Hi i was wondering when i get a smog check will they fail me because i have a check engine light on. I have a 305 that used to have tbi and the owner before me made it into a carb. engine. So the check engine light is because of the wiring but the car runs fine. thank you

 

yes, and you can fail because of the carb.

 

You will fail because of the carb'ed engine and with the SES light on. TBI was 88-92, and carb was 82-87. There were no carb'ed engines at the same time as a TBI, and you cannot go backwards with engines. You'll need to change it back to a TBI, or to a TPI.

 

Cant you just say that you put a new engine in the car, if you get the Check engine light to go away? Wouldn't that be ok to pass smog?

 

Is it easy to put a TBI or TPI back in the car?

 

can this work?

 

You cannot put an older engine into a newer vehicle and you cannot downgrade your engine meaning you cannot go from a v8 to a v6 but you can go v6 to v8.

 

80sBaby28, do yourself a big favor and get your car "right" before you try to smog it. Make sure to find a shop that will "pre-test" it for you so you know before you are hooked up to DMV that you will pass.

 

Not true, you can put just about any motor you want. Motor has to be newer than the chassis, and you can't put a heavy duty motor in a passenger/light duty car/truck. You can't put in a motor that will degrade the emissions, basically it has to burn the same as or cleaner then the motor its replacing


Also seller is responsible for smog. "as-is" will not save them.

 

No, because the carb setup is older than what came on his car from the factory. You cannot put an older setup on a car. You can only go the same year or newer.

Your choices are Camaro/Caprice TBI, Camaro/Corvette TPI, LT1, or LS1.

 

Cracks me up how many cars are sold private party only to fail smog. A lot of buyers just don't think about this when they see the hotness of a sweet car.

That guy I saw in the Denny's parking lot had a Camaro with a shiny new intake but all the smag equipment was gone. He didn't know the seller was obligated to show the car could pass smog.

 

To Cadillac and Kairles, What do you mean when you say that the seller is obligated and responsible? Do you mean legally? I have talked to DMV and asked them and they say as long as buyer and seller agree that there doesn't need to be a smog (as is) then its fine.

 

koolctk,

Not true. The seller is responsible for somg as long as the car is running and it is not a race car. If the car is registered the seller is responsible.


UnderCover89TBIYou cannot put an older engine into a newer vehicle and you cannot downgrade your engine meaning you cannot go from a v8 to a v6 but you can go v6 to v8.

UnderCover89TBI,

Your correct yet incorrect. Way back when these cars were new there was a loophole in the smog laws that was corrected in March of 1983. I know because my car is an example of this loophole. Prior to March of 1983 if you changed your engine the car was smoged to the year of the engine not the year of the car. My 1982 is smoged to the year of the motor that I installed. I installed a 1970 LT1 engine in my 82Z in 1982 and now it uses the smog for a 1970 high-po engine. I had a BAR sticker put on my car in March of 1983 and it will be that way for life. I was told at the time in 1982, that my car is porbably the only car like that in CA.

If you do an engine swap after that date your correct that you must have smog of the same year or newer.

 

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/smogfaq.htm#BM2537

 

Although it says the seller is responsible, whats the consequence if they dont, especially since it happens all the time.

 

Depends on how ugly you want it to get. I have seen people take the seller to court and collect as much as the car was sold for and still ended up getting to have the car.

The bottom line on selling a car that is not smog legal is, you better know who your selling the car too. Otherwise you could be on the hook for making the car legal. No matter what it take to make it legal.

Of coarse there are exceptions (lean sales, repo, and race cars)


Re: Smog question
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/smogfaq.htm#BM2537


Mike thanks for the link!

 

I dunno about that one. You can definitely put an '87 turbo V6 from a Grand National into any '87 and older car. You can even put an '89 Turbo Trans Am setup into any '89 and older car. That's going from a V8 to a V6. It is my understanding you can change any car engine to any other car engine, as long as its from the same year as your car or newer. But you cannot swap truck engines into cars. I think you can swap car engines into trucks, but I'm not sure.

 

I always thought if you put a older motor in your car lets say an 89 turbo in a 90, you have to pass the 90 emission requirements with the 89 turbo motor

 

I've made deals with buyers before stating they were responsible for the smog test fees. It can be just another negotiating point. Now if the car fails smog, the buyer needs to be given the right of refusal (for obvious reasons). That whole scenario is not sanctioned by the state but all I think they really care about is the emissions and registration. Gentleman's agreements with unknown parties can be risky and could end up like Brett mentioned with the buyer getting the car for free. For least risk, smog it yourself.

 

No, you cannot put an older engine into a car, period. The '89 TTA engine didnt come in '90+ so you cannot use it on a street vehicle.

 

Roger

 

80sBaby28, where do you live? If your in the Fresno area, you can have one of my TBI intake with the TBI. I think I have about 3 of them. I'm switching over to TPI and yes it will be smog legal.

 

i would say your best bet aside from changing the car back to its original form would be to find a "hole-in-the-wall" smog shop thats more concerned with moving its customers in and out the door. if everything looks normal, ie. no ses light and it actually passes the tail pipe test your probobly ok. the key is finding the smog shop the doesn't care about the little things. you should have a good gas cap, cat.,all the pcv should look intact, egr. as long as it looks legit and assuming it will actually pass your in good shape.

 

here's something some of us would do for smogging. IF the car isn't in your name yet, Go down to the DMV and register your car, paying for all the DMV fees, and then at the same time place the car on a 'Non-Op'.

You will need to have it registered in an unincorporated area that only requires a smog test upon purchase and upon sale; not the bi annual areas. Once the vehicle is on non op and you've recieved the title from the DMV, wait a couple months and then go take the car off of the non-op. You will then not have to pay or produce a smog test. It's a little known loop-hole and I used to use it a lot. The key is finding someone or a place in an unicorporated area.

If you've had the car for awhile, it's going to be difficult to prove to the smog police that you didn't modify the engine yourself afterwards.

Do you want to keep it? Can you afford to convert to TBI? Will it be time soon for a new engine anyway?

If you want to resell it, be sure to get a signed contract from the buyer that he is aware that he is purchasing a part's only vehicle, or one designed for off road use only.
Can you give us some specifics on when/how/where you made the initial deal????? Nitro