its so the state "workers" can get to their place of employment. i just spent an hour at the DMV, i am now unhappy.

 

As expected, with a correct warmup it passed the free retest.

 

^ Congrats!

Failing the smog check is the exact reason why I became a smog technician... I know how much of a headache it was dealing with that stuff.

 

especially a tech who doesn't know that these cars have to be severely warmed up prior to testing.

 

true, they do need to be warmed up, but you cannot just sit there and pre-condition them. at least as a tech, the customer is free to do w/e they want lol

Lloyd

 

at least drive the car for 15 minutes before getting to the station, if i wind up sitting for more than 15 minutes i'll at least let it idle for 10 minutes to warm back up.

shutting the car down isn't a death sentence for smog failure unless it's been sitting for 45 mins to an hour or more. shutting down a fully warmed up engine, it will actually heat up MORE after you shut it off, except the exhaust will cool down rather quickly but also warm up quickly once it is fired back up.

 

i always leave the cars running while i do the test, but both stations i work at there is usually no more than a 5 minute wait, unless im slammed, then its a tad longer.

Lloyd

 

So by law we are supposed to warm the engine up between 2500rpm and 3000rpm for 2 minutes right before doing the test. Sadly, sometimes it does take a couple extra minutes for a rotary to pass lol.