CARB requiring OEM tunes now

[mark_SC]

I'm guessing that piggy back systems like the JB4 are going to become much more popular. I mean, that product is huge now, but something inline without any flashing might be the only way to go in the future.

 

[Gone in 60]

Shoot, toast, I'll bet you'd be able to idle a new diesel in your closed garage for a day and still not pass out! Have you seen the DPF filters on those things? And don't get me started on spilling DEF on your shoes... that stuff doesn't come out.

Yeah, I would be screwed if I still had some of my older V8 cars, which were dyno-tuned to adapt to a blower or whatnot using Diablo or HP software and ran great, but I wasn't given a handheld tuner to go back to stock. I never thought I'd need to go back to stock. The car just passed because everything was still hooked up, and I had EO numbers for anything that wasn't stock. And, I would have swapped my stock cat pipe back on before the test. So, I'd pass the visual, all sensors were happy, the car blew clean, and all was good.

I suppose there's ways around it, getting a tuner to send a stock tune, jump through hoops to get the car to pass, but at least I've got the ability now to go back and forth with a hand-held.

 

[M-Sport fan]

But I guess I'm more of a menace to the environment than Jimbob getting groceries in a brand new diesel dually.

One would think that the peckerwood coal rollers would be the very first reffed, fined and GONE in Cali, but do the cops really just let them go??

(I know you stated a NEW, fully functional smog/emissions equipped, including the pee additive/filter thing, and taken for granted unmodified truck above, but still the question remains. )

 

[ToastAutoX]

Shoot, toast, I'll bet you'd be able to idle a new diesel in your closed garage for a day and still not pass out! Have you seen the DPF filters on those things?

Perhaps fair. I bike a lot around town and sitting at stoplights getting choked out by trucks blasting black smoke has made me a little prejudiced.

One would think that the peckerwood coal rollers would be the very first reffed, fined and GONE in Cali, but do the cops really just let them go??

As others have stated, this law seems more targeted at curbing young hotrodders and street racing than actually addressing emissions. I see (smell, really) TONS of gross polluting trucks around here daily, I've never seen one pulled over for a smog ref referral.

 

[D1JL]

Since the start of this thread I have tried to look into any new smog laws.
I tried contacting people I knew that worked (or still) at the BAR.
What I found out is of course hear say.

Yes, they are trying to get the racers but this is what I got.
OBD3 was set aside due to high costs however it is still looked at as possibly being used.
The addition of looking non-compliant tunes is just another tool of the visual (by computer) inspection.
Much of this is leading to the non-Dyno, no tailpipe sniffing Smog test.
Cars of the future that use fuel including hybrids will use wide band sensors instead of O2 sensors and the cars will store the data onboard.
This data can then be downloaded for a Smog Test.

I say, I will believe it when I see it.
However, it it is not too far fetched.

 

[SteveS]

I don't think there was any new law. Just a change of policy.

 

[Dpro]

It was a little more complicated than that here in CA. They still plugged into the ODB2 port, primarily to make sure all of your emissions systems are active and reporting.
People here have passed with non-stock tunes so long as they didn't defeat emissions systems outright (and also passed visual + sniffer). Those tunes won't pass anymore strictly by virtue of not being authorized.
And yes this pisses me off. I run an FSWerks custom tune that's basically a gently modified 'stage 2' tune, no profound emissions impacts whatsoever. But I guess I'm more of a menace to the environment than Jimbob getting groceries in a brand new diesel dually.

It is a bit of an extrapolation to think about what could come in the future. I work in the automotive aftermarket business, and OBDII compliance is a big deal. Looking at OBDIII, when it comes, it is supposed to have a two-way communication factor. Not only will the car transmit data, but there is the supposed ability to transmit data back to the car remotely. People have talked about the possible outcome, but it remains to be seen what that will be.

Honestly, I had assumed by now that a car wouldn't pass with an aftermarket tune, and had anticipated putting my ST back to stock tune before I need to get my first test. Just the fact that the smog tech was able to fail my van recently because he could tell that I had just cleared a few codes was a reminder that yes, they do sniff around in the ECU when you get tested. And my guy is the most lenient smog tech around. But, he can't bend the rules.

