California Question

[EVOL_TURBO]

Has anyone here ever been issued a ticket for emissions violation in the state of California? Ever gone to court for it or had to see a state referee?

 

[The_EE]

Its funny. I passed smog just last Saturday with this setup.. I had my cat on instead of my 3" downpipe of course. I passed with flying colors


97 GSX:Fluidampnr,720's, Aeromotive AFPR, 272's,1g TB,TD06H-20g,DSMLINK,3" Turbo Back N1, Dejon 3' Intake,AEM WB,Clutchmasters S4 Clutch,GReddy UICP & FMIC,5 Speed swapped,Skunk2 Springs,RRE & Ingalls C-kits,Tial WG,Punishment Mani/o2

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

It is funny, because I too just passed smog (at a smog only station) on May 9th. I have not changed a thing on my car since. Now a month and a half later, I'm going through this crap!

 

[the_skin_eater]

That's because there are only 13 cars in your town, and 42 cars in your county!

Oh, ya! And two troopers.

Ha...

Hey!! We got 20 cars now!!!


Naa.. Its not cali, but that just means the cops have that much less to do...So they can pick on people with modded cars more.

You get tickets for sitting in a parking lot for too long at night...

 

[The_EE]

Ha...

Hey!! We got 20 cars now!!!


Naa.. Its not cali, but that just means the cops have that much less to do...So they can pick on people with modded cars more.

You get tickets for sitting in a parking lot for too long at night...

I would sooner sit outside my house than in some parking lot, thats for damned sure.

 

[leet]

Just curious as to what you did that made the cop have you open your hood.

You don't really have to do anything. I've dealt with this a few times, including one asshole who was too blind to see the CARB EO on my intake. He didn't ticket me for that only because I asked him if he wanted me to get out of the vehicle and point to it for him.

He did ticket me for my exhaust though. Le sigh.

 

[ilikespeeding]

I have a lot of experience being in CA also. Here is some things I found out.

Intercooler piping is NOT legal unless it is stock. You might find a referee who will pass it but a lot will not. The only way to make sure if something is legal or not is to call the CARB. The referees just interpret their laws. My advice is if you find a referee who doesn't mind a lot of that stuff you should go to him

As far as the carb was concerned everything aftermarket is illegal unless it has a carb sticker. I even asked them what happens if my plastic intercooler piping is cracked and I can't find a new or used factory replacement? They told me to scrap the car

Pretty sweet, huh?

Jesus tapdancing Christ you guys have some stupid laws. I'd take aircraft remover to the catch can, prime it, and paint it black for the stock look. You could also superglue a fitting onto the side of it and connect a hose back to the intake for the recirculated look.

I love NC. Our emissions, atleast in my county, is OBDII only. The safety inspection is of the lights and horn system only. It's so easy to get a sticker.

The only downside is that it's 84% humidity outside @ 1,005,900,000 degrees.

 

[rcrullamas]

It is funny, because I too just passed smog (at a smog only station) on May 9th. I have not changed a thing on my car since. Now a month and a half later, I'm going through this crap!

i had the same thing that happend to me last year..cop pulled me over for loud exhaust then opened my hood, gave me a ticket for emissions for my BOV cus it was a shiny Blitz kind and modified exhaust, the ticket says only the state ref can sign it off.

Trip#1 state ref station: went to the state ref with my stock exhaust on and passed the exhaust decibel test, got that violation signed off. my car was too low, the bumper was in the way for him to strap down onto the machine for safety reasons, and didnt want to do emission test, he said i can either remove my bumper or raised up the car, i wanted to remove my bumper but the A hole wouldnt let me borrow tools so i had to reschedule and come back again

Trip#2: my car was pretty much stock except K&N filter w/ carb # and Blitz BOV (i thought this was fine cus its routed like the stock one but was wrong about that) recirculated. this time i brought some tools with so i can remove my bumper so my car can go on the ramp and he can strap it down for safety. This guy was a complete ass..he did the emission test and my car passed but failed the visual due to my BOV cus it wasnt stock, the K&N carb # only covers up to 1998 models not 1999..to me he was an ass cus he should of stoped when my car didnt pass the visual, instead he let me removed my bumper, pay $40 for the test, wasted an hour of my time that day and my ticket still wasnt signed off

Trip#3: went back again and they guy called insick

Trip#4 my TOB went and didnt make it to the state ref

Trip#5 brought my car state ref station completely stock, OEM parts and got my ticket taken cared of after 2 months of hell (scheduling appointments w/ the ref station/putting everything back to stock/going to court to get an extension on my ticket/court again once i got my ticket signed off by the ref..

FYI, go to the state ref completely stock or be prepared to make multiple trips or do what my friend did..paid the fine close to $400

 

[Snobordin8]

Wow some of those laws suck. Not a single car I've owned has been inspected for anything, except having the VIN verified by a cop when I bought a car from out of state.

 

[the_skin_eater]

I would sooner sit outside my house than in some parking lot, thats for damned sure.

I wouldnt....

Back when I lived at my parents that would be lame...... It would be pitch black with bugs eating you alive.

