Did you know that your car will fail a smog check in California even if all of its emissions are within state-prescribed limits, if the little “check engine” light on the dashboard happens to turn on during the test?
I didn’t, until this week. :mad:
Oh brother, tell me about it! I also didn’t know about this, and got a rude shock when I discovered I had to shell out 200 bucks just to find out WHY the damn engine light was on, and fix the problem so the light would turn off. This is of course before I could even get to the ‘smog check’ phase :mad:
I just wish the smog check station guy had told me this before he did the smog check and charged me $64.95 for it. 
It’s the same here, as I found out last time I got my car smog checked. At least a smog check here is only $15! Do you by chance have a 1996 Nissan Sentra?
$64.95?!? I got mine done for $25.00. Dude, check the Penny Saver for ads with coupons. Most places will even match a competitors coupon.
You also fail if your gas cap does not seal correctly. But, if the guy tells you before the test is over and installs the new one you will pass. You will also be cited by some dumb BPD asshole if you have paid your money, had your smog check but the stupid DMV hasn’t gotten around to sending you your tags. I know it is only a fix-it ticket and it won’t cost me but I heard the radio on his motorcycle saying I was up to date. It did all I can do. It is the Arnie’s problem now.
Many other states have followed the CA model for emissions inspection. PA requires the same type of testing in the major metro areas-only the rural folks go without. Please remember that the ‘Check Engine’ light is indicative of a sensor or device which is ‘out of range’. That condition can be relatively benign, or it can cause increased pollution, and reduced fuel economy. At $2/gallon, I’d like to go as far as I can.
So you have never read the most expensive book you have ever purchased?*
Try reading your owner’s manual.
A check engine light on = smog check failure since check engine lights came out in the 1980’s.
The joke around one dealership I worked at was when Capt. Obvious would come in and complain about something that was clearly explained in the Owner’s manual: You paid $30,000 for that owner’s manual, and we threw in a free car, perhaps you should read the damn thing.
Not even MAJOR metro areas. I had to have it in Lancaster, and my mom in Altoona. Goddamn $65.00 inspections…
Did you know that it is entirely possible that your planet could fail its “smog test” and thus accelerate its “reboot” procedure if enough of you ignore/gripe about/don’t give a fuck about your “check engine” light thingy?
Just sayin’ is all.
Hey, at least they quit charging a few extra hundred dollars in “out of state emission” fees if you bring in a car from out of state that freaken PASSES California emissions tests.
-lv
All I can add is “HAW HAW HAW!”, Jack Chick style.
God, I love rural Nevada.
Yeah…I suppose the background nuclear test radiation more or less fills that air pollution niche.
What I’d love to know is why everybody is in agreement that we need to look out for the environment until their car or truck needs an inspection, and then it is suddenly an onerous intrusion into their lives, pockets, and blah, blah, and more blah. :rolleyes:
In my opinion, the thing that PA did incorrectly was the phase-in. Cut to the chase and require it from Erie to Philly. Their second error was exemption of vehicles registered to an out-of-state entity. It makes no difference to the air in Harrisburg that your car is leased from YoMama Enterprises in West Buttcrack, ND. If you’re going to register it in PA, it should be tested and pass.
I had to deal with the startup of the emissions program when I lived in suburban Phila. We all learned to deal with it. The cars and trucks being produced now are much cleaner, but are more dependent on computerized engine control, hence the need to verify that everything is working as it should.
The sample here is hardly objective – those of us who gladly get our cars smog-checked, and are pleased as punch when we pass with flying colors, don’t have much incentive to participate in this bitchfest, for instance. 
dances, it’s not that I’m complaining that we have to do it. I was just venting that from one year (2003) to another (2004), because the emissions testing was made mandatory, the cost of vehicle inspection in PA jumped from c. $15.00 to c. $65.00. That’s a good chunk of change to only just find out you have to expend the day you call to make the appointment (I apparently missed the big news push when the bill was passed).
I wish the states would just be honest. HAND OVER THE FUCKING MONEY…NOW!!!
Emissions on recent cars are NOT a major source of air pollution. They are a sweet source of revenue, however.
Yup. And I’m glad I noticed before going there that someone had stolen my gas cap. I showed up and at the end of the test, I was asked if my car had recently failed. I said no, and the tester told me that a new gas cap is usually a sign of that.
Why don’t you disconnect the light until the test’s done–that way it’ll never come on at the most inopportune of moments 
!
Nope. They have to verify with a light test by turning the key to “on” to check the light status. What you can do is modify what the error codes check for by editing the OBD diagnostic software tables. Disclaimer: Probably not legal though, so don’t do it.