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Sent to State Ref, who's been there? (Cali)

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ayyyalexxx

Proven Member
37
0
Jul 4, 2013
Rialto, California
So I just got screwd by a cop yesterday. The reason he pulled me over was for no front license plates and smoked tail lights, then he made me pop my hood and when he couldn't find anything he said I have "modified emissions" because I have an aftermarket blow off valve. So now I have to go to the state referee with an oem blow off valve and I can't get it signed off by another cop.

How anal are the smog refs in California? Im in the Inland Empire area and will be getting tested at Chaffey college.
And also, I'm lightly modified and have:

Injen (carb legal) intake
Punishment Racing FMIC
Small 16G Turbo
Manual Boost Controller
Custom catback exhaust with muffler and resonator (Not very loud)
Boost Gauge

Will I pass visual inspection with this? I really can't revert back to stock, it would be too much of a hassle for me.

This cop really screwed me over man, this is my only transportation to and from school, and to and from home.
 
I've never been there but I have friends who have. Basically you want it ALL STOCK. Maybe turbo might be okay because it's mhi. No boost gauge either I believe. In 2006 or 2007-8 I can't remember, they pass that's its okay to have intercooler if the car comes stock with it. So your intercooler might be okay.
 
So no boost controller, revert to black plastic air intake, and would my cutback be fine if it has a magna flow muffler and resonators in it? It's not very loud at all, so I'm sure it would pass the decibel level
 
You're going to fail miserably. There's a reason there are smog stations, and then there are referees. The referees are much more strict, and you won't get away with anything. I mean ANYTHING. If the ref sees a shiny bolt, you better have a CARB EO tag for it, or prepare to get failed no questions asked. Contrary to popular belief, Cali smog techs aren't dumb asses. They go through quite a bit of training, and you aren't going to pull anything over on them.

In short, even with that tiny mod list, you won't even come close to passing the visual at a referee. And, even if you do, the car probably wouldn't pass on the rollers. I spent 5 years in Cali, and dealt with smog hassles more times than I care to remember. You gotta pay to play in Cali, and that usually means knowing "a guy" if you know what I mean. PM me if you want some extra help.
 
Sorry to hear this is happening.. wonder how these laws apply to visitors from out of state..
 
Go back to stock, I mean everything. You can keep the intake "if" it has the carb exempt number on it still and does not look like it has been modified or messed with but if it were me I would go stock on that too.

Last I was there they didn't have AWD rollers, well in this area atleast.

As far as I know you can't get around the ref without selling the car so use that info to your advantage.
 
Shouldnt the car be getting close to being too old for smog? or do they never become exempt? what about antique or classic status cars?
 
Shouldnt the car be getting close to being too old for smog? or do they never become exempt? what about antique or classic status cars?

Only 75 n older are smog exempt..there are ways around smog but not the smog ref.

If you have out of state plates they wont oull this on you.
 
Move out of the Leftist nanny state that is California. Cop screwed me! Your votes and tax dollars hard at work. At this rate you're second only to Bloomberg's NWO. Diane Feinstein; Nothing else needs to be said.
 
Sorry to hear this is happening.. wonder how these laws apply to visitors from out of state..

I don't think they could do anything as far as making you revert to stock for visitors, you might get a ticket or something if your driving like a moron, but emissions/aftermarket modification laws are exempt to people not residing in the state.

I'm not sure on the specifics, but you can't just say the BOV you have imitates OEM operation?

It's really nothing more than a shinier, better looking vent on your roof compared to the old one.

When you take the factory 2g bov :barf: you should do a visual demonstration of how it doesn't hold pressure even at stock levels. Give him a few pictures, maybe throw together a powerpoint.
 
Yea it's real bull. The 2 officers were staring at my engine bay for a good 10 minutes. I'm sure they were looking for anything and the shiny purple type s knockoff that came with the PR kit caught their eyes pretty good. I guess it's a bad thing to have a pretty, shiny bay...we should all just keep it dirty or paint everything black smh.

I'm planning on reverting pretty much back to stock, hide my boost controller, take off my gauges, etc. Only thing is I no longer have OEM exhaust nor T-25. So I'm gonna turn my boost down to waste gate pressure (currently at 13, waste gate is 10), keep the small 16g, and pray for the best.

Plus my bov is recirculated. I should've argued with him that it does not emit anything since everything is going back to the intake. Didn't think about it at the time tho. And he would've probably screwed me anyways..
 
I got sent to the state ref as well (not in my eclipse) but in my ricer Toyota Corolla (didn't know what I was buying don't judge) cop pulled me over for no muffler (to loud) and headers.

Took it took the ref he told me what to do (I had other things under hood that was illegal) had to get muffler and change cat (because cat was for KIA only cars) he didn't care what kind of cat just any Toyota. Last was headers which he couldn't see because there was a heat shield on there so he signed me off on it and let me go so I passed..

Anyways I think they only inspect what the cop pulled you over for go and check.
 
Wow, eclipsegst95garage I hope that's the case. So they didn't even mention smogging you? The officer did write it off as a correctable infraction so I hope that helps some. What station did you take it to? If you don't mind me asking
 
Yea it's real bull. The 2 officers were staring at my engine bay for a good 10 minutes. I'm sure they were looking for anything and the shiny purple type s knockoff that came with the PR kit caught their eyes pretty good. I guess it's a bad thing to have a pretty, shiny bay...we should all just keep it dirty or paint everything black smh.

