upgrades/ emissions in california

[Guest]

I purchased a intake for my expedition awhile back when i lived in Seattle and was very pleased with it. It didnt do much for fuel mileage but the Hp was noticeable. I moved here to california and the first thing you have to do is have it smogged.Apparently they do underhood inspections,and the guy looked at my intake and asked where the 50 state legal sticker was. Iwas like sticker, i need a sticker. In seattle they can care less, and just for the record in seattle all you have to do is hand them 20$, drive onto some rollers and rev your engine, no need to even get out of your car. In california , well you gotta pay twice as much, wait for the guy to make sure you dont have any "contraband" on your vehicle then lucky you if you get one of their "certificates" that you pay an extra 7$ for if you pass. Needless to say my truck passed all the emission tests exept the "visual".
No sticker=no pass. I put the stock intake back on and went back and passed. I never put the other intake back on and is currently collecting dust in the garage. The stock unit was closer to not passing than the aftermarket , go figure. Anyway, anyone know if i can get like a flowmaster exhuast without them harrasing me and requesting some ridiculous sticker!

 

[Keydo]

You don't need a sticker for an intake. You should have passed your visual as far as I know.

You should also be able to get a flowmaster exhaust as well and there is no sticker for that either.

The other thing I'm aware of that you need a sticker for is when you go forced induction (Turbo or Supercharger). Otherwise, a sticker isn't necessary.

 

[Guest]

THe guy specifically said that i needed the sticker. He said that it wouldnt pass his visual inspection after he almost finished the whole test. I told him why the hell he didnt say it wouldnt pass "his" inspection before he even started. he didnt say anything and i wanted call him some names but didnt. Maybe he was just an idiot but that was my experience. I really wanted to avoid putting on exhaust for a guy to tell me i cant. He may have been new but another guy came by and said the same thing. I made them redo the test for free the second time because i said the test was over before it started and that id be back in an hour. The guy had a mirror to look at the under carriage to make sure i had my cats. I think ill call around next year and find someone who just does the test without all the red tape. The guy kinda reminded me of rainman " definately cant have this on here"

 

[rwinch]

Who was the manufacturer of the intake system? Usually in the catalogs I have read, they say "50 State Legal" on the pages. I would contact the manufacturer and ask them about this. You can probably also go on their website and check it out as well.

I am sure they would not pass up the California market and make something that would not work out there!

 

[bnvus]

Basically where ever you bought the intake from (Manf.) ask them if the intake is 50 state legal. If it is then they can send you the sticker. If not then yes it does have to come off. However, being new to the state they have a clause for people who move in from other states. In Cal. (I lived there for 8 yrs as a service member USAF and mechanic) if you bring a car in the state (49 State emission legal) you had to pay a ONE time fee for bringing in a non Cal. emmissioned car. They simply had to SMOG it to the Federal standards and not Cal. standards which are more stringent. Cars today (most of them) meet the 50 state emissions standard and are therefore annoted as such. Check the emissions labels that are under the hood on the RADIATOR SHROUD. Does it say 50 state legal?

 

[bnvus]

Oh yea...almost forgot. Last I heard the ONE time fee for a non Cal. emissioned car was $500.00. Probably doubled since all of the State budget HOOPLA.

 

[Guest]

yeah i e-mailed the manufacturer and it in fact isnt 50 state legal. AS for the 500 dollar fee i could buy 3-4 intakes so that isnt an option. Im just curious about exhuast now and am willing to eat the intake money and move on. as for looking at the radiator shroud it only tells you if the vehicle is a ca emissions vehicle, meeting ca standards. Most manufacturers meet CA emission requirements as you have said but nothing to do with mods to intake or exhaust.