California Emissions

flexiclese · Feb 11, 2004

I know this topic has probably already been covered numerous times but I have a few questions. I may be moving to CA (LA area) from NY in the near future.
I have a 2003 GT with a moderately modified suspension and chasis (LCA,panhard, subframes, jackrails,etc., nothing major), no power train or driveline mods (yet) and my only exhaust mod is no mufflers (straight pipes). In its current state (car runs like new, 18,000 mi) it should pass inspection, shouldn't it? It has no problems passing in NY, Westchester county which has strict emissions.
What else can I get away with? I am interested in ford shorties and a catted bassani X pipe, but I have heard rumors that in CA you could fail a safety/sniffer inspection visually if your car is modified from stock, especially the exhaust.
Any and all comments are appreciated.
Dave

DavidCroft · Feb 11, 2004

I hear Cali is way strict. You will not pass without mufflers unless you know someone on the inside. Good luck though. Its real easy in the dirty South. I need an inspection sticker(mine ran up in January) and my friend Pancho on the south side of San Antonio said its a cakewalk. I have bad 02 sensors, which doesnt even matter cause I have off road H so my computer will say check engine anyway. But Ima get passed for the 12.50 normal fee You could very easily bolt your mufflers back on to take it in, then unbolt them bias after you leave. That takes about 15 minutes.

Beau · Feb 11, 2004

cali emissions suck but they're there for a reason (Los Angeles).
Basically any part that modifies the car's emissions potential or emissions systems has to have an EO #. I think the cheapest one out there is like 10k. Your straight pipes won't work because they will be too loud.

As for X pipes, well at the moment the only legal X i know is the Magnaflow Tru-x, which is basically an x pipe that goes from right behind the cats to the cat-back flanges on the cat-back system. I think the law is that if you modify the stock number of catalytic converters, you can only run the car in offroad applications. The Magnaflow X pipe would pass emissions testing i think but currently it doesn't have CARB stickers or an EO#. And it only has 2 cats, not 4 like 99+ GT's. There is supposedly 1 catted H pipe thats got an EO # or a CARB sticker that a shop down here sells but i have never seen it.

The way our emissions testing works is that you are hooked up to a computer, and theres a sniffer too, and a visual inspection to verify you have the stock cats and all that, and some places even make you do a dyno run or something. S you've got multiple ways to fail.

If I've given any wrong info please correct me

hope this helps.

Blev · Feb 11, 2004

1990StangLX said:
cali emissions suck but they're there for a reason (Los Angeles).
Basically any part that modifies the car's emissions potential or emissions systems has to have an EO #. I think the cheapest one out there is like 10k. Your straight pipes won't work because they will be too loud.

As for X pipes, well at the moment the only legal X i know is the Magnaflow Tru-x, which is basically an x pipe that goes from right behind the cats to the cat-back flanges on the cat-back system. I think the law is that if you modify the stock number of catalytic converters, you can only run the car in offroad applications. The Magnaflow X pipe would pass emissions testing i think but currently it doesn't have CARB stickers or an EO#. And it only has 2 cats, not 4 like 99+ GT's. There is supposedly 1 catted H pipe thats got an EO # or a CARB sticker that a shop down here sells but i have never seen it.

The way our emissions testing works is that you are hooked up to a computer, and theres a sniffer too, and a visual inspection to verify you have the stock cats and all that, and some places even make you do a dyno run or something. S you've got multiple ways to fail.

If I've given any wrong info please correct me

hope this helps.

I have been through this whole ordeal already and nothing will pass a CA FULL iinspection. The Magnaflow X DOES have CARB aproved cats however it only has 2 instead of 4. So you'll pass the sniffer but not a visual. This is the info straight from Magnaflow and it has been covered in many threads. So if you "know a guy" you can get past the sniffer and not worry about a visual.

flipnsac · Feb 11, 2004

flexiclese said:
I know this topic has probably already been covered numerous times but I have a few questions. I may be moving to CA (LA area) from NY in the near future.
I have a 2003 GT with a moderately modified suspension and chasis (LCA,panhard, subframes, jackrails,etc., nothing major), no power train or driveline mods (yet) and my only exhaust mod is no mufflers (straight pipes). In its current state (car runs like new, 18,000 mi) it should pass inspection, shouldn't it? It has no problems passing in NY, Westchester county which has strict emissions.
What else can I get away with? I am interested in ford shorties and a catted bassani X pipe, but I have heard rumors that in CA you could fail a safety/sniffer inspection visually if your car is modified from stock, especially the exhaust.
Any and all comments are appreciated.
Dave

