I had read in our newspaper recently that there will be new emmission laws taking place in PA beginning next year. Anyone on the inside know about these laws?

 

No takers on this one? http://www.drivecleanpa.state.pa.us/...fo_changes.htm

Better look, it'll affect everyone in the 3 largest "metropolitan" areas outside of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.

 

i remember reading a article in the paper a few months ago that they were concidering changing it and also the goverment doesnt want anyone driving a car that is more than 2 years old so that kinda sucks if they make it tougher ill just have to make it a full out racecar and not drive it as much the reason they want odbII is that it tells you everything and i mean everything from what i seen at my buddies shop odbII cars give you the exact MPH that it tripped codes so i can imagine what the software the govt has will tell them
this sounds more like a rant that a response lol oh well just my .02

 

if you read it, it doesn't affect cars pre-1996.

and who cares what data they take from OBD-II? they can't give you a ticket because your computer said you were going fast. there are places to legally go fast, the computer is not an accurate legal measure of speed, etc...

true race cars can be exempted, and anything that goes less than 5k miles per year is already exempt.

and on a related note, i'm so sick and tired of people who call states ***** for enforcing emissions laws. it's not like they ask you to do anything other than maintain what's already on the car. and if you keep your car in good condition, you shouldn't even need all that much emissions equipment to pass anyway. .

 

It affects cars 1975-1996 (anything pre-OBDII) via a VISUAL inspection... IMHO, Headers and straight pipes actually lower fuel consumption, while the extra weight robs power and causes more emmissions... though I agree with keping cat convertors, but why not just change to everyone's pipe gets sniffed and do away with the visual inspections. I think a sniffer is the only true and fair way to keep cars clean. Besides, how many pre 1980's cars do you see on the road anyway?

 

most of the guys i hang around with drive cars ftom 57-85 but only a few get driven daily i know as of now that antything pre cats you only need the safety sticker so ill just disconect my speedo when i get nea 5000 mile so ill be exempt

 

hmmm, I may end up disco'ing my speedo as well, so much for dropping in my new motor....

 

see that's the crazy part. The way I interpret it, you can put a big block in it, just try to retain your emmissions equipment. If I put "off-road" headers on without AIR tubes, and gut my old cat, it looks like nothing was tampered with. Though they are few and far between, befriend an inspector that can help give you an opinion on what to modify and what not. any SBC looks the same on the outside, I'm dropping in a 350 in the next few weeks. I don't think it's that bad, just giving a fair warning.

 

as long as you dont go over the 5000 mile a year mark you are exempt from the sniffer so dont let your odometer get over 5000 on it and youll be fine just my .02


oh and mitch drop the new motor and get rid of that 305

 

There IS no more sniffers... that's why I think there's really no big deal to the inspection now. They use a PC to scan OBDII cars and ours just get looked at.

 

then why are they setting new cutpoints for pass/fail on the tailpipe test starting sept....

 

You do not need to visit an inspection station if your vehicle is a motorcycle, a street rod or is registered as a classic, a collectible or an antique, or is diesel-powered. No sticker is required in these cases.


it says 75 or newer will have to undergo emmissions so it looks like ill be registering my car as a classic they are exempt from it or a collectible but im good till next year anyway so ill worry about it then

 

I stand corrected... places that a tail pipe test are getting new cutpoints, and a visual inspection. I live in the lehigh valley area, and it's different than Philly or Pittsburgh. I think I'll get a P.O. Box for my permanant address someplace in Carbon county, and I won't have to worry about anything other than a visual.

It seems like they really are focusing on the 96-up OBD-II stuff, and the visual tampering of systems. I dunno. Unfortunately, we'll all find out what the standards and the like really are when we fail outr next inspections I guess.

 

A buddy of mine just went through the new inspection process in the Allentown area. Basically, it's a sheet of paper with 2 bar codes, and layed out like a spread sheet.

On the spread sheet, the state has listed all of the emissions equipment that is to be visually checked. AIR pump, Catalytic convertor, PCV, EGR Vapor canister and gas cap integrity are all listed. Next to each item is "pass" or "fail."

