I went to the smog ref (California) to get my 3.4 legit and failed due to the crossover pipe being dumped down the drivers side. Has anyone else had this issue? I thought I read a post on here somewhere that someone mentions the California BAR put out some kind of memo or bulletin to the smog referee's that it is okay to route the exhaust on the drivers side. Has anyone heard of this? Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do? I took my truck to a muffler shop and they said there is no way to run it on the passenger side.

 

I'm pretty sure I mentioned that in a post at some point, since I had a ref tell me over the phone that they changed their rules at some point to allow slight modifications so long as you reused the factory flanges and kept everything in it's relative position.

As I understood it, the TOS modified crossover would work (it uses the factory flanges) but the ORS crossover would not (it uses new/different flanges). My truck passed (Sacramento/American River College) with the TOS modified crossover back in April 2013, but maybe things have changed again.

Are you sure it failed because of the driver's side or did it fail because the relative distance/locations didn't match factory (such as the cat or O2 sensors moved 4 feet back to clear the transmission)? I know it sounds dumb, but just want to double check.

Unfortunately, I don't have any "proof" that I can provide that a smog ref told me that.

 

I have the ORS crossover. The ref mentioned multiple things:

1. Crossover pipe dumped on wrong side
2. Intermediate piece between crossover and cat looked modified (does not have factory flanges.
3. Catalytic converter sitting too far back as well as O2 sensors.
4. Failed tailpipe test (The existing cat is not the right one for the 3.4. Also cat may be blown out and/or not working correctly because it is sitting too far back. Cat needs to be more forward so it can get hotter)

How hard is it to remove the crossover pipe with the engine in place? Does anyone make a crossover with drivers side drop with factory flanges?

 

1. As I understand it, and my experience, it shouldn't matter which side the exhaust is on.
2. This is a problem that you will need to fix; the ORS crossover will not work in CA since it has non-factory flanges.
3. That can be fixed at a muffler shop, it's a tight fit, but it will fit. Here's a picture from dntsdad's build thread (his image hosting site went away, but I saved a copy) that shows an unmodified, factory 1997 4Runner exhaust:

Be sure to note the distances from the flange (at the crossover) to the first O2 sensor (6-8"?), O2 sensor to cat (2"), and cat to rear O2 sensor (8-10"?). I don't have the flange between the cat and the second O2 sensor and was never questioned about it. After the second O2 sensor, you can do whatever you want with the exhaust, the SMOG ref doesn't care about a muffler or routing after that point.

4. See number 3, but your cat must match the application that your ECU came from, and have the appropriate EO number stamped into the housing.

Removing the crossover is possible, but a pain; it's easier with a body lift, you most likely will need to tilt the engine forward or backward to help clear the firewall.

Toy Only Swaps (TOS) will be your best (only, I think) bet to get the right crossover. I sent them the crossover that came from my donor and they modified it, but they may be able to help you find a "new" one and then modify it.
http://www.toyonlyswaps.com/swap-parts-.html

 

Hey mikea71 did you ever get back into the referee and pass if so I'd love to know! I'm in the process of getting mine reffed but I to have my exhaust on the drivers side.

 

Hi Christian,

Yes after several months and 3 trips to the smog ref I got it to pass. I learned a couple things about the crossover pipe. Depending on the year of your 3.4 engine Toyota made two different style cross over pipes. My motor is out of a 1996 Tacoma and it had the newer style crossover pipe. Mine was custom made and it dumped into a single pipe and the collector. The correct crossover pipe dumped into 2 pipes at the flange. The smog ref didn't notice it dumped on the wrong side until after he wrote his initial report, so when I went back a couple months later he forgot about that issue. I ended up getting a new catalytic converter but when I went to the smog ref the 2nd time he said the muffler shop put the wrong one on so he failed me, even though the tailpipe test was clean it still failed because the serial number on the cat identified it as being the wrong one. I had to go back to the muffler shop and have it replaced with the correct one. When I went to the smog ref the 3rd time I passed with flying colors.<br /><br />The smog ref told me that most people fail these test because of exhaust issues. The smog ref will pull pictures from AllData and he wants your exhaust to match that as close to possible. I got lucky that he forgot about the exhaust dumping on the wrong side. When I replaced my crossover pipe I bought a used one from a junkyard and sent it to a company in Oregon that specialized in modifying them to dump on the drivers side. They do such clean work you would think it is factory. They are called ToyOnlySwaps. http://www.toyonlyswaps.com/swap-parts-.html

Here is my original crossover pipe:




Here is my new one:




Here is the new one with the kick down pipe:




Here is the collector on the old pipe:



Here is the collector on the new one:



Hope this helps!!

