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Ca smog tried to fail me

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fail smog tried
1K views 13 replies 8 participants last post by  John_E 
#1 ·
I had to get my Passat smogged! And when I put a used turbo in I broke my heat shield. So I bought heat insulating tape to protected the coolant oil feed lines and the pcv. The tech said I have to fail you cause you tampered with the pcv line... I'm like seriously ill take it off, trying to protect it... I could be covering up holes, you know on a metal pipe! (Sarcasm)


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#3 ·
Dude it's misserable! I literally lived 3 min away from local smog shop, so when I got there I turned it off and waited about 39 min so it already cooled off a bit! So when he pulled it in the shop, he's like you have a bad cat... I'm like TF, he was like yeah you smell that? I was like, that smells like fuel mixture still priming. He tried failing for my CAT, one because he couldn't find it and thought I removed it! ( I have a catback straight pipe) but he didn't know it was right off the turbo! Then after he found it, he tried failing because of the smell. I'm like dude if the CEL is not on you can't do shit!


In Cali, 01+ all vehicles are now only inspection and computer check, no sniffer [emoji25]
 
#7 ·
Also now all readiness except EVAP must pass. No longer two or less. But the smog shop you went to sounds shady. It wouldn't surprise me if they are one of those that encourage palm greasing. A local shop I go to never questions extra hoses I got for a DV relocation and my catch can.
 
#12 ·
I've never had any problems with smog checks on our 1.8T Passat. In fact, the O2 sensors are still OE, with around 175K miles. My old '96 had more trouble with passing NOx sometimes, due to a marginal design involving the EGR which tended to clog. But I also don't have any modifications to foul up the inspection.
 
#13 ·
I have 165k on my 98 passat, and just failed, then immediately passed the smog test here in CA. I passed all the emissions parts with flying colors on the first test, then they failed me on the visual inspection because the vacuum check valve right next to the ICM was cracked. Luckily, I had a replacement check valve in the garage, so I ran home and swapped it out. Unfortunately, they needed to run me through the whole test again, because as soon as they start a test session, it is logged in with the DMV, apparently. It's ok though, they only charged me half price for the re-test (stupid...)! :crazy:

I was sweating a little though, since I've been getting an intermittent CEL from the throttle body, where it self-clears upon re-start, and luckily it didn't cause a problem (lower stop not reached or something like that - cleaned the TB, but it still gets cranky every once in a while). I'm hesitant to replace that though, since the part is like $500, and it hasn't crapped out entirely yet.
 
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