irv

If you have a 100% desmogged 22r pickup and your state changes their laws, or you move somewhere that requires smog tests - what would you say could be the bare minimum emissions items you could reinstall to pass a smog check? EGR valve is a must, I know that. What else?

millball

Some states do a tailpipe sniff test. Others require EVERY system the maker installed at the factory to be present by visual inspection.

The standards might also depend on the year of manufacture as to how stringent the requirements are.

There are likely other jurisdictions where both the sniff and visual criteria must be met. Your question really cannot be satisfactorily answered because it is ultimately hypothetical

scope103

While it does depend on the state, most states that have smog laws say that the minimum pieces of emissions equipment is -- all of it. E.g. California:

"All gasoline-powered vehicles, new or used, being registered for the first time in California must pass the California Smog Check. A vehicle will fail the California Smog Check if it is not equipped with the originally required smog devices." https://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/NonCAVeh/NonCAVeh.pdf

The first step of any smog check is to visually confirm all factory-installed emissions equipment is still there.

(Note that if you acquire a USED "49-State" vehicle, it can be registered in California in most cases. But it still requires all of the equipment installed by the factory.)

irv

The 22r pickups came with a wide variety of emissions equipment. Some had very basic setups. Others had much more elaborate setups. I've owned 4 or 5 pickups over the years. A couple of them had air/smog pumps and basically the max setup. A few others did not have air/smog pumps and were much more basic with just an EGR valve and a basic air injection into the exhaust manifold. So are you suggesting that a truck that came stock with a minimal setup would have to be retrofitted with all of the available emissions equipment that came on various 22r trucks of the era?

millball

By VIN, Or by under hood emissions standard label, the inspectors might determine what specific equipment that particular machine was built with.

Doubtful they can be tricked.

scope103

No.

To sell a vehicle in the US, the manufacturer had to demonstrate that it was equipped to meet the applicable requirements (emissions, safety, etc.) Vehicles had different engines and different emissions technology, but at some point the manufacturer specified that THIS model vehicle will meet the requirements with THESE items of equipment. The customer didn't get the chance to order different equipment; they could (legally) only buy it as certified.

So if CARB (in California) agrees that your truck came stock with a "minimal" setup, then that's what you need. Note that even if you've owned this truck for the last 40 years and KNOW what it came with when you bought it, that may not be enough. 40 years ago it was easier to find a vehicle seller willing to bend the law. That won't help you now.

As millball said, you might be able to find a SMOG inspector willing to run your VIN to tell you what you need. Or I believe you can contact CARB directly, and get the list of equipment. But be careful; if you're required to have EGR equipment (for instance), any-old EGR won't cut it. It has to be the part (original or aftermarket) certified for that truck.

Good luck

irv

Interesting. I've never lived in a state where a smog test is required. I was imagining a standard smog test where if your vehicle is too smoggy it fails and if it falls under a certain threshold you pass - regardless of the equipment your vehicle currently has or may have originally had.

scope103

No place (that I know of) uses a solely performance-based smog test. While it looks like current smog tests are comprehensive, it would be easy to "design" a modified vehicle "to the test." (Does the name "Volkswagen" ring a bell?) And that would defeat the whole purpose of smog testing for the benefit of 0.001% of the public.

But what about that 0.001%? What if you built a one-off car from the ground up? (e.g., your name is Bruce Wayne) In California, there is a procedure for registering "kit" cars and the like. https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Refe..._Vehicles.html But they have to look truly custom-made; if it looks like a 4Runner, then it has to have parts certified for use on a 4Runner.

Melrose 4r

Irv, which state are you in?

In CT it's only 1995 and newer cars that require smog testing.
In MA it's only 2001 and newer cars but we do have annual safety inspections.

Co_94_PU

iTrader: (-1)

It is actually even more complicated than "what state", all they way down to what county and the registered address of the vehicle will matter.

Best bet is to just go ask your emissions tester what they need you to do.

irv

I'm in Maine. I don't have a pressing need to reinstall my smog equipment. I just started the thread to scratch my curiosity about the topic. Here in Maine only one country (Cumberland) requires smog checks. I'm not exactly sure how strict it is or what it involves though.

