Depends on how they set up the law, of course, but in CA it's as follows:
1. You must have all emissions-related equipment that was originally on the car
when sold, and all that stuff must work.
They inspect for original carburetor, choke, PCV, charcoal cannister,
catalytic converter, EGR, smog pump, vaccuum
advance/retard, etc, etc, ad nauseum. My car almost failed because it didn't
have the original exhaust manifold so the
little bracket that holds the hot-air hose to the air filter was missing - I
just had the air hose crammed in under the
exhaust manifold.
2. If you can prove the car was Federal (ie not originally purchased in CA)
some of this is relaxed, because the federal
standards were less strict than the CA ones. Of course, there's also an extra
fee the first time you register a non-CA
car in CA. Of course, in my case I couldn't prove it either way so I had to
pay the out of state fee AND meet the CA
emissions equipment requirement.
3. Once you have all the equipment present and operational, they stick a
vehicular proctoscope in the tailpipe and
measure emissions at idle and at around 2500 or 3000 rpm. You have to pass
certain limits for CO, etc.
4. If your car fails at step 3, then you must spend up to several hundred
dollars (I think the limit is $200 right now) to
tune/repair/etc the car. If it still won't pass AFTER you spend the limit,
then the car is certified even if it fails the meter
reading test. Note that the dollar limit does not apply to getting all the
original equipment on and working. Basically, the
dollar limit just prevents you from having to rebuild your engine to pass smog.
Finally, there is the possibility of going to a special state-run station to
get an exemption. I suspect these are about as
easy to get as indulgences from the Pope, but I have never tried.
That's pretty much how it works in California. I may have a couple of details
wrong, but one tends to repress traumatic
experiences.
As a result of all this stuff, some people try to beat the system by
disconnecting most of their emissions equipment until
it's time to get tested (every two years or so) then reconnecting it all
temporarily to get their certificate.
So there you go. Fun city.
AC
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