Finally passed smog

[Art Welch]

I know this must seem like a really small thing to people that haven't been caught in this trap before, but having been dealing with this on and off for months now I am elated to report that my jeep is once again street legal!

The final culprit was a crappy aftermarket upstream O2 sensor. I finally paid the price and bought one from the dealer. As a result my NO went from 2000 to about 400. Not squeaky clean but clean enough to pass by a good margin.

Things I've learned:

1. A good code scanner is worth its weight in gold. It was the constant negative fuel trim readings my scanner showed that finally alerted me to the 02 sensor problem. Despite seemingly reasonably voltage readings it was indicating an overly rich condition when one didn't exist. Lean = hot = high NO.

2. When in doubt a smog pre test is worth paying for. Once you've been labeled a gross polluter it becomes much more difficult to get out of the trap - test only centers are not as easy to work with in most cases as regular smog places.

3. The variability in enforcement is incredible. The first guy I went to failed me because I'd swapped the tranny and axles (which is the letter of the law per CARB). The third guy I went to told me after the test that I could have told him it was full time 4WD and he wouldn't have even put it on the dyno (that was the test I failed as a gross polluter though so that option was out for a fourth test!).

4. Don't skip the obvious stuff. My good buddy Anthony pointed out that I was being a dumba*s by not even bothering to do a tuneup. He was right.

[Robert J. Yates]

well, now maybe you can take that beast wheelin. Good deal.

[William]

Art,

When my TJ almost died (was sputttering) I had cleaned the Map sensor, but the dealor said the O2 sensor was bad.. If it's under 7 years/75k in California, it's conisdered emissions, and the dealer has to pay.

[HIGLET]

How did he know you swapped axles and tranny? Did you tell him? The experiences I've had is that these folks are usually less than bright, and figuring that out would really be impressive. Unless he is a Jeeper and is jealous.

[TJRON]

Smuck Fog and Smog Inspectors!

[Robert J. Yates]

Originally posted by TJRON
Smuck Fog and Smog Inspectors!

Care to put that in english

[Art Welch]

>> well, now maybe you can take that beast wheelin

Yes, starting this Friday!


>> If it's under 7 years/75k in California, it's
>> conisdered emissions, and the dealer has to pay.

I've really got a bias against anything to do with a dealer service department. It's not just a jeep thing, I've had horrible experiences with service departments on just about every car I've owned. It's even worse with the Jeep dealers since every problem becomes a debate about what modifications might or might not have triggered the problem. Not worth it for the cost of an O2 sensor.


>> How did he know you swapped axles and tranny?

He is an off-roader (well, kind of, in a Dodge Dakota). Even without that though there is enough of a difference between my current setup vs stock that it stands out since they can't get to 15 mph in 1st gear.

[sethmark]

Art,
I'm glad you jumped thru the hoop successfully. I am really interested that they cared about the drivetrain though. When I took mine in for the smog in April, the guy didn't even bother to dyno it. He took one look at the 38s and said that he had to use the 'other' way since the tires were too big.

I never heard a thing about T-case/axles etc... Very interesting. What is the SMOG code that prohibits the change?

Seth

[Art Welch]

This is the CARB link that talks about the swap issue:

http://www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/aftermkt/replace.htm

Enforcement is inconsistent though (thankfully). Out of the 5 smog techs I dealt with 2 of them didn't have an issue with it. Of the others one of them tested it and failed me because of it and the other two refused to test it.