To pass the visual, you gotta have the cats and you gotta have mufflers. If you pass the emissions test and you get a shop that doesn't do the visual, you might get by. BTW, Ford doesn't make shorty headers for an '03. I know because I tried to order some and kept getting disappointed because the FRRP shortys won't fit an '03. I ended up getting JBA Cat4ward Shortys because they are 50 state legal and they will fit an '03 and you won't have the scaping problems that some Mustangs have with LT's and a lowering kit.

blkgt714 · Feb 11, 2004

Blev said:
I have been through this whole ordeal already and nothing will pass a CA FULL iinspection. The Magnaflow X DOES have CARB aproved cats however it only has 2 instead of 4. So you'll pass the sniffer but not a visual. This is the info straight from Magnaflow and it has been covered in many threads. So if you "know a guy" you can get past the sniffer and not worry about a visual.

Hmm, the guys I take my last car to for emissions probably would not know how many cats were supposed to be on a Mustang.. They really did not even look under the car. They just put the sniffer in the tailpipe, and that was that..

Beau · Feb 11, 2004

blkgt714 said:
Hmm, the guys I take my last car to for emissions probably would not know how many cats were supposed to be on a Mustang.. They really did not even look under the car. They just put the sniffer in the tailpipe, and that was that..

that is the type of shop you want to go to for sure. that or one that is
"sympathetic" to us enthusiasts. the shop i used to take my 5.0 to was a cool shop. they were quite helpful. so when smog comes around and i have the GT, i'll take it there.

flexiclese · Feb 11, 2004

thnks for the rapid replies.
Where I live curently in NY, westchester and NYC have the strictest around. They dyno the cars here when doing the sniffer, so i expected at least that much. But I have never heard of any one failing a visual as long as they passed the emissions, but that is here, not in CA. So i guess the rumors are true then. kinda ruins some of my plans. I would also then assume that LT's are outta the question because it's kinda hard to miss them on a visual, I'm sure nobody would notice shorties though, not too diff in size from stock.
I have heard of people getting tickets for loud pipes on cars with no muffs (like mine) but never failing an inspection as long as the cats were intact, due to the fact that they are after the actual emissions control system (eg cats).
This is a real downer I was looking forward to given my ride a sound with some real bite to it.
Thanks again for the input.
Dave

Beau · Feb 11, 2004

Blev said:
I have been through this whole ordeal already and nothing will pass a CA FULL iinspection. The Magnaflow X DOES have CARB aproved cats however it only has 2 instead of 4. So you'll pass the sniffer but not a visual. This is the info straight from Magnaflow and it has been covered in many threads. So if you "know a guy" you can get past the sniffer and not worry about a visual.

i think the magnaflow Tru-X will pass because its got an EO # and doesn't alter the amount of cats on the car. If it wouldn't pass visual, JBA wouldn't be offering it for sale.
Here is what I am talking about

just scroll down to the Tru-X section.

Blev · Feb 11, 2004

1990StangLX said:
i think the magnaflow Tru-X will pass because its got an EO # and doesn't alter the amount of cats on the car. If it wouldn't pass visual, JBA wouldn't be offering it for sale.
Here is what I am talking about

just scroll down to the Tru-X section.

Correct, you won't have any worries for just the shorty X becuase it's behind the OEM cats. You can always go off road X (bolt on) and just take it off a month or so before it's time to get smogged. From what I understand if you swap the pipes right before you goto get it smogged you'll fail due to insuficient data in the computer. I'm not sure exactly how many miles you have to have in their before it won't trigger insuficient data though. Hope this helps

sgramer · Feb 11, 2004

Does the weld in true x-pipe (not the whole cat back) that goes behind the stock cats help increase power, or is it just for sound. I live in CA, and would like to get a x or h pipe, but I have not seen any that have a CRARB EO.

Thanks,
Scott

Blev · Feb 11, 2004

sgramer said:
Does the weld in true x-pipe (not the whole cat back) that goes behind the stock cats help increase power, or is it just for sound. I live in CA, and would like to get a x or h pipe, but I have not seen any that have a CRARB EO.

Thanks,
Scott

That's a good question. I wouldn't think it would give you much hp since the initial restriction from the cats is still there. I don't even know how much of a sound differance it would make either. I'm putting the entire catted X from Magnaflow on my car and just swapping it out a month or so before I have to get it smogged.

California Emissions

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