California Smog Test Failed

[icormba]

Just curious if anyone else has purchased a GT350 outside of California and then went on to fail a smog test. I purchased a GT350R (not that the R part matters, at least I don't think it does for smog reasons) out of Georgia and took it in for the CA smog emission test and failed. The tech said it's probably because the car only had 56 miles on it....thanks for telling me before I paid you :(

Anyways, has anyone else been through this. The tech told me to drive at least 300 to 400 miles before my next smog check because the computer/emissions is still working itself out. Any help is much appreciated.

I went through this almost a year ago... 1/6/2016 in fact. Wouldn't pass with 18 miles and had to drive it around in the rain. :( I brought it back in around 100 miles and everything was fine. Your 2nd test should be free???

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[unixadm]

I passed at 60 miles on the odometer today, no issues. The long drive cycle did the trick.

 

[nastang87xx]

You can definitely go 100 miles and still be NOT READY. It's happened to me before several times on my '11 GT. It's the conditional driving that the computer is looking for, not the miles. For instance, to get your front O2's going, they need to get up to temp HOT HOT HOT and be sustained. I followed Ford's drive cycle several times and I couldn't get my front O2's, rear O2's, and EGR ready. So one day in perfect weather conditions, I went for it, got the car up to temp really fast and drove on the freeway in 5th gear at like 70 MPH for about 10 miles and my front and rear O2 parameters both went into ready. It was...loud lol.

 

[Rogue]

What the hell is smog test? :lol:

 

[CoolTech]

In California it is illegal (by law) for any dealership to change or tamper with any of the emissions systems of a new car. Other states may or may not have similar laws. Because of this, CA will REQUIRE the emissions test of any vehicle (even if it is brand spankin' new) brought it to the state.

The new tests don't involve a sniff test at all - rather just a connection to the OBD2 plug. Only after the ECU runs its internal emissions test will it set the monitor for that test - simply meaning that that test has been run. If unsuccessful, the CEL light will be illuminated. In order to pass the CA smog test, no CEL light can be present and all of the monitors must be set (demonstrating that the ECU has validated the performance of that system). There may be an exception on some cars for the EVAP monitor. The EVAP monitoring in most cars monitors the small pressure differences that SHOULD be present when a sealed vessel (your fuel system) through temperature differentials. If proper temperature differentials are not observed, the test cannot run - hence the exception clause. For those of you trying to get the EVAP monitor to "set", you will often need an overnight cool down.

Note that a battery disconnect (e.g to replace it) and/or a reset CEL/MIL by a code reader will automatically reset all of the monitors and you will start from ground zero to get them to set.

The CA requirements can be VERY aggravating at times. We recently had a 2006 Ford GT (Heritage) in the shop with a dead battery. The owner asked us to replace the battery and get the car smog checked. In the 4 years since we last serviced that car the owner had put less that 20 miles on it. Yes, less than 20 miles in 4 years. But, clearly this is a collector car for this owner. But, after replacing the battery, the car had to be driven ~85 miles to get the monitors to set so that it could pass the smog test. Pretty crappy when you have to car 85 miles (4x the miles it accumulated in the previous 4 years) just to satisfy CA smog requirements. Short of electing NOT to register the car, there are no (legal) shortcuts.

 

[keeptrying56]

I just got a 2017 GT350 tested and it passed. The tech had to call Ford with some questions though.

 

[mattlqx]

I just got a 2017 GT350 tested and it passed. The tech had to call Ford with some questions though.

"Does it come with an open element filter?"

"Yes, gtfo!"

 

[Shift]

"Does it come with an open element filter?"

"Yes, gtfo!"

Didnt think I would have to prove that it was factory to a family friends mechanic shop, but I ended up pulling out the owners manual for proof.

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