for anyone who performs a visual inspection in any state basically, but in PA would help more, where do you get the information telling you what to look for. Is there a printout that lists things like cat, muffler, smog pump, AIR tubes, etc? I was talking to my friend who inspects my car (no, he doesn't hook me up, just overlooks a "little" kink in my frame ) and mentioned that I heard people talking about removing the smog pump to clean things up and he had to go back out to the car to see that it had one. I dunno if he just skipped over it or just didn't notice. anyway, any information helps.

 

I dont do smog checks but I can understand why your friend wont let you pass since its his butt in the sling.

They look for everything that is supposed to be on the car from the factory. If you removed or rerouted things those are what raise the red flags. Now being on the car and being functiol are grey areas. Some states care some dont. If they pop the hood then most likely they care and you need everything there and functioning.

 

I'm not such person, but what I've seen in both California and Colorado is their computer system tells them what to look for based on the car info (VIN, and/or year/make/model/engine).

 

I've wondered the same thing (and am in PA). I figure that they could check the underhood stickers. The vacuum routing diagram will show hoses to items such as the air pump, CCP, and EGR.
The emissions sticker also has information of what equipment is supposed to be on the vehicle. Then again, stickers sometimes fall off, lol.

Otherwise maybe they check something like AllData or Mitchells on Demand.

RBob.

 

Some places require the underhood stickers to be in place as part of the visual.

 

You can get the rules somewhere on the PennDOT website- I lost the link but you can probably find it if you look. Essentially, everyting technically has to be there, just like stock and in working order unless it's replaced with an emissions-legal performance replacement part (like a set of emissions-legal headers with correct air tubes and a place for the O2 sensor).

Realistically, it depends most on how much the guys at your local shop are willing to "work with you." I've gotten some really ugly stuff through emissions.

A preferred loophole: Get the car to pass emissions once. After that, if you drive less than 5000 miles in a year it is emissions exempt. Technically, you STILL have to pass a full visual inspection but not a sniffer, but like I said, some shops will work with you on that.

Also, INTERNAL engine mods are basically all fair game as long as it can pass the sniffer. Ported heads, a little more cam, tons more cubic inches, etc. All undetectable since there's no way to visually verify stuff like that.

I live it PA in one of the areas that requires a "tight" emissions test, like above. Lots of the "rural" counties in PA still have much looser emissions tests and standards. Got an uncle who lives out in the boonies? Maybe your register your car there and visit him once a year when you need to get your car reinspected.

Legal disclaimer: Everything I posted above is just things I've heard from other people and I would never engage in such environmental or legal corner-cutting myself. Yeah.

 

Several of the mfrs of emissions replacement equipment supply catalogs that show all of that, in exhaustive (excuse the pun) detail. In CA, they even checked my car for having the correctly color-coded EFE TVS. I think they were using a Borg-Warner emissions catalog.

 

I've always wondered the following about states that do visual inspections:

If you had a single-cat y pipe exhaust and replaced it with true duals, each pipe having a 50-state legal catalytic converter attached, would it pass? I've had people tell me that if you merely move things from their stock location (like move the cat or whatever) that you'll fail. It seems to make more sense that if the equipment is functional and legal, no matter how it's set up, it should be legal......

also, do you have to have tail-pipes over the axle to pass in the aforementioned states? i've heard yes and no on this one too.

 

"Stock location" is a typical quote. I haven't seen it in writing, but have heard it often.

Tailpipes is more of a safety issue than emissions requirement. Most states require the exhaust to exit beyond the passenger compartment. Since our cars are hatchbacks, it needs to go beyond the sheetmetal, typically.