California SMOG Thread

[jflogerzi]

Originally Posted by FrickingReallySlow

Anyone know if I smog my car earlier then needed that the 2 year requirement gets automatically extended?

What I mean is I did a smog on 08/2021 which should last me to 08/2023. If I do a smog this year on 08/2022 then I shouldn't need one till 08/2024, Is this true? anyone have experience with this?

No that's not how it works

[norcalpb]

Originally Posted by FrickingReallySlow

Anyone know if I smog my car earlier then needed that the 2 year requirement gets automatically extended?

What I mean is I did a smog on 08/2021 which should last me to 08/2023. If I do a smog this year on 08/2022 then I shouldn't need one till 08/2024, Is this true? anyone have experience with this?

No I believe the smog certificate is good for only 3 months. So if you smog 8/2022 the certificate will expire 11/2022

[DNAcomposition]

Originally Posted by jflogerzi

No that's not how it works

Agreed. I don't believe DMV resets the clock if the smog check is done prior to the next scheduled date. Per CA DMV, smog checks coincide with vehicle registration renewals, and are required biennially (every 2 years). Exceptions are when a vehicle changes ownership, or if a vehicle is being registered in CA for the first time.

Link to the CA DMV site:

https://www.bar.ca.gov/Consumer/Smog...0is%20required.

[Tootch]

Hey everyone. I just picked up a supercharged 2013 FR-S. The car came with an Edelbrock supercharger but it didn't come with the California EO sticker or an ECUTEK. I removed the SC because of an airleak I couldn't track down and installed the stock intake for now.

Not knowing the recent CA law change on modified ECU's I failed smog with a "Modified ECU".

Now I need to reinstall the Supercharger and buy an ECUTEK to have Edelbrock build me a California legal tune.

Do I need a brand new ECUTEK with license to do this or can I buy used? Will I still need the license?

[dpfarr]

Did you go to the dealer to ask them to flash your car back to stock?

I wouldn’t be driving around with a suspected sc tune without the blower. Put an ecutek bundle on the docket.

[KungFuWaffle]

After flashing back to stock, does anyone know how many miles to drive before the sensors reset? Or anything I need to look for in the OFT?

[Sapphireho]

Originally Posted by Tootch

Hey everyone. I just picked up a supercharged 2013 FR-S. The car came with an Edelbrock supercharger but it didn't come with the California EO sticker or an ECUTEK. I removed the SC because of an airleak I couldn't track down and installed the stock intake for now.

Not knowing the recent CA law change on modified ECU's I failed smog with a "Modified ECU".

Now I need to reinstall the Supercharger and buy an ECUTEK to have Edelbrock build me a California legal tune.

Do I need a brand new ECUTEK with license to do this or can I buy used? Will I still need the license?

Don't think the licenses are transferable. Also, in California, the seller is responsible for providing recent smog check at sale, unless you bought it out of state?

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by KungFuWaffle

After flashing back to stock, does anyone know how many miles to drive before the sensors reset? Or anything I need to look for in the OFT?

I’ve always gone for 50+ miles, include some freeway driving and make sure everything gets nice and hot.

[Kaotic Lazagna]

Originally Posted by KungFuWaffle

After flashing back to stock, does anyone know how many miles to drive before the sensors reset? Or anything I need to look for in the OFT?

I did a tank to just be safe.

Also, (star) smog place I went to was super confused. Never smogged a twin before, and got confused since my reg and car emblems are Toyota, but his system was showing Scion, and the car has Subaru stamped everywhere. Once again, I was held there for my Scan Gauge II and my dash cam hardwire kit. Apparently those look like tuning devices....

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Tootch

Hey everyone. I just picked up a supercharged 2013 FR-S. The car came with an Edelbrock supercharger but it didn't come with the California EO sticker or an ECUTEK. I removed the SC because of an airleak I couldn't track down and installed the stock intake for now.

Not knowing the recent CA law change on modified ECU's I failed smog with a "Modified ECU".

Now I need to reinstall the Supercharger and buy an ECUTEK to have Edelbrock build me a California legal tune.

Do I need a brand new ECUTEK with license to do this or can I buy used? Will I still need the license?

The ECU should have a license on it, so all you need is the CARB tune, which I thought was free and a used ECUTEK and dongle.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by KungFuWaffle

After flashing back to stock, does anyone know how many miles to drive before the sensors reset? Or anything I need to look for in the OFT?

It isn’t a miles thing. The car needs to go through a readiness check, which is certain miles at a given speed and a certain amount of acceleration, etc. Think of it as a road course. If you jumped on the highway for 1000 miles at exactly 65mph then you probably wouldn’t ever complete the readiness. Do mixed driving for a week to be sure, or check with an OBD2 scanner. Red is a CEL. Yellow is no code, but not ready because it needs to go through the cycle of checks. Green is ready for smog.

[Ronthebiker14]

Does anyone know of any way to flash the car back to stock or are there any CARB legal NA tunes out there? I’ve been searching for a while and called around and can’t find any. My car I bought when living in AZ has a stage 2 E-85 Ecutek tune and now I want to smog it in CA so I can sell it here but I’m not sure about the tune part. I’m not sure if my car has the stock map still in it somewhere but I don’t know how to access it. The previous owner gave me the Ecutek dongle but I don’t know how to look at the maps loaded on the car or if the license will even be valid for me.

I’ve been told that the “stock” tunes on OFT and such are base maps close to stock but they lack whatever digital watermark that CA now checks for when looking for modified ECU’s.

I’ve called several dealerships and talked to two Toyota techs I personally know and they said they don’t have access to flashing the cars back to stock. No manufacturers that I’m aware of make a CARB legal tune that is for an NA car. The only solution I can come up with is to somehow get a new ECU but I don’t know if the ECU’s are somehow linked to the car that the smog tech would notice somehow?

[strat61caster]

I recall OFT having all the early oem tune options, but I might be crazy.

Cheapest is a tactrix cable but I’m struggling to find any easy database of tunes to download, second cheapest and likely the easiest option would be contacting an ecutek dealer and have them send you the files and info to walk you through flashing back to stock with the dongle you have, it may cost you $100-$200 though to get a new license and for their time.

Welcome to the Bay, 98% of our non-luxury car dealerships are overpriced jiffy lubes.

[Ronthebiker14]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

I recall OFT having all the early oem tune options, but I might be crazy.

Cheapest is a tactrix cable but I’m struggling to find any easy database of tunes to download, second cheapest and likely the easiest option would be contacting an ecutek dealer and have them send you the files and info to walk you through flashing back to stock with the dongle you have, it may cost you $100-$200 though to get a new license and for their time.

Welcome to the Bay, 98% of our non-luxury car dealerships are overpriced jiffy lubes.

You might be right about the OFT but I distinctly remember last time I looked into this someone said that the “stock” tunes are just base maps and don’t have the digital watermark from OEM. My car was tuned by delicious tuning I believe from the previous owner. I’m waiting to hear back from them and see what they say. I’m actually in SoCal but yeah most dealerships I’ve talked to are completely useless and get like defensive or just turn brain dead if you ask them a real technical question.