I'm planning on reverting pretty much back to stock, hide my boost controller, take off my gauges, etc. Only thing is I no longer have OEM exhaust nor T-25. So I'm gonna turn my boost down to waste gate pressure (currently at 13, waste gate is 10), keep the small 16g, and pray for the best.

Plus my bov is recirculated. I should've argued with him that it does not emit anything since everything is going back to the intake. Didn't think about it at the time tho. And he would've probably screwed me anyways..

Here is my smog setup I painted it all black but I run a t28 so no jpipe
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
 
So I just got screwd by a cop yesterday. The reason he pulled me over was for no front license plates and smoked tail lights.

I would say you screwed yourself LOL

Don't run illegal parts that are easily spotted or missing a plate. That just gives the cops a reason to pull you over. They'll sometimes pull you over for no reason, but don't give them a reason to, if you don't have too ;)
 
I would say you screwed yourself LOL

Don't run illegal parts that are easily spotted or missing a plate. That just gives the cops a reason to pull you over. They'll sometimes pull you over for no reason, but don't give them a reason to, if you don't have too ;)

Yea but it's unfair how police here single out cars that look sporty (and therefore attract attention). My friend just got pulled over two weeks ago for no front plate too and he has a 2013 BRZ. In both our cases the officers were in front of us, on the opposite side of the street, and both had to make a u-turn in order to pull us over. There are a plethora of Lexus, Mercedes, BMW's, etc. around here with no front plates and they never get pulled over for it. Hell my cousin got pulled over in completely stock Evo IX and got a ticket for his exhaust. Officer said it was too big to be factory and it was too loud. Of course, my cousin fought the ticket and won, but he shouldn't have even got it to begin with. They single certain cars out. I know it's the way of the world, especially in Cali, but it just sucks.
 
Yea but it's unfair how police here single out cars that look sporty (and therefore attract attention). My friend just got pulled over two weeks ago for no front plate too and he has a 2013 BRZ. In both our cases the officers were in front of us, on the opposite side of the street, and both had to make a u-turn in order to pull us over. There are a plethora of Lexus, Mercedes, BMW's, etc. around here with no front plates and they never get pulled over for it. Hell my cousin got pulled over in completely stock Evo IX and got a ticket for his exhaust. Officer said it was too big to be factory and it was too loud. Of course, my cousin fought the ticket and won, but he shouldn't have even got it to begin with. They single certain cars out. I know it's the way of the world, especially in Cali, but it just sucks.

That is the way it is in Cali. It's absolutely terrible there. With my Integras I was pulled over on average 1-2 times a week for absolutely no reason at all. Several times I was pulled out of the car, handcuffed and my car was searched with no probable cause and then let go.

My advice? Leave California.. it's only going to get worse. I gave up on being a car enthusiast until I moved to Colorado. In my city there are no emissions required ( Woo! Not trying to gloat ). Just sayin' that sometimes the grass really is greener on the other side. What I miss the most is cruising the I-15 S > 76 West > I-5 N > 74 E... in that order. Sometimes I'd do it twice... but one thing is certain.. the police here are much less aggressive.

" Don't be afraid to leave #####, you can always come back "
 
Colorado has no beaches and shitty weather..haha
they pulled you over cause you were easy pickens ...this sort of thing happens more in socal, ive never been pulled over in mine but I live out in the sticks.but when I lived in san diego and had a rx7 I got pulled over alot..put your plate on and stock tails n I bet you wont get messed with
 
Yea but it's unfair how police here single out cars that look sporty (and therefore attract attention). My friend just got pulled over two weeks ago for no front plate too and he has a 2013 BRZ. In both our cases the officers were in front of us, on the opposite side of the street, and both had to make a u-turn in order to pull us over. There are a plethora of Lexus, Mercedes, BMW's, etc. around here with no front plates and they never get pulled over for it. Hell my cousin got pulled over in completely stock Evo IX and got a ticket for his exhaust. Officer said it was too big to be factory and it was too loud. Of course, my cousin fought the ticket and won, but he shouldn't have even got it to begin with. They single certain cars out. I know it's the way of the world, especially in Cali, but it just sucks.

Your friend in the BRZ also didn't have a front plate. They like to pick easy targets. They may still target sporty cars but if he had a front plate (& the car wasn't modded externally), they likely would have gone for someone else.

I spent years being targeted with my old Apexi N1 exhaust. They'd state it was excessivly noisy, the thing was quiter then many stock cars on the roads (talking family sedan quiet) but I got hassled all the time (& pulled over specifically for it). Got a bunch of tickets (all fought & won) & talked my way out of it a number of times (as there was nothing illegal about it & I had the documents in the car to prove it). It had nothing to do with noise, it was all to do with how it looked.

Solution, I switched to a custom setup that looked stock, is far louder now & have never been bothered since :thumb:.


That is the way it is in Cali. It's absolutely terrible there. With my Integras I was pulled over on average 1-2 times a week for absolutely no reason at all. Several times I was pulled out of the car, handcuffed and my car was searched with no probable cause and then let go.

Sure about that, I see all kinds of Honda owners driving like complete ass hats, that deserve to be pulled over ROFL
 
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