Emissions Test Story in Arizona....

Turbo Tim · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 1:36 am

Well today was the first time that I had to go in for my emissions test.
You know things are going to go well when they walk up to you and tell you that Jeep didn’t put any diesels in a Jeep. Someone must have done a conversion. At this point I asked for the nice man to go get their supervisor.
The nice lady supervisor said the same thing and that I obviously must be wrong.
I asked her to just run the VIN number and then we would talk.
She came back after about 10 minutes and said that this is the first one that they have seen or heard of.
(Now in Arizona, a new car does not have to go through emissions testing until it is 5 years old. Since it is a 2005, surprise, you will see more).
Next the guy lines me up to run it on the rollers for the dyno test. I said “No Way” as the owner’s manual states that traction control or anti-lock system will have a fit.
Nope, we run them all and never have had a problem. There was no discussing it with them as they are always right.
So they fire it off and it gets to about 30 MPH and the ABS light and the brake light both come on! Next it starts dinging and then the engine shuts down! I did mention a “I told you so. Now go get your supervisor and how are WE going to fix all these lights that are now on?”
The response was that I guess we can’t check them that way. It was all I could do to keep my mouth shut.
They stated that if the lights didn’t go off after a couple of miles, to come back and they would take care of it. I said “Ya I guess you will.”
I did pass as they only check for Opacity. The limit is 20% and I only had 3% with a de-clawed cat and Flowmaster muffler. The SEGR was working quiet well too.
The lights were off after about 50 feet of driving and I don’t have to go back for 2 years now. Hey, what did I expect for a bunch of ex convenience store clerks working for minimum wage? They did take my $19.00.

CRD Joe · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 1:42 am

Ya thats a good story. You're government at work. Thanks to our current president and democrat legislature you can expect that kind of experience soon when you go to the hospital!!!

flman · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 6:22 am

That great it passed with the SEGR. That just goes to show you what a waste the EGR really is, probably just looked good on paper to some EPA employee? So about your bad experience. As for NY being 2nd to California for Emissions, they don't do anything with diesel. If you have a gasser, it is plugged into OBD, diesel just gets a safety check. I guess these retards in the legislatures really have no clue?

Actually, in NY we can bring in a diesel with a CEL and pass, but not a gasser.

PhoenixCRD · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 11:15 am

Hey TT,

Which emission test site did you go to. I'll have to do the same thing in October. Might as well plan on going to a test facility that has already had a CRD through it!

Gary

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 11:33 am

Good story! I will tell you that you are lucky that it is only $20 bucks. I don't know about light duty vehicles like VW's, but any medium duty and heavy duty vehicle is going to cost you at least 50 bucks up here to have them look at your tail pipe

Turbo Tim · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 12:34 pm

I went to the testing station at Deer Valley Rd. and 3rd Ave. in North Phoenix.
It probably doesn't matter where you go as they only look at how black the smoke is coming out the tail pipe. (They will do a visual look for the cat but that’s it).
The other fool wanted to check the fuel cap for pressure and I asked him why? It's and oil, not gas, no fumes or pressure here. (On a Gasser they pressurize the tank and cap to see if the charcoal canister is working. Diesels don’t have one of them as there is no fumes). The boss lady looked and him and they passed me on out.

I would be concerned that "Somebody" down at emissions headquarters gets a heads-up that the traction control system is going to kick in. This is no different than the Cadillac Northstars and others that have some kind of skid or ESP system, and they don't put them on the rollers either.

I was concerned if they were going to plug into the OBDII connector and if the ECM would talk to their computer. Never happened.

I guess ya'll in Arizona should call the main place first and express your concerns before you have a nice experience. I was there about 1 hour and 15 minutes with only 3 cars in line.
They did spend a lot of time just looking under the hood studying the cover over the engine.
What a waste of time and money.

warp2diesel · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 3:36 pm

Great post :BANANA:

Here in Illinois our neither our Former Governor or Rich Daily could not extract any bribes out of the repair shops or dealers, so they got back at them and shut down the Emissions Testing Stations for all but the ORT trucks.
Good to see your numbers that prove the EGR is more of an Environmental Liability than an an Environmental Asset.
Shut the stupid EGR off and open up the restricter flange behind the cat, I never get any more gray or black smoke.

Again Great Post :BANANA:

nursecosmo · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 3:48 pm

Was it a State or Federal inspection? The Fed inspection only requires opacity testing in certain EPA designated high risk cities, of which Phoenix is one.

Turbo Tim · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 6:02 pm

It is a State Mandated inspection. It is a private company that won the bid, and they pass a law that states that you MUST have them do this bogus EPA test IF you live in a smog designated county. Phoenix and a few others fall into this mandate.
It is called the IM240. Of course they get to pick whatever price they want and it is NOT deducted off of you state registration. Just skim off the top and don't even call it a tax.
(ASU, the state university, did a study and stated that it should be disbanded as it serves no purpose now as all cars are OBDII compliant, or most of them. The stated decided not to turn off this worthless program as it would put too many of work).
Just what we need is another worthless program FORCED on the public.

nursecosmo · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 6:41 pm

When I lived in TN we had the same thing in Cattanooga. It is not a Stare requirement but rather a Federal one. Does the rest of Arizona also have an inspection program?