You gotta remember that the midwest is a lot of open country....

My closest friend lived 20ish minutes away...And thats driving 60mph to get there.

If you like looking at stars, go ahead. Otherwise ya gotta meet up somewhere......

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

FYI, go to the state ref completely stock or be prepared to make multiple trips or do what my friend did..paid the fine close to $400

Here in cali, you CAN pass smog legally with a bunch of mods, huge turbo, fmic, short route, bov, hell even cams, 720cc+ injectors, big fuel pump, external wastegate etc...

How do I know, because myself and others do it ALL the time.

With no under the table hook up.

The main thing is to make sure the smog station does not care about visual, and your fuel trims, and all emissions equipment is in place--basically as long as you know your car will pass the sniffer test.

the problem arises as soon as you get pulled over with these mods and asked for your hood to be opened by a cop

you pray that they dont send you to a STATE REF, and by the trends of things, it seems like its almost automatic for them to do that.

at this point, the only option is to put everything back to stock or close to it. Most if not all state refs are very anal. crullamas's story is a perfect example of how they are.

So now, consider crullamas's story about his situation, several times he had to go back, and who knows how extensive his mods were which he had to put back to stock..

Now consider what he said about his friend that I quoted above.

If you have A LOT of mods---cams, full turboback, different manifold, big turbo, with external, etc etc etc. Plus you don't have all the stock parts to put back. To just pay the fine of $400 sounds more convenient. The time you waste, and the grueling labor you must do to remove aftermarket parts and put back stock parts, might amount to more than $400 worth. If you make at least $15/hr its about 28hrs (3 1/2 days) work. Especially if your job is just sitting behind a deck, I rather do that for 28hrs instead of running around finding stock parts, being dirty under the car, getting tired, etc just to put back the car to stock.

Of course after you pay the fine, you just have x your fingers everytime you get pulled over they don't send you to the ref, or you pay the fine all over again. But if you were planning to put back all the mods back after the state ref, just paying the fine again might still seem more convenient, at the same risk of the situation happening all over again.

If your mods are just a simple intake, bov, some stock route ic piping, and turboback, put back to stock and send it to the ref.

 

[Ludachris]

They want me to go see a state referee. I don't know if I have to or if I can just pay the ticket and be done with it. I did take care of the intake. If I have to see the state referee, he's not going to like the Greddy BOV or the oil catch can.

I did find out that an FMIC is perfectly legal in the state of California as long as the car came stock with an IC.

Better get working putting your car back to stock. The state ref won't pass any aftermarket mods under the hood without a CARB sticker.

This is why I'll not miss living in Cali.

 

[EVOL_TURBO]

Thanks for your input guys! Looks like I'm just going to pay the fine and be done with it. I think I'm going to try and hide the stuff under my hood. I'm going to paint everything black, build a box around my catch can and turn my BOV upside down so it's hidden under the pipe. I already got my CARB EO sticker for my intake.

Thanks again for all the input

 

[jawar666]

Better get working putting your car back to stock. The state ref won't pass any aftermarket mods under the hood without a CARB sticker.

This is why I'll not miss living in Cali.

The question might sound silly... But what's a CARB sticker?

I knew California was hard for people like us (tune enthusiats) but I didn't know it was such a PITA!


Here in Costa Rica we have to deal with a similar BS from time to time... and it's just because our law is very vague...

 

[Talesin]

California Air Resources Board. Otherwise known as der smognazis. They put a little sticker on 'approved' aftermarket parts with a registry number to show that it's a 'legal' modification. It's an expensive process that part manufacturers can go through so they can charge ridiculous sums of money for what is essentially simple lengths of bent pipe.

Even if it costs a tenth the amount to just make the part yourself (Home Depot specials), without that sticker it is not an 'approved' part, and will get you fined. Even if it works just as good. :b This is one reason I'm considering moving out of SoCal... even more than the high rent rates, crappy job market, and people who drive their uselessly hugemongous SUVs with their ass.

 

[ekanddsm]

Well heres some more useful info, it's much more helpful for the next time you get pulled over.

When you finally get signed off, Through the refree, even with parts that are on you car, You will be signed as legit from the refree. You will need some documentation from the refree that your car has passed emissions inspection by the refree.

I forget the document number, but when I find it,I'll post it.

The beauty of that document is that the next time you get pulled over, You present the paper to officer with your license and if they continue to look, pop your hood, basically harass you in any form, You get their badge I'd number, and file a complaint with the police department the officer is assigned too.

I know this because my boss did it to a chp on a focus with a heavily modded turbo kit on it, and after 5-minutes, we were free to go.

But they take harassment very seriously when complaints are filed, dont be surprised to not see that officer for a while.

If you know the rules they can work for you too.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

FMICs are legal in CA because with all the new cars coming with factory FMICs its hard to distinguish between what came factory and what didn't.

I got the state ref treatment, and about 2 weeks before I had to show (still hadn't started putting stock parts back) I got a letter saying I could pay a $360 bail. If you know my car this was VERY much worth it. Payed it off and haven't heard anything else about it for several months.

