Hey everyone, Happy new year, for one thing. Got my (pre OMB-11) 1995 456 smog-tested yesterday (in Los Angeles) and there was something I never noticed before (doesn't mean it wasn't there, of course). At top of the "results" page is the "Vehicle Information" section. This section is where all of the "factual" background info is: plate # / VIN # / car type / engine size.... etc. But....included in this category of data is "Inspection Reason". The '"Reason" listed for my car? "High Emitter Profile". Wha?!! I thought the "Inspection Reason" was a standard, biannual, state-mandated smog test. Note, this car has no history of ever failing a test in its past. Never had to go to a DMV Referee. No drama whatsoever. So how does a car get this designation? By being a Ferrari? Any high-performance brand? A certain model within a certain brand? Based on model-years? Or based on an actual specific car (specific vin #) that has failed x-amount of tests in the past, or had to go the Referee? (Which, as I said, my car is not guilty of.) Considering how long Ferrari has been making thoroughly "modern" engineered cars (starting with the 355, 456 550), I have to assume that a VERY high percentage of Ferraris built between 1976 (smog-test cut-off) and today would pass the CA smog test with flying colors. And of all the cars having smog-test problems, I assume these would be pre-OBD-11 cars (1976 to 1995). And of these, I would also guess that the 1976 to 1985 (?) cars would have the greatest percentage of problems within that group. BUT... those aforementioned cars would make up a very small percentage of Ferraris getting smogged. So why the "High Emitter Profile"? (...and before anybody starts complaining about the whole "California" thing, the only states in this great union that do not have emissions testing are Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, South Carolina, South Dakota, Michigan and Mississippi. Some states are even tougher on classic car folks: Arizona for example requires smog tests for pre-1967 cars! And did any of you ever try to breathe the air in Los Angeles anytime between 1967 and 1987? They actually used to have "Smog Days" here – just like snow days! But nothing is worse than the mandatory "Inspections." Thank god we don't have those. Take it from a sometime New York resident. They do the full-on car Inspection there every year! It's basically a 30-minute process with the car on a lift (and also includes a smog test). Every year!! Some years, I only get to this little countryside hamlet once a year for a short time, and I spend half my time getting the cars inspected! And if they're not inspected you can't get a registration. And, unlike CA, you can't keep paying to keep the car on the books awaiting the test. ....Funnyish story tangent: Since one of the keys reasons for doing Inspections Back East with the whole snow/salt issue, would be to check up potentially very dangerous rust damage. Well, not always. I had an '80's Jeep Wrangler that had obvious rust damage (meaning big holes!) in the longitudinal main chassis frame struts on both sides of the car – which are very visible by just looking at the profile of the car. Additionally, there was so little metal left in the floorpan that it would have qualified to be in the Flintstones. (This was masked with carpets and multiple mat on the inside of the car, but was totally visible underneath the car.). But the Jeep always passed. Except one year, it didn't pass due to a bad steering rack bushing. I was actually worried it was going to split in half when it was on the lift! They follow a detailed multi-item, state-mandated checklist, with "Death-Inducing Critical Rust Damage" seemingly not being one them. Luckily, only 15 states do annual Inspections (that include a smog test), including Texas, Utah and North Carolina. And a few more do it very two years. And some of those states mentioned may indeed have some sort of "classic car" exemption. But all-in-all, we have it pretty good here, although moving the cut-off to 1985 would be better, and 1995 (all pre-OMD-11 cars) would be even better. Putting back the 25-year rolling exemption won't work anymore because too many cars in that age group would just include large groups of just inefficient "old cars", not classic cars that get driven twice a month. I believe that widely-implemented new technology that drastically reduced carbon emissions happened around 2000. My 2000 Suburban – with a new generation engine – cut the emissions by more than half compared to my 1995. Fuel milage got a little better, but new engine management systems, combined with perhaps better Cat Converters made a pretty huge difference.
Your observation is correct re "Hi Emitter Profile". Almost every Ferrari and Lambo fits in that classification. Fitting into that category are carb BB's, 308's and similar cars that typically will not pass the first time, and will need "massaging" of the carb mixtures in order to pass, so DMV considers all Ferrari's gross polluters, or at least hi emitters. That has no effect on the test, as it's only a label. Gary Bobileff
I just had my 2010 458 smog checked last week, and just looked at the "Vehicle Information Section of the Vehicle Inspection Report, and mine doesn't even have an "Inspection Reason" line item. There must be a certain model year cutoff that the "Inspection Reason" is listed.
