4 Tricks to Use to Pass an Emissions Test Every time - [How to Pass an Emissions Test]

Is it time for a smock check but you're not sure if your car will pass? Watch as I walk you through the 4 most common smock check failures here in California. What's up guys, Oscar Gomez here from Master Automotive Training, SmartAutoTraining.com. If you haven't done so already, go ahead and hit that like and subscribe button right now. This way you make sure that you're always alerted every time I drop a new video. So on today's topic is common smock check failures. Let's be honest, living in California is expensive as it is. Now it's time to renew your expensive registration and at the top in big bold letters it says smock check required. You begin to get those cold sweats and your mind begins to think, when was the last time I had an oil change? Do I need a tune up? Have I had a service lately? Follow along as I take you step by step on what to look for on the 4 most common smock check failures. Go ahead and grab your tools guys, let's get ready, let's hit it. Incomplete readiness monitors. One of the most common failures we see as smock technicians is incomplete readiness monitors. What the hell is that? Beginning in 1996 the federal government ordered that all vehicles have an onboard diagnostic system to monitor emission systems in vehicles that can cause an increase in tailpipe emissions if they were to fail. These monitors are known as readiness monitors. Some of these monitors begin to test the system as soon as you start the engine and others require the manufacturer's specified drive pattern known as a drive cycle to test the specific system operation and functionality. If a problem is detected during the drive cycle the monitor will fail and then later lead to an illuminated check engine light. To make sure your monitors are complete you'll need access to an OBD2 compliant scan tool that you can rent from a local parts house or if you want to learn more you can purchase one for as little as $40 online. Check my link down below for some good and inexpensive ones I recommend for this purpose. You'll connect your scan tool and go to the readiness monitors and make sure that they all say complete. If they do you are all set and the OBD2 portion should be ready to go. One major thing I would like to point out is if you disconnect your battery or your battery is not holding charge very well it can lead to a loss of power to the engine computer which leads to resetting the readiness monitors. This is a common issue we see customers come in for a smog and fail because they charged their battery or the battery was weak and it required a jump start. Aftermarket parts. Beginning early 2010 the state of California implemented a new procedure to the smog check program. Smog technicians would need to begin verifying if aftermarket parts were labeled approved for sale and use in California and verify the approval number known as an executive order number matching to the installed part on the actual car. What's an aftermarket part? It's a part not made by the vehicle manufacturer and intended to be installed on the vehicle. If you go to your local parts house and buy an air filter for a few bucks that's an aftermarket part under the replacement part category so you would not need a California approval number or decal. Let's say you decide that a killer chrome air intake system with a dope red air filter would look super cool underneath the hood of your car and you read that it gives you extra horsepower and better fuel economy. That system would require an EO or executive order number in order for it to be a legal install and to pass the smog check inspection. Another common example is if you had a check engine light and the shop recommended a new catalytic converter. After they replaced it the check engine light is off so it's fixed right? Maybe. See catalytic converters also need to have an approved EO number if they were not purchased directly from the dealership. I added a link below where you can check your EO number to make sure it's the right one. The check engine light. The dreaded check engine light. I see this a lot where people come in asking for a smog check and the check engine light is on. I complete the inspection and then they get mad at me for testing it if I knew it was going to fail. According to the law if the customer authorizes a smog check and signs a work order I am required to perform what is listed on the work order no matter what. If you're unsure always ask for a pretest or just stay with me and I'll share it with you. If the check engine light is on it can be a number of reasons. An electrical issue, a performance issue, or a system malfunction. I'd like to point out that a scan tool is not a magic tool that tells you what's wrong with the car. It gives you a code and a trained professional can then use the live engine data to determine what system or systems he or she needs to check to determine the cause of the check engine light. I've seen a lot of people plug a scan tool in, get a code for a PO-420 for example, go down spend $200-$300 on a new catalytic converter just to have the light come back on a few days later. By the way a PO-420 is a cat efficiency code. Lots of times this code can be caused by an exhaust leak near the oxygen sensor or a faulty oxygen sensor itself. Make sure if the check engine light is on you get it checked and fixed then have your readiness monitors set before you attempt to have the smog check done. Emission failures. If you're driving a vehicle 1976-1999 you'll have to have an emission portion added to your smog check inspection. Here we test your vehicle on a dynamometer at 15 and 25 mph and add an engine load to simulate acceleration. Some vehicles will have a 2 speed idle test where we test the vehicle at 2500 RPM and at idle for 30 seconds. During these tests we test for hydrocarbons which is unburned fuel, carbon monoxide which is how much fuel is in the exhaust, and lastly oxides and nitrogen which is a byproduct of internal combustion and formed when temperatures in the combustion chamber reach and exceed 2500 degrees Fahrenheit. There are a whole lot of issues that can cause any one of these three emissions to rise. However, without a $20,000 emission analyzer you won't be able to test them on your own. Here's a tip I like to share with my students and customers. Make sure to drive your car for a good 10-15 minutes prior to the smog check. This way it gives you enough time to warm it up properly. Most importantly you will warm up the catalytic converter which is a giant metallic filter that sits in the exhaust to clean the emissions passing through it. Before beginning a smog check the state requires the technician to let a fully warmed car to idle for 3 minutes prior to performing the inspection. So if you don't warm it up during the drive to the shop it will cool off while you wait for the shop to start the test and then also it's going to cool down during the 3 minute idle period. To avoid this make sure you drive your car prior to heading over to your local smog shop. That's all folks! There you have it my 4 steps to a successful smog check. If you liked this video make sure you subscribe to my YouTube channel right now. Just click on the subscribe button below this video. If you want to learn exclusive information I only share with my subscribers click on my newsletter link below. Guess what? It's free! Now I want to hear from you, which tip from today's video are you going to try first? Are you going to check your readiness monitors? Or are you going to start off by verifying your aftermarket parts? Let me know by leaving a comment below right now. And as always guys, a good technician is always learning, signing off here, Oscar Gomez, SmartAutoTraining.com