California SMOG Test
California SMOG Test
I apologize since this is being discussed on another thread but I want to know what the truth is:
(The car's engine is fully stock and never modified)
I disconnected the battery terminals to clean the battery and the battery undercarriage, then I connected it use the car for more or less 6-8 miles for a few errands and the car sat for 3-4 days.
i then went to buy something in the grocery (5 Miles), the next day I went to DMV-CA (4 miles) to have the car registered but they said I need to have it SMOG.
On the SMOG center this is what the tech told me:
The car FAILED because of a "FUNCTION TEST" (Malfunction Indicator Light)
But the car PASSED the : Visual Inspection and Emission Test
the technician ask me if I disconnected the battery, I lied and said NO
because I was upset on why it would FAIL a SMOG.
The technician with his hand held device put something in the car (beside the/below the car's ignition) and showed me through this device where
the failure was.
The technician then told me to drive the car for a certain miles so that the cars ECU can be reprogrammed.
I did drive the car for 30 miles, the following day I went back to have it
RE-SMOG and it PASS.
1) the SMOG center here in Hollister cost $45-50
2) I had a coupon of $ 29.95
3) Did the technician PURPOSELY - FAILED my SMOG TEST
so that I would return to have it re-SMOG and pay him
$8.75 ??? because that's what I paid him
4) NOT about the money of course, its the SCAM !!!
5) I knew I had to bring it back, or else I would have gone to another SMOG center which would have charge me $45-50 !!!!
(The car's engine is fully stock and never modified)
I disconnected the battery terminals to clean the battery and the battery undercarriage, then I connected it use the car for more or less 6-8 miles for a few errands and the car sat for 3-4 days.
i then went to buy something in the grocery (5 Miles), the next day I went to DMV-CA (4 miles) to have the car registered but they said I need to have it SMOG.
On the SMOG center this is what the tech told me:
The car FAILED because of a "FUNCTION TEST" (Malfunction Indicator Light)
But the car PASSED the : Visual Inspection and Emission Test
the technician ask me if I disconnected the battery, I lied and said NO
because I was upset on why it would FAIL a SMOG.
The technician with his hand held device put something in the car (beside the/below the car's ignition) and showed me through this device where
the failure was.
The technician then told me to drive the car for a certain miles so that the cars ECU can be reprogrammed.
I did drive the car for 30 miles, the following day I went back to have it
RE-SMOG and it PASS.
1) the SMOG center here in Hollister cost $45-50
2) I had a coupon of $ 29.95
3) Did the technician PURPOSELY - FAILED my SMOG TEST
so that I would return to have it re-SMOG and pay him
$8.75 ??? because that's what I paid him
4) NOT about the money of course, its the SCAM !!!
5) I knew I had to bring it back, or else I would have gone to another SMOG center which would have charge me $45-50 !!!!
Last edited by phenoyz; Sep 12, 2012 at 09:00 PM.
I suspect the system didn't have all the readiness flags set since you unplugged the battery. This is because the computer needs some time/certain driving conditions to check things out.
Normally, in states with emissions tests, having the check engine light on is an immediate fail. But wait, if you clear the check engine light by unplugging the battery or just resetting the light without fixing the problem, then the light is gone! Boom, you pass the test... or not, because they know about the trick, and they check that your car has actually executed all the tests that would trigger the check engine light.
So the technician was correct, and he wasn't just out to get you...
Normally, in states with emissions tests, having the check engine light on is an immediate fail. But wait, if you clear the check engine light by unplugging the battery or just resetting the light without fixing the problem, then the light is gone! Boom, you pass the test... or not, because they know about the trick, and they check that your car has actually executed all the tests that would trigger the check engine light.
So the technician was correct, and he wasn't just out to get you...
Read your owner's manual. It specifically warns you that you will fail smog if you disconnect the battery and get smogged before the codes are set. It even tells you exactly how to drive the car if you need to quickly set your codes for a smog check (decelerate from a certain speed, cruise at some speed for some duration, etc.).
The tech was not lying, but as you already know, you were. That's why your car failed.
Last edited by doctordoom; Sep 12, 2012 at 09:17 PM.
Because you disconnected the battery, the monitors were not set, you need to drive a good distance before all the sensors will be "ready". If all sensors are not active and ready you will fail.
12 miles or whatever is generally not enough to ready all the monitors. That's why you passed the second time.
12 miles or whatever is generally not enough to ready all the monitors. That's why you passed the second time.
Yep... pretty much what I said about 15 hours ago.
If you disconnect the battery terminals without using any sort of memory saving device then YES the emissions monitors checked in OBDII testing will be affected by reverting in a "not ready" state. Mind you, I'm not sure how Cali does their emissions testing but in my county there is no SMOG test so we don't use a sniffer for vehicles '96 model year or newer.
Basically your vehicle will be relearning its parameters at that time and checking for the various emissions monitors. Once it meets those prerequisites then the PCM will set them as ready; on the other hand, if the monitor sees something obviously fail out of said parameters then the CEL will trip within 2 or 3 start cycles. I HIGHLY recommend having those monitors set prior to any emissions testing.
For our Fits (and most recent Hondas at least 2007 to now), you can tell if all your monitors have set by putting the key to the ON/RUN position (engine off) and watch the CEL for about 20 seconds. After 20 seconds has passed the light should turn off if ALL the monitors ARE set; in the flip side, if there are one or more monitors that have NOT set then the CEL will flicker 5 times prior to shutting off.
Basically your vehicle will be relearning its parameters at that time and checking for the various emissions monitors. Once it meets those prerequisites then the PCM will set them as ready; on the other hand, if the monitor sees something obviously fail out of said parameters then the CEL will trip within 2 or 3 start cycles. I HIGHLY recommend having those monitors set prior to any emissions testing.
For our Fits (and most recent Hondas at least 2007 to now), you can tell if all your monitors have set by putting the key to the ON/RUN position (engine off) and watch the CEL for about 20 seconds. After 20 seconds has passed the light should turn off if ALL the monitors ARE set; in the flip side, if there are one or more monitors that have NOT set then the CEL will flicker 5 times prior to shutting off.
Member
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 288
From: camarillo,ca,usa
I have a 2007 honda fit with 110,000 miles on it, it failed on for the 1st time , problem was a misfiring cylinder no. 2 spark plug.
I took it to a mechanic, change the spark plug , change oil & reset the OBD .
I drove it for 51 MILES before i took it for the 2nd time SMOG and everything PASS. !
Wow,hopefully this HONDA FIT is good for another hundred thousand miles.
I took it to a mechanic, change the spark plug , change oil & reset the OBD .
I drove it for 51 MILES before i took it for the 2nd time SMOG and everything PASS. !
Wow,hopefully this HONDA FIT is good for another hundred thousand miles.
Member
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 249
From: Southern California
You'd be surprised at how big of a difference spark plugs can make, when it comes to smog checks. I drive a bone stock Evo IX (currently with around 68k miles), and I had a smog check in January 2012, and my mechanic said that I barely passed, but looking at certain numbers, he figured new plugs would clean it up a bit. I ended up swapping them out later on when I did my car's 60k service (which didn't require it but I did it anyway, which was a good idea since when my mechanic pulled out the plugs, two of them looked pretty bad, despite the relatively low mileage). I had my car smogged again last month with the same mechanic as before, and he said my car was actually EXTREMELY clean, polluting far less than the average. And again, this is an Evo, not some SULEV car that shoots butterflies and flowers out of its tailpipe.
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