Also inluded is your address, vin# inspection station #, mileageat inspection and the inspector swearing under oath that everything passes. You are required to have that sheet with you just like you would your car registration. A police officer can, and probably will ask for this sheet if you are pulled over.

Total cost done by Daniels Cadillac/BMW of Allentown was 43.00. I've thought about a classic plate, but I have to proove original condition, which my car isn't very original anymore.

So those of you who have or are thinking about scrapping your emmissions equipment in metropolitan or densly populated suburbia in PA, think again.

 

I was sweating this. I'm active duty in VA so I don't have to worry till I get back, but I've kept all the emmisions on my IROC and even with the vette heads, BUT I just got a '91 1LE and the AIR has been taken off. IF it has less than 5k does it still get looked @? That is the visual anti tamper check?

 

on the guy doing your inspection ive seen them just go thru

 

Nice attitude there, and the answer is fairly simple…

Here in MD we've basically had the IM220 setup for years now. Technically, an older car has to pass a visual inspection and an idle sniffer. Before the current standards came along they basically popped the hood and checked with was under there (I believe that they got rid of that since you could get away with anything, the monkeys didn't know what was supposed to be there), and they still check underneath the car for converters and proper routing. Then they do the sniffer.

Now my '83 failed every time I took it through the way I drive it on the street. Not because it was polluting, but because it's emissions were TOO LOW. At that point you got pulled aside and your car gets more carefully looked at. If anything is not stock you get hassled about it and there is no way you'll get by without putting it back to stock first, then documenting over $405 worth of emissions related repairs to the stock equipment (assuming that you can't figure out how to get the car to just pass the sniffer). If you failed to do that within their time period your registration and tags are suspended (actually, it looks like they added that your driver's license is suspended now, my wife just got a late notice for her emissions inspection).

The way that I learned to get my '83 through was to set the fuel pressure to about 15% high, set the timing way off and stuff a dog food can with a hole drilled through it in the exhaust. I'd pull in with the car barely running and belching black smoke and pass with flying colors, then I'd pull over in the parking lot, turn my fuel pressure back, reset the timing and pull the can out of the exhaust (I had a piece of coat hanger wire looped through it as a handle to pull it back out).

My '87 Formula 350 "fast passes" the treadmill test that newer cars are required to pass with the fuel pressure set at 54psi (about 12psi above what it should be). My truck is in a similar boat.

I own 3 vehicles that I've got to set to a state where then make worse emissions, get worse mileage and run slower just to prove to the state that they're clean enough to be on the road.

Now if it was a simple "pull it over here and let me measure what comes out of your tailpipe" and if it's under a specific level you pass, then fine, I won't bitch about that. Instead it's a freaking game which really amounts to nothing more but a profit making opportunity for the state and certain businesses.

 

They don't even go that far anymore. Several years ago when the dyno test first came out, they checked my fuel cap and rolled a mirror under the car to check the cat. I've taken both my car and my truck in since. They still perform the cap test, but don't bother with the cat inspection anymore

So here in MD, as long as you pass the sniffer, they don't care how you do it

I finally got a notice for my car's emissions after 3 years going without. I was turned away! Why? The car sat too low, and they couldn't safely load it on the rollers. So they waived me!

 

I found this to be the best read for PA emissions requirements:

http://www.pacode.com/secure/data/06...hap177toc.html

RBob.

 

Well, I actually went through with the formula a couple of weeks ago…

You know, I've been trying to figure that out. My '97 WS6 TA got turned away for the same reason when they first got the treadmill test, but they still required an idle test.

I've had my '83 turned away once and not another time, but they loaded the '87 up on the rollers with exactly the same suspension on it that the '83 had (I literally took it off the '83 when I parted it out and put it on the '87) with the exception that the 87 had shorter tires on it so it should have sat lower (245 50 16's, under 26" tall, where the '83 was on 255 60 15's, about 27" tall).