A friend needs to smog his car, and he just finished building/tuning his motor. Know of any good test only centers?

Good luck.I had to return my car to stock before it would pass.
Martin

Werd ^




did you remove the exhaust too?

No

That sucks. :(

if it didnt have to go to a test only, it would be easier. Otherwise you're literally fucked. and trust me I know because I'm a smog tech.

I had to take my miata to a test only center and the guy that did my smog was great to work with. My car has a full rollcage and a very narrow race seat and he didn't mind dealing with it.

This was the place:
Just Smog
909 West A Street
Hayward CA 94541
510-293-9801

Good luck...I just smogged Heidi (stock 97 M3 w/KN filter only)...and I barely passed the first DYNO test (15 mph)...Legal allowable is 54 parts per million of CO (IIRC)...I passed with 54 parts per million :eek: ...

Next time I'll run her at a 100 mph for 5 minutes before I get the smog...I was well below on all the other tests.

hm, thanks kster i will check the place out. But it seems the stock motor may have to be thrown back in.:(

i'm a little nervous about this one too. i just got my notice to take my car to a test only center. my car failed two years ago because the cats were not hot enough. there's a place one minute from my house that does it for $49.95. is that a good price?

i'm a little nervous about this one too. i just got my notice to take my car to a test only center. my car failed two years ago because the cats were not hot enough. there's a place one minute from my house that does it for $49.95. is that a good price?

I paid that for my full test plus cost of certification. The total was around $70. They offered me a pre-test, meaning a free look to see if it will pass w/out it going to DMV as a gross polluter. If it does pass the pre-test...then you have to take the another test that will be reported to DMV for your certification for a total cost of $150. If it doesn't pass the pre-test, you won't be flagged as gross polluter, and you will avoid a lot of head ache.

If you are worried, do the pre-test...Or run the car long enough to warm up the cat's properly...I believe this is why I scored so high on my 15 mph dyno test, I didn't warm up my CATS properly...Although I did run her at 70 MPH for a good 5-6 minutes...

Anyone know how long it takes to really warm them up?

what about if you got like 2 extra cats from a junkyard and bolted/welded them in :devillook we did that to our mercedes :rofl

what about if you got like 2 extra cats from a junkyard and bolted/welded them in :devillook we did that to our mercedes :rofl

And it passed :eek: That's classic...What did the guy say when he did the visual inspection?

I had to take my miata to a test only center and the guy that did my smog was great to work with. My car has a full rollcage and a very narrow race seat and he didn't mind dealing with it.

This was the place:
Just Smog
909 West A Street
Hayward CA 94541
510-293-9801


Yeah I second that, I've been there too and met the guy, The guy was really nice and helpful.

well for my crx im gonna need to pay someone to pass it

or go to random test only with some coo latinos and smoke up an 8th of chronic and some cash and pass

I paid that for my full test plus cost of certification. The total was around $70. They offered me a pre-test, meaning a free look to see if it will pass w/out it going to DMV as a gross polluter. If it does pass the pre-test...then you have to take the another test that will be reported to DMV for your certification for a total cost of $150. If it doesn't pass the pre-test, you won't be flagged as gross polluter, and you will avoid a lot of head ache.

If you are worried, do the pre-test...Or run the car long enough to warm up the cat's properly...I believe this is why I scored so high on my 15 mph dyno test, I didn't warm up my CATS properly...Although I did run her at 70 MPH for a good 5-6 minutes...

Anyone know how long it takes to really warm them up?
Get the pre test done.I didnt know about it until after I failed.They can also run a manual test.Thats what he did right before I passed.I drove my car for about 30 miles.Dont let the car idle before the test.It increased my numbers by hundreds.Go right on the Dino after your drive.
Martin

well for my crx im gonna need to pay someone to pass it

or go to random test only with some coo latinos and smoke up an 8th of chronic and some cash and pass
DOHC CRX? :devillook
The car we are trying to smog is a DOHC EG Hatch :evil2

hot sex!

Get the pre test done.I didnt know about it until after I failed.They can also run a manual test.Thats what he did right before I passed.I drove my car for about 30 miles.Dont let the car idle before the test.It increased my numbers by hundreds.Go right on the Dino after your drive.
Martin

Good advice...Next time I'll run her longer and get her on the dyno right away...But in my case, there was someone in front of me, and my car sat for like 20 minutes before it hit the dyno...So my cats probably cooled down a bit before they tested it. What a joke...California is so strict about their Emission laws...not even funny.

Question: Is it because our CATS are hi-performance, and thus take longer to warm up properly?

shit, test only smog is a rip off!

LA > Bay.

Test only places down here are like $25 w/ certificate if you know where to go. :D

I'd recommend getting a pretest if your not sure you'll pass. No use getting tagged by Cali's smog board; it's there permanently for anyone to see if you ever sell your car.

I would guess failing a test increases the % chance of being sent to test-only facilities your next smog check. It's a reasonable assumption.

The guy told me once you go test only thats where you will be going for ever.His last words were "see you in 2 years".He also said they are targeting high performance cars that people mod,M3's,Honda's and Subarus are on the list. If they want to fail you without helping you they will.The guy I had did not have to do what he did for me.He spent about 2 hours of his time altogether.Hope he is enjoying his beer.
Martin