According to the state that happens when a particular model car has a statewide history of failing over a non disclosed percentage of the time. Its been known for a long time the state is just flat out lying and the zealots in Sacramento put cars on the list because of what they are. As the state gets more and more intent on replacing fossil fuel burning cars with electric cars count on measures like this becoming increasingly common. Sales of gas powered cars is currently planned to be stopped in the state in 2030 I have to wonder when the massive construction project for the electrical infrastructure needed is due to start? You dont have what you need now for a hot summer day. Just imagine plugging in a few million Teslas.
IMO, you are probably spot-on in Cali making things more difficult to get a car passed. I remember in the early 90's, Cali had pipe sniffers on the highway on-ramps. If your car emitted too much, you get a letter from the state telling you to take your car in to get 'fixed'. I found the AZ state smog stations to be quite the opposite of Cali last week. The tech could not get a voltage reading from the OBD so they decided not to penalize me for that and blew me through with a smog cert. Icing on the cake was that because I had to wait there for about 40 minutes, they comp'd the cert with no charge. Not in Cali would you see that!
No worse place to have a classic car! Man, those people driving carb'd boxers, countaches, 930's and Corvettes as daily drivers for the past 40 years or so are sure ruining it for the rest of us.
I will say that it was a breeze in Cali when I had my '77 308 where I got historic vehicle tags which IIRC, it was like twenty five dollars.
Yeah CA is a bit hard I have a few CA tagged but now I just register in Vermont at the ski lodge. New Mexico at the Cave home or in Arizona at the desert place LOL
The 1975 cutoff does need to be adjusted. Almost no one here daily drives a 40+ year old car. But I never had a problem with my 308 QV or 328 passing smog. Ditto my pre-ODB-II 911. All relatively high emission cars, but no hassle. The state is more lenient on the older stuff that interests me.
Oh, I dont know about that. This is my daily driver. Has 500 HP, gets 10 miles to the gallon and pollutes like hell. Wonderful car and even more happy it is exempt. My 612 is the backup and it was a nightmare to get smogged when I originally brought it to California. I will never again bring a post 75 car into CA. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Glad to see it! I drive my 964 as my only car -- granted I have no commute...love to see top-notch older cars on the road. 16 mpg, but worth every rev. But ... we are in the minority.
Hmmmm, I brought in my 612 from out of state to CA and never had even a slight problem getting it to pass CA smog.
I see your 10 miles per hour and raise you to 8. Nice color choice. No issues smogging my 2003M GTA. No jinx Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Very nice engine Mirek. I see you are a member of the “its fun to have both a kick ass Vette and a nice Ferrari as well club”. I decided to go in the opposite direction since my C2 was numbers matching and 1 of 2 (black/silver roadsters) in 65. I took the original numbers matching block and stroked it from a 327 to a 396. I then added a lot of racing and custom components (crank, cam, pistons, intake, heads, exhaust) and mated that up with a Holley Terminator FI system. That got me from the stock 300HP to about 500HP and a ton more torque. Then I tried to make it look all stealth and original. Here’s a picture. Going for the “sleeper” mode. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Randy, it was a secondary air monitor issue, which was essentially an electronics issue. A year or so before I brought in my 612 CA became the first in the nation to require that all of the smog electronic lights are green. All other states allow 1 not to tick over. Ferrari has a real pain in the butt electronic smog/ECU system in getting all the monitor lights to go green. There are known issues with the system and a lot of 612s and 599s will fail because the secondary air monitor light wont tick over (which in CA is the least important smog component because it goes on for about 15 seconds on a start up in a cold climate—really important in CA). Anyways Ferrari Dealers wrote letters saying “no known fix” and I even took it to the states pollution watch dog and they did a tailpipe test and confirmed that it was not smogging. So purely an electronics issue with the light not ticking over. They didn’t care. It was get the light to tick over (they didn’t care that the car in fact didn’t smog) or move the car out of state. Fortunately Rod Drew at Francochamps and a few other independents were able to figure out a solution with the ECU. But very, very, very, very expensive.
Boy am I sorry to hear of your problems! A couple years ago I had trouble passing CA smog with my 1977 Porsche 930 and the dealer had no equipment to help with the problem which was pretty frustrating so I can imagine your thoughts dealing with your 612. My problem was resolved by an independent smog shop that Dyno tuning equipment once I was able to locate them. Sounds like your problems were far more difficult and expensive than mine.