Ya except they only put cars older than 2004 on the rollers. All cars after that they just scan your sensors through the OBDII port.

 

[D1JL]

I don't think there was any new law. Just a change of policy.

I due believe you are mistaken.
Any change to the Smog Test requires a law change, it always has in the past.
Adding an item to test as ECU tune modified would cause an issue.
I am trying to get a new copy of the Smog Check Manual but it is not out yet.

 

[SteveS]

Did you look at ca.gov FAQ page on emission testing? https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Smog_Check_Program/FAQ
It's not a law change but a policy change. Something done by the executive branch to interpret how they will carry out the law written by the legislature.

 

[Mikey456]

I'm guessing that piggy back systems like the JB4 are going to become much more popular. I mean, that product is huge now, but something inline without any flashing might be the only way to go in the future.

Or maybe Mountune will bring back their MP215 product with a EO exemption if there is enough interest/$$$$$?

 

[Dpro]

Or maybe Mountune will bring back their MP215 product with a EO exemption if there is enough interest/$$$$$?

wishful thinking?

 

[slowcord]

Maybe they are trying to get all those bimmers with their exhaust pops?
This change is easy enough to comply with.
Any word on moving the rolling smog to 1983? lol
Also anything after 2000 doesnt get a sniffer right? I was told that when i had my 01 integra and all they did was plug the scanner to make sure the monitors were set.

 

[jmrtsus]

Or maybe Mountune will bring back their MP215 product with a EO exemption if there is enough interest/$$$$$?

It appears Ford has backed away from Mountune now and Ford did the certification for the EPA 2014-16 MP-215's but would not redo it after 2016. When I bought mine from Ford it was already discounted by $200 under the Mountune price in mid 2016 and the software was so old in my MP-215 kit it took several updates before loading so they were not flying off the shelf at Levittown Ford Performance online. The market just was not there. If 10% of FiST buyers bought one and registered it that would mean there may be up to 1K legal FiST Mountunes. The dealer where I bought my car from was so ignorant the Service Manager refused to ever look at the documentation from Ford and refused to order a MP-215 or install it "because it voided your warranty", LOL! Had same problem on the Forum with many ignorant members passing on the lie about your warranty being voided for several years.

 

[Fiesta_Hack]

What specific parameter is the tech reading that will determine that a tune is not stock?

 

[D1JL]

What specific parameter is the tech reading that will determine that a tune is not stock?

It is not read by the tech. but by the smog check computer.
It is a checksum value of the ECU provided by the car manufacture and also a EO list from CARB.

 

[M-Sport fan]

It is not read by the tech. but by the smog check computer.
It is a checksum value of the ECU provided by the car manufacture and also a EO list from CARB.

Does the ECU's re-flash counter also factor into this, or can only the Ford scan tool 'see' that?

 

[mark_SC]

Does the ECU's re-flash counter also factor into this, or can only the Ford scan tool 'see' that?

I doubt that's exposed to OBD readers. The checksum is a "fingerprint" of the loaded software, and if anything about it is different, that value changes. No need to look at flash counters. Just compare to the known good value for that year/model/etc, and if it's different - FAIL.

 

[D1JL]

I doubt that's exposed to OBD readers. The checksum is a "fingerprint" of the loaded software, and if anything about it is different, that value changes. No need to look at flash counters. Just compare to the known good value for that year/model/etc, and if it's different - FAIL.

That is correct this cannot be read by a standard code reader.
Maybe there will be updates to Snap-On or other specialty tools
I thought there may be an update to the law, as the printed report would have to be changed.
However I cannot find any proof of a law change as @SteveS has stated.

 

[XR650R]

Will a hybrid turbo run safe on an own tune long enough to smog?

That's a good question.

Not one I can answer, but a good one.

 

[Poofies]

Have gotten a few private answers. Consensus is yes but you don’t want to push it. You can go stock and ready all monitors without pushing it too hard. You’ll see a link above on how best to ready the monitors in the shortest amount of time.