This summer, I'll be moving to Sacramento county & I'll be bringing my 93 4Runner from FL (no msog at all). When I did my build, I used all the original smog equipment (FED) and installed a cat. I have both pre & post-cat O2s (the front being a wideband with narrowband output as well).

My questions for those that have been through this, or are smog techs/refs in CA:

1. What are the typical gotchas?
2. What is the deal with people saying the downpipe needs to be located on the passenger side (I have headers with a Y-pipe on the left side)?
3. The engine is a 1998 from a manual trans (got the ECU with it); any stipulations that go with that other than the fact that it has to have all the originally equipped smog equip?

I'm an ASE tech with 22 yrs, but I know enough to find out from the locals what the referees might be looking for

Thanks for any help
An old build pic:

 

Just make sure everything emissions-related is operational and you should be okay. Get a code reader and see if you have any codes. You can have up to two sensors "not ready" and still pass, but soon, it will be only one. Other than that, you should be good to go. If you do come to Sacramento, the refs don't really which side the exhaust drops.

 

if your swap is setup the exact same way it came out of the donor vehicle. it'll pass.

 

All the equipment is functional & is plumbed the way the factory had it. I just dont want some joker saying "Well, since you have the supercharger & such & such, i can't pass it". I know it will pass emissions, cuz I've kept the boost & tuning relatively conservative... and I put it on the 5-gas (sniffer) once a month (to show customers about ccrappy ethanol fuel, etc).

Good to go then; all my stuff works

 

You won't have a problem with the supercharger.

 

Very clean looking swap. I think you just wanted to show off your supercharger...

 

A minor point but just to clarify so you do not get surprised, the 2 monitors not having ran is good and valid for smog checks via any test only shop. However, to pass a referee inspection, all monitors must have ran and tested OK. There are no allowances for unran monitors. This caused me a trip back as I had a pesky EVAP monitor that hadn't ran yet after 100 miles and the ref wouldn't pass it.

Sacramento may be different however. I can only speak to the Fresno market's referee.


Its awesome that some of the referees are allowing the driver's side drop now I guess. I don't think that the guy in Fresno is however. He wants everything 100% factory. A simple cut, turn, and reweld on the CAT (to make it fit better) would have cause me a fail because that is "tampering" with the stock emissions technically.

Point being if you know someone that can go over and talk to the guy and ask him about the exhaust issue, you will be ahead of the game.

 

Technically, the sensors portion of the test is part of the emissions test and needs to be tested the same way as a smog shop does it. So two sensors not ready should have passed. I passed with two sensors not ready. This was in May.

On the exhaust, before I took mine in, I asked the referee about the drop. In my case, he said as long as all the equipment was there, it should be good to go. He did say that ideally, the spacing between the exhaust manifold, o2 sensors, and cat(s) should be done to specs for proper function. That is, the distance between each item should match original specifications. He passed me anyway.

 

From what I've seen there is a variance in how strict the ref will be, the best thing to do is to make sure you've got everything from your donor vehicle swapped over and take it there to test it. If you've got aftermarket parts on the engine just be sure to have the CARB number prominently displayed or they won't pass you regardless of what the sniff test does.
Welcome to CA!

 

Reading these emissions swap threads makes me so glad I moved from CA 30+ years ago. If they are going to have rules and CA has plenty of those, the rules need to be applied the same from referee to referee. To do otherwise makes it not a rule, but an opinion. My 0.02 from a non-smog area of Oregon.

OP, sounds like you might be spending $$ on parts stamped with CARB numbers if you have 49 state approved parts.

 

Believe it or not, I made sure the Randomtech cat was CARB approved, as at the time I was still in the military (retired now) & still had a chance of being stationed there again. There is absolutely ZERO smog check / etc here in NE FL, so I get lots of "Why did you waste money on that". My truck, my build.

The funniest was at my last dyno session... a 5.slow mustang guy was checking out my truck & said all kinds of crap about 'What a waste, why put cats, etc'. His heads/cam, no smog 5.slow made 320 rwhp. My little 3.4 made 310rwhp with 6.5lbs+ meth inj, 4.10s, 33" tires & very conservative tuning.... through my cats & with functional AC haha. Sorry fellas, I spend too much time fixing other people's tuning mistakes & have to deal with dorks like him all the time.

Thanks again for your responses- it's pretty much what i dealt with in CA before... inconsistent referees & varying interpretations of the rules.