PCA SDR

I recently posted that a local Smog check station failed my car because it has Fabspeed mufflers instead of the OEM mufflers which the inspector insisted had Catalytic Converts in them. He deemed the car Tampered because it was missing two of the four CAT's. San Diego Porsche looked my car up by VIN number and informed that the car never had rear CAT's. They called the inspector and he would not back down. I took the car to a Smog station that was recommended by Carlsbad Porsche after they too told me the car never had rear CAT's. The inspector did his inspection and passed the car. Having the Fabspeed mufflers did not create any Emissions equipment issues.

Nice work sorting that all out

Good to hear it worked out for you, Greg.

TT

California has some weird rules on smog checks.

I once took my car in for a smog check, and after waiting for a while and thinking they were done, I was given a failure notice, and told that the exhaust equipment had been tampered with.

After pressing a little bit for specifics, it turned out that the vacuum hose to the EGR valve had worked its way loose and fallen off. The fix was to reconnect the hose, which took me about 10 seconds.

At that point, I had to submit the car for another smog check. Same station, same day.

Apparently, there is a difference between Test Only smog centers, and Test & Repair smog centers. I took my car to a Test Only center; reconnecting the vacuum hose is a repair, and they were not allowed to do that. I always wondered if it would have been legal for them to come grab me from the waiting area and tell me about the hose first -- but apparently, they follow a procedure, and the procedure doesn't include, "ask the customer if they're able and willing to perform the repair on the spot."