The retarded thing about the Chattanooga IM240 designation was that the EPA shoved it down the States throat(after millions of dollars of studies)with the assumption that the area smog was generated by locally owned and operated vehicles. The reallity however, was that most of the city's smog comes from traffic on I-75 and I-24. Also, most of the daily commuters who work in Hammiliton county come from neighboring counties without the testing requirement.

The "comprehensive smog reduction program" has had exactly zero impact on summer smog levels in the county.

geordi · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 10:08 pm

They had this horse pucky in Florida too for a while, based on the garbage science that extracting $10 from every driver would increase the air quality by reducing the weight of all those fat wallets.

Gee... In a state where the air is changed every 15 minutes by the OCEAN WIND and we have the highest mountain of 400 feet... I don't think we have much of an air quality problem!

I'm not in Florida anymore, haven't "technically" lived there for almost 5 years now... But I still have a Florida plate on my CRD so I can avoid the stupidity of the other states I've been in.

SC: Charges "luxury tax" for registering a vehicle - EVERY YEAR, equal to the assesed tax value of the vehicle when NEW. $400 every year? Uhm... NO. Honestly, I'm a left-leaning person for social programs to benefit my fellow man when he is down and needs the assistance... But dang it, govt get yer hand outta my pocket for wanting me to pay REPEATEDLY for the same thing I already bought!

stoutdog · **Posted:** Sat May 15, 2010 11:44 pm

geordi wrote:

I'm not in Florida anymore, haven't "technically" lived there for almost 5 years now... But I still have a Florida plate on my CRD so I can avoid the stupidity of the other states I've been in.

I'm a Floridian living in AZ doing the exact same thing, simply because of the kind of hassle that Turbo Tim just went through. :SOMBRERO:

AZ CRD · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 8:40 am

I can't wait for my day at the emissions station. :roll:

Thanks for posting your experience. I think I'll print it out and take it with me.

mikey1273 · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 9:12 am

Dang you all make me glad my state only tests gasser with those tests. I was so relieved to not have to pay or get that test this year for the first time. Tehey only do that safety inspection which cost me $23 and change.... That included that rear plate bulb it needed to pass and 6% sales tax. they do check or are suppoesed to check my exaust to be sure its got a cat and muffler if equpped from the factory.

In PA even gassers done go on a dyno. they test the gas cap and hook up to the computer.

Sir Sam · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 2:26 pm

In my area only diesel get emissions tested....grrr

CATCRD · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 7:32 pm

75 bucks too. I just had to do both of mine.

You see these jackalopes in cummins and duramaxes billowing smoke from stoplights in town and it's no wonder why they test them. The officials must not realize you can just take off the tuner and pass the test. :roll:

Silverdiesel · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 10:16 pm

The Supervisor at the IM240 testing station said ther was to such thing as Jeep Diesel?????

They tried running it on the rollers AFTER you told them how ESP/ABS/TC is all tied together and Bosch and VM Motori have a limp mode fail safe when the rears roll and the fronts don't???

Then they went to that diesel smoke test as the way they tested????

They got your CEL/ABS/BAS/ESP lites to lite up because they tested????

I will most certianly print this out and take with me as my due time will be May 2011!!!!

How dare they and how stupid of them to say this is a conversion. THIS IS STOCK JEEP!
You know how plugging in at the J plug can sometimes generate faults so that will be probably something they will do to others eventually. How do they test 2005 Dodge, chev's and Ford diesels???

You know if you want 0% on the smoke test just fill up with B99 right before the test!

Roland

Silverdiesel · **Posted:** Sun May 16, 2010 10:23 pm

Oh Yeah and about that gasser charcoal canister gas tank fuel pressure test~~~ I have a good mind to show up at the testing station without my fuel cap!!

And that Mirror to check for a catylatic converter HA HA HA HA We don't even have one!!

What a joke!

Roland

nursecosmo · **Posted:** Mon May 17, 2010 1:29 am

Silverdiesel wrote:

And that Mirror to check for a catylatic converter HA HA HA HA We don't even have one!!

That WILL get you failed. That is why my cat no longer has any guts.

wolcott · **Joined:** Thu Nov 10, 2005 4:16 pm **Posts:** 108

All I can say is that I'm sure glad I now live in Florida, which eliminated vehicle inspections years ago. In Colorado, when I first moved there, vehicle inspections were done at gas stations, and at my first inspection, the inspector got enough dirt in the front wheel bearing (they checked the brakes by pulling the drum) to cause it to seize in 100 miles. So much for safety inspections increasing safety! It sounds as though emissions inspections are more of the same idiocy.

Emissions Test Story in Arizona....

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