Texas to Bay Area
 

Hey guys. My wife and I may be moving to the Bay Area from Texas here in the next few months. Wondering if anyone could help me understand the emissions requirements for my 2002 Chevy pickup as I have never lived in a state that has strict emissions requirements. Right now I have long tube headers with ORY which I know wont pass the sniffer test but am I good if I put 50 state emissions legal converters in or is there more to it than that?

Thanks for the help guys!!

You have to get an inspection and they don't do a snifter test. They "might" do a visual for the cats but they never look for them on when I took something in. Just needs to pass OBD with no codes and only one readyness test not-ready alowed to pass. Plus basic safety, parking brake and lights n stuff. It's pretty easy to pass legally and if you can't, there are quite a few places that will pass you anyway for a little extra $$$ lol.

Ok, so sounds like for an out of state vehicle the requirements are similar to here in Texas. Just basically cant have check engine light on. Thanks for the help Kyle!

By the way, when did you move? You were originally in Texas as well right?

Yeah, I was in Spring on the north side of Houston for 4 years. I moved to Oregon last summer.

I gotcha. How do you like it out there? I have never lived anywhere else except Arkansas and Texas so I have no idea what to expect on the West Coast. Thanks for your help man!

Just find someone to pass for extra $$ if you wanna keep the long tubes and stuff. Some smog spots want carb. Stickers for cai and such.

First and foremost see if you can make some friends in your new area to find a good place to go.

Once you fail a smog inspection in CA, your vehicle is basically Blacklisted. Most shops will look harder to try and find something wrong with it during inspection.

To legally pass in the state of California you can not have a check engine light on and you need all readiness monitors to pass with the exception of Evap. It's the only one that may not be ready when they do the OBD port portion of the test on 2000 and newer vehicles.

The vin number in the PCM must also match the vin on the vehicle or it will also fail.

No long tube headers are legal in the state of California. You can not move the catalytic convertor from its factory installed spot. Any replacement catalytic converter must be CA approved and the Number must be visible for inspection or it may also fail. They often stick a mirror under the car to inspect for cats.

Any Aftermarket Performance Parts Require CARB approval. The Carb Exemption number that applies to the vehicle it is installed in must be visible on the part. The technician is supposed to verify the number is in the CARB data base and the part is legal for use on said vehicle registered and operated on any public road within the state of CA.
Database: Aftermarket Parts Database of Executive Orders

I honestly wonder if some smog techs even know that kinda stuff haha.
Op, where about in the Bay Area are you looking to move to? I grew up in Dublin and spent the first 17 years of my life there.

There supposed too! It's part of their training to obtain a license.

1999 and older fall under BAR-97
2000 and newer fall under the new BAR-OIS

https://www.bar.ca.gov/pdf/Smog_Chec...l_ENG_2013.pdf

Scroll down to section 1.3.0 for visual inspection requirements.

BAR-OIS state website... https://www.bar.ca.gov/Industry/Q&As...html#Question3

Video of inspection for BAR-OIS. This shows the screens they go through. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdUJ...ature=youtu.be

Thanks FastBrick for all the info. So if I get CARB legal cats to put in the exhaust will that be enough to pass since I did the long tube headers prior to moving to CA or do I have to have the factory manifolds and cats to keep the factory position?

Honestly not sure where to look. I will be working in Palo Alto and my wife will be working at the southern tip of Fremont, almost to San Jose I believe. We were kind of looking in the Fremont area as it seemed to be a bit cheaper than the surrounding areas but honestly not sure what areas are "good" or "bad". Any help would be greatly appreciated!!