So I took my 15 year old 3.0 with 188 000km for the local smog test here in Vancouver. I " half-undid" my ISR mod but other than that this motor is stock.

DRIVING TEST
HC (ppm) 11.00
CO % 0.02
NOx (ppm) 0.00

IDLE TEST
HC (ppm) 9
CO % 0.00

PASS on all tests, below or at average readings. Virtually no change from last year's.
Just thought I'd share something resembling good news...if there's anybody looking to buy an older Toyota cruising these forums, here's a vote of confidence for you.

 

I took my 93 in to aircare in February earlier this year. I revved the engine up to 2000 RPM's for a minute or two before the test while in line to get the cat nice and hot. I passed with no problems at all.

 

when i ran my through DEQ this summer, i asked if it passed when my number was called and he said, "yeah, its a toyota.. it'll always pass"

 

my truck passed on its second try...... but i had a free re-test... i took it home and tweaked it and it passed

the first time i took it, it passed emissions, but didnt idle high enough and supposedly had too much timing advance, so a few tweaks, and i got it to pass..... the smog tech really didn't like me though, i had 2 mechanics i used to work with confirm my timing was dead on and not 20* advanced as the smog guy failed me for.... my idle was low at 395 though

 

You guys must see some different technology in CA than here in BC. I've never heard of a test tech telling me what's going on under the hood. Here they just say "fix it if it costs under $ ( ridiculous amount ) by 3 months or you can't reinsure."

Hey CoedNaked , I hadn't heard that one. Believe me when I say I've done every trick I could find to get the old GM through in the bad old days, vacuum plug methyl hydrate you name it ! Thank God that's over with...

 

here, when your vehicle is so old, its already classified as a gross polluter and you cant take it to a smog place that does repairs... i was only allowed to take it to a test only facility (thats costs 2x as much as the regular smog test for newer vehicles)

if it passes there, you are good, if it doesn't then you have to pay tons of $ to take it somewhere else and get them to fix it and pre-test it before you are allowed to have it retested.....

 

Hey 90, I don't know if it's a "trick" per se - as my truck hasn't really ever had issues with air care, but I think it's just something that puts the odds more in your favour if it's fair to say.

I've heard stories of guys who have vehicles that are blowing blue hardcore and all the did was fill up with Mohawk and run a tank of their ethanol blended stuff through and then pump up the back tires to 50 PSI and they passed no problems. LOL.

There is actually a thread on the bc4x4 board all about some of the funny things guys did to pass air care. It's actually reall hilarious and a few pages long. Take a read. LOL
http://bb.bc4x4.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=53145

 

here in CA they run a dyno test

i have also heard that warming the engien up will make it pass easier..... it burns off more of the junk in the engine and produces cleaner emissions at operating temp versus a rich condition of fast idle that vehicles do when cold

 

At the aircare station (smogtest) a sign tells you to leave your engine running when you're in line. Just to keep the engine warm.
Mohawk gas should also help, as it has ethanol added to it. I am not sure how much it helps, but every little bit helps.

 

yeah you want the engine and more importantly the Cat hot.. i usually run it out on the freeway before i take any car to get tested... and run it hard, pushing it closer to redline then normal, blows out the carbon that way.