I took my car in to be tested by the state referee today. They failed it.

The car ran fine, passed the sniffer and all that, but they failed it for 2 reasons:

1- the "check engine " light wasn't located properly. Apparantly, it's critical to have it located within drivers view in the interior with it clearly labeled "check engine".

2- my air intake isn't CARB certified. so, I have to install a carb certified or factory unit.

coulda been worse.

apparantly, there's some grey area on the exhaust because it isn't factory. since it has the 02 bung, it needs to be the factory piece.

oh well, time to fix and retest.

thought you may want to know the technacalities of certification...

 

-Check engine light? Dont you have the oem cluster? If it cause its not connected?

-What intake are you running?

 

well, thats there job i guess..you got to have pretty much everything with CARB numbers, especially here, in CA..
and do they check what you have inside the engine?i mean if i put in not oem pistons, cams, crank and other internal stuff or they just look for all emissions related equipment?

 

They wont go as far as to rip your engine apart to see if you have stock stuff inside. Just make sure it runs clean enough to pass the sniffer and the outside has all the correct stuff. Fail a couple times so they get off on their power trip then they'll pass ya

 

I had the wiring harness to my engine modifed (and computer retuned) by speartech. He included a nifty little bracket/ cluster for the data link connector and the check engine light.

I located the unit on the firewall above the master cylinder area as my car had some original 1984 pieces there and it made for a clean install.

Apparantly, the state of Ca doesn't approve.

At first the ref was giving me issues about the datalink connector being there, the fact that the engine light was an LED, and the fact that my original check engine light didn't come on/ the replacement was in the engine bay.

He did some checking (I have no idea with whom, but he was on the phone with someone) and it turns out my data link can stay in the engine bay, but the check engine light has to be in the interior within driver view and be labeled. His assistant also was taking pics of this set up. I'm guessing they may have emailed it to someone, or just wanted it on record...

I could hook up my original light I suppose, or just take the LED and move it inside in plain sight with a label around it. I'm concerned the LED wouldn't be strong enough to light up the oem "check engine" light. It may have to be mounted elsewhere and labeled.


As for the intake- I have the "F-body motorsports" CAI on there. It fits.

Again, CA doesn't approve. It "has" to be either an OEM piece to the engine or a CARB approved one for the year of my engine.

the problem is the oem 2002 LS1 style intakes/ cai don't really lend itself too well for fitting in my engine bay. I also don't have a 4th gen style ram air hood...

I also don't know of any aftermarket cai that are carb approved that will work. everything seems to be to cater to the design of the 4th gen ram air hoods... (those big square boxes that lay on top of the radiator)

 

If you try and move the one inside into the stock location, try a white LED instead of red or even an amber one. That might light it up enough to make the guy happy.

 

Yeah, that sounds like a good idea. The LED on there has a red lens cap. I don't know that I could remove that, or just replace it with a white one purchased from Radio shack. I need to figure out the voltage, etc and do some wiring....

 

Id just wire back my old check engine light. About that CAI, maybe you can find an old TPI equiped firebird/trans am and use the air inlet tubing and adapt it to the ls1 TB? Just to pass the test, then put back your cool CAI.

 

nice, minu one problem..thanks

 

The referee told me it has to be the OEM for the engine- meaning the 2002 LS1. (because that is what my engine is)

If it were an aftermarket one he'd take the CARB# and look it up on the ARB website and see if it's listed for my car's engine.

 

it has to be..check summit racing site, they have moroso one and k&n, both legal,i think that moroso one should work..or at leats it lookslike it should work. or just go to the junkyard and take one out of 2002 car..

 

I am dealing with some in PA with the visual inspection. I live in an area where there is no emission inspection so I have to pass a visual inspection of the stock equipment. So I could be running so rich that your eyes water and pass as long as it LOOKS like I have the proper equipment i will pass. It doesnt help that the guys make up stuff as they go along. I got a copy of the inspection code off the PA website to help my cause, I really do KNOW they make some stuff up when they fail you. Like when your tires are not the stock size, geez I hate those guys
I really feel for you with that intake. it really is crap that you have to have something for that engine that wasnt designed to fit on your car. Especially since this isnt something that actually effects the emissions, and you know it doesnt because it already passed the sniffer........ guess thats why they call em ****'s.

 

If you can't get an intake to fit, might be time to bolt on a carb certified supercharger!!

 

cali is a bit backwards like that. wait, wait... Peoples Republic of Kalifornia.

 

I have my retest appt for next week. We'll see what happens. I'll keep you guys posted either way.

 

Retested yesterday and it passed!

I located the "check engine" light in the factory spot and used an oem 2004 GTO intake. It's an LS1 part...

He wouldn't let me use an older TPI set up like I've heard others doing. I must have picked a more discerning referee.

I have my sticker now and that's all that really matters. thought I'd share.

 

Tuske427, YGPM