RJR

It may seem like passing a tailpipe test should be all that you need - after all, if your emissions are below legal limits, who cares how you got it that way.

However, it's quite a bit more complicated. The tests that the manufacturers have to run to certify a vehicle model are much more thorough and involved than an inspection station can possibly afford to run, and the limits are considerably tighter. So, the inspection stations operate on the principal that, if all of the proper emissions equipment is installed, and the vehicle passes a basic emissions test, everything is likely working and the vehicle is still operating according to factory specs. This isn't foolproof (VW again), but combined with onboard diagnostics, it catches most problems, enough to make the emissions program effective and affordable.

On later model OBD II vehicles, Colorado doesn't run a tailpipe test. They simply check the status of the on-board monitors. If all is good, the vehicle passes.

On older vehicles such as our 1st and 2nd gen 4runners, a properly working and tuned vehicle might pass the emissions standards by a comfortable 4 or 5 to 1 margin. The limits are there just to catch vehicles with deteriorated, broken, or missing emission components. In 2018 I changed the O2 sensor in my '94, because the 2016 emissions test showed hydrocarbons nearing 60% of the limit. With the new O2 sensor, I was back to 15% of the limit.

irv

My particular truck is an 86. So it lands in a funny spot of perhaps not being quite old enough to be exempt. But those 1980s 22r trucks are still basically completely 70s technology. Every single emissions item is removed from mine. Even ripped out the emissions control "computer" from under the dash. Funny that they referd to that little box as a computer in the 80s - If you pop it open it's just got a few capacitors, resistors, etc. In no way is it a computer by todays standards. The engine bay is so simple and beautiful. From the Aisin carb I even removed the Auxilary Accelerator Pump, Choke Breaker, EVAP intake port, and Choke Opener and fashioned up my own little mini aluminum block plates for them all. The truck is so simple and I regularly get 22mpg which is great for a 4x4 22r. If I had to reinstall all of the emissions items I'd probably just retire the truck from the road and use it as a plow truck or something, rather than do all the work to track down the parts and install them.

snippits

I would not worry about it. Emissions testing is slowly going away. Here in NC 26 counties are now exempt from smog testing. My 92 pickup was exempt anyway. OBD2 equipped vehicles still have to have a safety inspection, and they can't pass if the check engine light is on.

irv

Slowing going away? Really? I was guessing that it was slowly becoming more commonplace!

snippits

Yes because air quality is actually going up.

irv

Perhaps also in the coming years as more cars on the road become electric powered there will be less of a need to so strictly police emissions of gasoline powered vehicles because there will be less of them.

RJR

There's also the increased reliance on vehicle diagnostics for emission compliance. As I said in a previous post, Colorado is relying on the OBD II monitors for post 1997 vehicles, rather than doing tailpipe tests. I would expect, as the number of non-OBD II vehicles dwindles to an insignificant percentage (except for yotatech people:-), tailpipe tests may largely disappear and the remaining older vehicles may be exempted. The expense of keeping chassis dyno based tailpipe testers around may not be cost effective for just a few vehicles.

The OBD II system is basically a built-in emissions check station and is pretty hard to fool without manufacturer complicity. It requires a bunch of monitors having been through adequate drive cycles and reporting good. You can't just clear codes before you show up at the test station and expect to pass. You'll be sent back home with a "vehicle not ready" report. There are also tests that run periodically in the background which test that the monitors themselves are working, and not just dead in the "pass" state. The ECU will deliberately introduce a brief emissions failure state and make sure that the monitors respond appropriately. If they don't, that in itself will set a code.

irv

You're instincts sound completely logical and dead on to me. Particularly with this point I think you may be nailing it. That would be fantastic for us. At the moment the common person is still driving quite a lot of aging 1990s and 2000s vehicles that are really reaching the end of their life (for common non mechanically inclined people of our throwaway culture anyway). So there are still lots of cars on the roads that are emissions problems. But I can see in the coming years/decades that perhaps the only 90s/80s cars and older on the road are owned by enthusiasts and fans of the particular vehicle. And that type of person makes up a very small percentage of the cars on the road. And as you say, it just wont be cost effective to police that small minority of people.

snippits

Read an article about the state of Georgia emission testing, and they said fifty something percent of the testing stations machines were out of spec.