'83 Mark VI runs rich for years, still can't fix. . . .

[gadget73]

Its California. Everything is a pollutant in California. I'm half surprised humans don't have to go in for annual breathalyzer checks to make sure they aren't chugging out too much CO2.

[sly]

Its California. Everything is a pollutant in California. I'm half surprised humans don't have to go in for annual breathalyzer checks to make sure they aren't chugging out too much CO2.

wait for it...

[onedollarbob]

High CO2? Sure you don't mean CO?

You would be correct. I am mixing my O2 sensors and CO emissions. I am still having nightmares full of acronyms after working on this.

CA smog testing is a complete racket, invented to keep gov't flush with tax dollars and mechanics and parts stores in business. I do everything I can to keep this Lincoln on the road--this is clearly designed to get you to junk your car. Ashame so many of these wind up in the yard over smog tests. I'd rather pay my polluter tax (smog certificate and some useless emissions parts) than give in to these enviro-fascists.

Really there should be an exemption for vintage cars that are only run a few thousand miles per year. These are obviously hobby vehicles and not being used as 20k miles/year commuter vehicles.

[gadget73]

They don't have historic / antique tags or some rough equivalent out there ? NJ is like California-lite and we have historic plates with no state inspection. Heavily restricted for usage, but they exist. We have a joke of a smog test here, but I still have to do it. I would agree with you though, the smog checks are mostly intended to push older vehicles off the road. Theres no money for the auto makers in people keeping old cars running.

[onedollarbob]

CA has historic tags for any vehicle over 25 years but the restrictions suck. A hobby car is no hobby if you can't take it out for a Saturday night bar crawl, drive to the fancy restaurant in it, or go fishing with it. A road trip to Palm Springs or Las Vegas does not count as historical exhibition. Neither does, "I felt like taking the Lincoln to work today."

Besides, I love my original '83 sun-graphic California plates. Worried some thug will steal them one day.

[gadget73]

Oh you have one of those deals where you can only drive to shows and to the mechanic, really low mileage restrictions, no operation after dark, etc? thats pretty much what we get here too. And that would be exactly why I don't have historic plates on my car either.

[tjc78]

Gadget, I've never looked into historic plates here in NJ, but they can't be too strict as I've seen quite a few cars with them on the way in to work in the morning.

[sly]

Texas has a middle ground called classic plates. allows for on-road use other than to and from events/shop, but still limits it to "pleasure only".

If I'm ever pulled over for driving it to work, I'll just say I like my job so much it's a pleasure to drive to and from it every day.

it's almost the truth and close enough to not be a lie... so meh. If he gives me flack about it... "my other car is in the shop" is my ultimate excuse.

[86VickyLX]

You would be correct. I am mixing my O2 sensors and CO emissions.

However, if CO2 is high, the engine is burning the correct amount of fuel. If CO2 is low, then you look at either O2 content, or CO content. High O2 indicates lean, High CO indicates rich.

[1987cp]

this is clearly designed to get you to junk your car. Ashame so many of these wind up in the yard over smog tests.

NW Indiana is the same way - even my dad, as I understand it, junked a relatively nice '87 Grand Marquis when it wouldn't pass smog and it seemed more efficient to replace instead of repair.

Agreed on the idea of a separate mileage-limited registration, instead of the stupidity of having a historic-registered car effectively unusable for transportation. Though, how would they enforce that? Have a gov't goon poke his nose at your odometer every so often? Guess it'd beat having to have him poke his nose under your hood, though. Boy, do I like not having inspections of any sort ....

[gadget73]

Gadget, I've never looked into historic plates here in NJ, but they can't be too strict as I've seen quite a few cars with them on the way in to work in the morning.

If you actually read the restrictions its fairly strict, though I dont know how much they really enforce it. I know several people who run QQ plates and unhook the speedometer to keep the mileage under the limit.

[King_V]

I have QQ plates on a car in NJ, but then again, I've never even come close to the mileage limit.

I get the impression that the wording is very strict, but enforcement is more of a "meh" thing, since why go after cars that aren't driven much? Unless, of course, you're doing something stupid like 90 in a 45 zone, and then they'll probably throw any violations of the historic plates on top of whatever else they can.

But I couldn't say for sure.

Glad you got things going $1bob. While people see emissions checks as a pain, I sort of see them as an interesting bit of diagnosis. The few times I've had an emissions failure, and thankfully they've been very few, it's actually pointed out a problem that I fixed. And the way I see it, if it's running clean, it's running right, and less likely to have any unexpected wear or shortening of the engine's life....

[johnunit]

But I couldn't say for sure.

Glad you got things going $1bob. While people see emissions checks as a pain, I sort of see them as an interesting bit of diagnosis. The few times I've had an emissions failure, and thankfully they've been very few, it's actually pointed out a problem that I fixed. And the way I see it, if it's running clean, it's running right, and less likely to have any unexpected wear or shortening of the engine's life....

Yeah, if you fail emissions it's cause your car is messed up (as was found out here).

Emissions testing is designed as much to make you "junk your old car" as a plain old safety inspection. You're causing a danger to other people if your car fails either, just one is a more obvious danger (your tires are bald and you may fly off the road) as opposed to a bit harder to quantify (you're pumping out literally tons of carcinogens in front of people's houses).

If emissions testing was a conspiracy to stimulate the economy through new car sales, Michigan would be the strictest state, not Cali.