 

Wow sounds like you went through allot of work! Yeah my crossover me and my brother made to replicate toy only swaps crossover, but my engine and computer is a 99 and as far as I know the California version of the 99 exhaust is the newer version with the single piped crossover and 2 cats, But I talked to the ref at arc John Balthazar and he said that the 99 4Runner wasn't made in a California version they are all federal and he said I can't put a federal engine into a California vehicle, he also said that if I put the exhaust on the drivers side I would fail which I already have, so I'm kind of stuck I'm about to move out of California too many rules! Thanks for he info.

 

Mine passed too. I sent my stock 96 T100 one to Toyonlyswap and they switched it for me. No problem.
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...-27-36_617.jpg
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g1...-27-49_108.jpg

https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f160.../#post51770260

 

I seen a few years ago where a guy failed smog due to the pipe being on the wrong side. About a year ago, another guy had the same issue and I guess he contested the issue and he was able to pass as it did not fail emissions. I am betting most testers don't see many motor swaps and are not familiar with the new rule that will let you swap sides. I am not sure how you go about contesting the rule but wanted to make you aware of it. I only know just by what I read on here.

 

Yeah I'm pretty sure the ref I talked to was just a prick! I'll keep researching and will most likely find another referee. Thanks guys!

 

FWIW, I had mine ref-ed at ARC (March and April 2013) and never was questioned on the driver side exhaust (even though I was SMOG-ing it as a 97 4Runner, which had the exhaust on the passenger side). I'm pretty sure I talked with the same ref as you and was told that for a while the exhaust could not be modified at all (meaning it had to route down the passenger side) but he said someone had contested it and CARB gave the OK to re-routing the exhaust with the condition that all components be located the same relative distance from the engine as they were from the factory, and that all the factory flanges be re-used (I got the impression that this was sometime in 2011, based on when I first called to ask about my, then, upcoming swap).

He also gave an example of a VW bug (or something) that had an engine change done but since the exhaust routing couldn't be changed, the exhaust (with O2 sensors and catalytic converter) extending 3 feet behind the vehicle; clearly not safe, but following the rule of an un-modified exhaust.

Sorry you're having a tough time with them, but maybe CARB changed their minds/policy again in the last couple of years.

 

Hey Christianlambert. Did you ever get that sorted out? Im dealing with the same thing. I failed at Rio cosumnes on August 25. I passed emissions but failed due to the crossover modification. I have a 91 4runner with a 99 tacoma engine.

 

Whoa whoa whoa, I am about to purchase a 99 4Runner engine with all accessories. This wont be legal in CA if I follow all of the normal CA nonsense? I had not heard anything about this in any of my searches.. this is terrible news.. I am waiting on a ref to call me back, I guess I will have to try and get his opinion. Crap.


EDIT:

Well i got a call back from the Ref just now, two interesting things. He said the 99 4Runner should be fine, he had never heard of a federal only issue with them. And about the passenger/driver drop.. when I told him what I was trying to do, he was kind of like oohh.. hmm.... that is gonna be hard. He knew that there was a conflict between the 3.4 passenger drop vs the 3.0 driver drop. He said he was going to call up the state and get more clarification as to if its ok to mirror the exhaust on the driver side instead. So im not sure exactly what to think, hopefully that is a positive that he is willing to look into it. Just thought I would share my experience so far with this.

 

For what its worth, I had "zero" issues with my swap at Chaffey College. My '90 has a 2000 mill from a 4Runner but I am running a '98 ECU. I think the key is to make it as visually appealing as possible. It raises less eyebrows.The ref who inspected mine said that he had to really look hard to even tell it was a swap.I even have the Cali CARB approved cat in the original location as the 1990 truck was, which is a different location as was the 4Runner and he did not even question it. The front O2 sensor is in the original flanged dual-inlet pipe and it runs the length of the truck and the after cat sensor is about 7" behind the cat.
It is all about quality of the swap. If it looks suspect they will fail you.
Good luck!

Bud

 

I sure am glad I dont live in California. Who gives a rip what the flanges are, as long as they arent leaking. What nonsense, and all you poor folks out there are paying for it. The only thing that should matter is the chemical analysis at the end of the tailpipe, and no leaks along the way. I could have installed a frohickey thermofrockle of my own design that turns all the exhaust back into O2 and produces no pollution whatsoever, with the idiots yall describe in charge, it would fail. Lunacy.