I was driving thru the Malibu canyons (I was actually just cruising thru this time) and a cop pulled off the side of the road and followed me ALL the way up to the top of Stunt Rd. I got to the top and then he decides to turn his lights on and megaphones "YOU THERE IN THE MITSUBISHI! PULL OVER TO THE YELLOW GATE!" (shit..). He says "I see you have an illegally modified exhaust. I also see you have a carbon fiber hood with hood pins, racing seats, you even took out your back seats!! What, do you think this is a race car? Pop your hood." WTF That woulda been a good time to hit the stutterbox and do a little 4 wheel burnout. I pop my hood (you have to in CA or they shoot you in the face or something to that effect) and he looks around for a minute. Do you have a CARB sticker for that intake? Do you have one for that adjustable wastegate? (pointing to my Tial BOV). Funny how he points to the 2 things in my engine bay that are red. He says "I don't know what any of this is, but you'll have to go to the state ref and he'll tell you what you need to fix. He even wrote on the ticket 36mph in a 40 zone.

Recently my mom got pulled over at LAX in her 100% bone stock 05 Evo when she was dropping me off at the airport. "Mam, I see you don't have a front liscense plate, and you have illegal window tinting, and your exhaust system is illegally modified (once again, bone stock). I got out to get my bags and laughed at him and said, "I know these cars sir. That exhaust is stock. Look at it. If you think that's loud, you should hear my car!" And walked off. I dunno why I said that but I was pissed. My mom didn't get any ticket.

I don't have a cat... but I know someone.

 

[Ludachris]

California requires aftermarket parts manufacturers to apply for CARB certification for their parts to be considered legal for emissions. Not many manufacturers do it, as it costs a great deal of money. That's why you'll see most parts say they're for "race/offroad use only". Some companies like AEM do it for their intakes and a handful of turbo kits (none for our cars) have it but chances are that most mods you do under the hood will pass when you're sent to the state ref in California. I've heard some lucky stories but 3 times as many horror stories. California can have their emissions laws, I'm happy I'm outta there - no more visual inspections.

 

[matt j]

i heard of a few loop holes when i lived in san diego, i was having issues with passing smog in my old civic, which didnt really have anything done to it except for intake header and exhaust, and the 1.6 instead of the original 1.5. I talked to a guy that i raced with on SCAT and he told me about a loophole in the system. There are certain parts of california that do not have smog regulations, So what i did is i went to one of these places and found a house that had burned down from the fires back in 03, got the address and registered my car to that address. Never heard from the smog nazis again.

 

[Savage Talon]

I have a friend in Lake county that said I could register my car at his house so I would not have to smog my car anymore. But the smog guy told me in a few months all county's will be required to smog their cars. No more exempt area's for smog. I have not verified this though.

 

[jawar666]

Wow... seems like some California's laws are a little bit ridiculous...

And sorry for the question again.... But what's a state referee? Is he supose to know about car modifications?

 

[hopwoodp]

A "state ref " is a government appointed smog specialist. But they don't all seem to be on the same page.

 

[eclipsegsx1736]

Here is the latest scoop -

So, I HAVE to get a cert from the state ref or my car can be impounded the next time I'm pulled over.

How do you know for sure? As I mentioned above, I got a (rather confusing) letter sayong I could pay a bail and not show. It was $360. I believe if I just went to the ref it woulda been $10 for ref fees and nothing else but that wasn't really an option for me.

State refs know their shit, at least around here. My friend put his talon back to stock even down to the stock BCS and all stock vac lines in stock routing but left his boost gauge. The ref flipped out when he saw the T fitting for the boost gauge and made his assistant watch the boost gauge while he unhooked the line while the car was running. They don't look over anything. They have access to all factory vacuum line routing diagrams.

 

[hopwoodp]

That is the reason why we need to be smarter and go about what we do more carefully. This is becoming much more serious for people like us. The state is really starting to crack down on this. Modding our cars is not as easy as it use to be. Thats why we need to state what facts we know will work when it comes to smog inspections and how we will conduct ourselves when pulled over and asked to pop our hood.

Like I said on the CARB thread, if you provide any information in regard to these particular situations, make sure it is valid and that the evidence is on paper.

Law enforcement and smog inspectors and becoming much smarter than anticipated. We need to either lower some of our own expectation and standards or, find a way to beat the system.

How do we beat the system? We become more educated on the laws and regulations concerning our matter(smog, etc). Bite the bullet and start getting CARB approved parts for an example. TRY to find loop holes. This will not be easy but, it can happen if we do some research and share it with the community.

Please comment on this.

 

[ilikespeeding]

That is the reason why we need to be smarter and go about what we do more carefully. This is becoming much more serious for people like us. The state is really starting to crack down on this. Modding our cars is not as easy as it use to be. Thats why we need to state what facts we know will work when it comes to smog inspections and how we will conduct ourselves when pulled over and asked to pop our hood.


Please comment on this.

Tell 'em your hood latch cable is broken. Problem solved.

 

[hopwoodp]

Right.... We need to try alot harder than that.