I know the Prii is now exempt from ever needing a California Smog Check, but I am curious if anyone out there has had a smog check done on a Prii??? The Prius is not compatible with California's Two Speed Idle or ASM tests because of vehicle design. But, apparently referee stations CAN do the checks in California. I just had our (temporary) 1996 Ford Taurus smog checked - it barely passed! Here are it’s readings: Tested for = Measured . . . Max alowed at 15mph/25mph HC (ppm) = 52/28 . . . . . 52/36 CO (%) = 0.12/0.03 . . . 0.49/0.46 NO (ppm) = 53/126 . . . 424/711 Anyone out there have readings for a Prii? Say what model year and when check was done.
In Washington, they won't let us take Prii in for a smog-emissions test. We're exempted. (I guess I could slip them money under the counter; I'm just not sure how to do so because of (as you say) vehicle design.
Colorado is the same as Washington... I think it maybe because the smog check, in Colorado is done with a dynamometer... and with the ICE being intermittent they can't get a good reading...
I just sold my Impreza for my Prius that I picked up today. My Impreza was exempt from the Rhode Island emission testing because it was 4 wheel drive and the testing machines couldn't handle 4wd. Plus, it was felt that Subaru's would probably always pass due to thier past history. I have no idea if the Prius is exempt in RI. But it would be stupid if it were not. It would be a waste of everyones time. I do hope that someone responds in this thread about actual numbers for the Prius so we can compare to the Taurus above. That would be cool. It may just be that our Prii won't register on their machines due to not be calibrated low enough. LOL
Thanks Dean...I have ordered it.. this one is a paper plate I found on eBay.. looks real... haven't put it on the car.. hope the state gets me the real ones before Toyota catches up on the waiting lists..
the reading for the wife's old 2k1 Prius, after 2 1/2 hours in the test station and finally after 3 kick outs of the test computer and a manager over ride and his comment about "these damn cars don't need to be tested" produced these results. Only on the driving test as it was the idle test that kicked out, how do you get results when it dont' idle. HC reading .0513 max allowable .3700 CO reading 1.0064 max allowable 6.2100 NOx reading .0031 max allowable .9300 these readings are in grams/per Kilometer this was for a car with 43,000KMs on it, under 30,000 miles. The guy behind her in the Jeep who had to let her in front of him because she was in the wrong lane to be tested, must have been P***ed about it. There is word going around that the Prius will be exempt in the next year or so. The Yellow Cab owner told her just to leave the A/C on and that will give them a idle test and your out in 15 minutes, oh ya sure, after a 2 1/2 hour test she find this out. I remember she burnt supper as well that day, some day's are diamonds and some are stones.
Any chemical engineers out there that wish to convert PPM to/from grams per Kilometer? Or, at least give us a formula to hack. I had heard of a Prii Smog Check done in the Los Angeles area where the tech was having a hard time getting a proper reading. He even did the air conditioner on thing. He finally figured out that the car was reading cleaner than ambient air, so he zeroed out the machine with the probe in the Prii tail pipe, then pulled the probe out to read the ambient smog. Anybody remember reading/hearing about it? Any links so this isn’t just hearsay?
If this is true, it means that the Prius must purify the ambient air as it is used by the ICE. 8) Why doesn't the California EPA just buy 100,000 Prii, position them around the State, and run them 24/7. It would clean up the Smog problem in a few days, well maybe a month. :mrgreen: :lol:
Frank, I am surprised that the person at the emissions testing place was even able to get the Prius to stay on long enough so that they could sufficient readings.... In New Mexico, they exempt you, maybe because they can't do it...
I'm also curious how they'll handle the addition of the traction control and such in the 04 as well. So far as I can tell, they need a 4-wheel dyno to be able to do a rolling test (for all the good it will do them). When last I had a test done, they couldn't handle vehicles with no method of overriding the traction control, and they could only do idle-tests on them (and we all know how well the Prius idles... Lol) I would have loved to see them try and check the classic, that would've been great The figures it eventually produced are so low as to be laughable in terms of emissions. Frank: Here's hoping that translink gets their act together and gives us an exemption - to do otherwise would just be proof that it's all about making money and not helping the environment. Dave
Prius Traction Control can be overrided temporarily if you know the procedure, or have a mini-scanner. For instance, the Classic involved something along the lines of going to IG-ON, pressing accelerator 3 times in P, shift to N, Press accelerator 3 times, then back to P and pressing accelerator 3 times. This put the car into a diagnostic mode which supposedly overrided the Traction Control. I know the '04 can have it's VSC disabled using a mini-scanner - but it only lasts until the car is powered off. Same probably applies for traction control. What does that mean? That a Toyota service dept could do the smog check, but it would cost ya
California does not plan to test the Prius and the two Honda Hybrid cars until the year 2010. If you need a smog certificate before that time you have to make an appointment at a California Referee Smog test center, show up, let them type your VIN in their computer, pay a fee, and then you get a certificate without the car being tested. California uses electronic smog certificates, so someone has to enter your VIN into the DMV computer.
Act together? Translink is an arm of the government. Have they ever got their act together? hmmmm I'd have to say No. it is a tax grab plain and simple.
More on my previous post. Found a blurb in the repair manual regarding traction control in repair procedures. The only way to override in the '04 is with a hand-held test tool, placing the car in INSPECTION MOD1 or INSPECTION MOD2 modes. Both will allow the front wheels to spin regardless of rear wheel speed - the former keeping the engine on continuously in P mode for other testing as well. The manual states this could be used for spedometer testing - but I see it as useful for an emissions test on a dyno as well.
Don't share this info, if dealers can't reliably work on the car, I don't think the municipalities would be any better than them, and would probably forget to return the mode to normal
The car returns to "normal" after power cycling - not an issue. The bigger issue would be the municipality paying thousands for the Toyota specific mini-scanner.
Ya, and I'm certainly not going to drive to the dealership and get them to scantool it (probably for $$$) every time it needs to be tested.
Dave there is a 2k4 at the Wayburne Drive testing station. Owned by the corp. from what I've been told and that is the one they used for the drive test on the special lane with the 4 wheel dyno.
