Georgia emissions testing (boooo!)

I always thought that putting the car in defrost mode with max heat would make it idle all the time.

 

"Guy" is full of shit. In neutral, the engine would idle until
it ran out of fuel or the hybrid battery could no longer supply
enough converted 12V power to keep the system up.
.
The A/C trick has been noted in other places, but it is much
more of a klunky process and may not work as desired in winter.
.
*Please* go as public as you can with this, and feel free to
use my page and your interactions to date as references. This
nonsense *HAS* to be solved ASAP and permanently.
.
_H*

 

The idea that the Prius would even be subjected to an emissions test is a little asinine.

I'm glad I live in Colorado where the lawmakers exempt the Prius.

 

I like to speculate about what is going on behind the scenes:

I would almost be willing to bet money that the original software for testing was written by a temporary contractor or possibly by a permanent employee who is no longer available.

No one in charge of the program knows how the software works or how to modify it.

Now they have hired a new temporary contractor to completely rewrite the software for next year.

And no one in charge of the program will know how the new software works or how to modify it.

And so on.

 

123-456-7890

 

Sounds like another example of Big Government bureaucracy run amok.

We have a similar test in NV and I had to test mt Prius when I moved out of CA. This was over a year ago and the tech (if you can call a guy with a dip in and bad teeth a tech) sat in the Prius and modulated the throttle for about a minute to keep the ICE running and the car passed fine first time. Don't remember what the reading were right now though.

 

First Montana: What an irony that you can remove all smog devices off your biggest gas guzzlin' land yachts with no consequences, and even sell it the next day with no consequences ... even if it's new, or old. Nothing like the smell of raw gas, while driving with the windows open while in town.

Second CA: What an irony that in the state with the most cars, regardless of county, they would exempt all SULEV's from ANY smog tests (and even in 2010, they MAY extend this status).

I'd get on the phone, talk to your legislators, and let them know that such dumbness (in light of more rational states, and even less rational states) ought to be brought into the media spotlight. Maybe that would light a fire under them.

 

No, Cali is not doing this. ALL new cars are exempt for a period of time, not just hybrids. It is simply that hybrids have a longer exemption, based on two reasons:
1) Testing processes and equipment are not able to test hybrids yet. There is a lengthy testing and certification process the state must go through to validate and certify the new methods.
2) This is tolerated because hybrid emissions are so much lower that even if the system degrades, the impact to emissions will often still leave them compliant with standards for that year.

 

Non SULEV cars in CA get to skip the first test (normally done every other year), so that puts the 1st test out to 4 years. And Toyota (as well as non-oem service places) allready succesfully test plenty of cars in many states. Yes, many ARE saying the test system needs to be dialed in better if/when CA starts testing SULEV's ~ however that doesn't negate tha fact that the legislators ARE considering longer exemptions for SULEV's. Even so, tho point was (getting lost) the Georgia folks CAN make a dif by putting their legislators to work on it.

 

"* They said that I am alone in reporting this type of failure. I'm the first they know of that failed for this reason. Personally, I have a sneaking suspicion that they will be getting some more calls in the next few weeks as more 2005 Prii are scheduled for their test. (Anyone Prius owner that passed the GA emissions test, I'd be interested to know what you scored for CO+CO2)"

Someone in that department is either ignorant of the facts or is outright lying to you. This issue made the national television news last year and was specific to Georgia.

 

I also live in the Atlanta metro area and was dreading having to get my emmissions testing done to get my '08 tags. So I decided to try to get my new tags without the test. I have an '04 and an '05 Prius and both tags were due by the end of Dec. Low and behold, they gave me my new tags without asking for the emissions test! I live in Clayton County so it may be different where you are. Good luck.

 

Originally, one of the major telecommunications firms (who has since been acquired) wrote the software, provided the PC, printer, and telecom links for the GA emissions program. I don't know if we still have the contract.

Lynn

 

Did they provide for updates and bugfixes in the original contract or was it a one time contract and they handed it off to the Georgia Clean Air organization?

My speculation is basically that no one in the Georgia Clean Air organization understands the software, so they cannot update it to accomodate the Prius.

 

This whole thing is just silly. I truly can't imagine that a letter to a congressman wouldn't fix tis issue in like half an hour. Someone in GA is an idiot.

The funny thing is, I heard about this issue three or more months ago and assumed it would go away. It's sad that it is still plaguing us to this day.

 

I have a 2005 and was dreading my emissions test in Ga. At the last possible minute I went to the inspection station, the operator did the magic test movements (hit power twice, hit accelarator twice, hit power again, or something like that). In 3 minutes I passed and was out of there, no problems at all.


Also, that morning I sent an email to the State Testing authority, here's the exchange:

From: ------
Sent: Friday, April 25, 2008 7:35 AM
To: [email protected]; [email protected]
Subject: Prius inspection

Sir or Madam:

Please send us information on how you plan on inspecting the Prius this year (2008) and what changes have been made or are planned. I am not able to find this information on your website.

Also, please note that I also plan on posting this info on the PriusChat online community (priuschat.com) to share with approximately 40,000 other drivers, many of them Georgia drivers.


Best regards,
-------


--------------------------------- The Response -------------------


Thank you for contacting Georgia’s Clean Air Force.


The Prius has controller area network (CAN) technology installed in it. These CAN-equipped vehicles will not pass the OBD test due to non-communication; therefore your vehicle will receive a two speed idle (TSI) test. Inspectors have received instructions on how to test your particular vehicle.

We are in the process of rolling out new software to the emissions inspections stations that will test all CAN-equipped vehicles to communicate during an OBD inspection. All emissions inspection stations will have upgraded software by July 1, 2008.

Please call Georgia’s Clean Air Force with the city you live in and we will be happy to provide you with a list of stations who have already upgraded their software, thus allowing your Prius to communicate during an OBD inspection.

Georgia's Clean Air Force
cleanairforce.com




Just sharing what I know and have experienced with my fellow GA drivers....

BigDaddy

 

As others have said I find this thread comical. I certainly regret the hassle you're going through, but the fact that the most fuel efficient automobile on the road is being denied an emissions certificate is indeed ironic.... Solving problems such as this when they're completely 100% out of your control is frustrating. It's laughable, but unfortunately expected when dealing with a government sanctioned facility. I would have taken the advice of another posted and sent a letter to my congressman. Better yet I would have sent a letter to my congressman and CC'd your local Toyota dealership as well as Toyota's corporate offices (using certified mail). Heck, just for giggles I would have probably CC'd one of those local news shows that investigates consumer issues....

Mike

 

Heh, and did you then spend the rest of your trip in
inspection mode? Good thing it wasn't snowing, huh?
.
_H*

 

I'm dredging up an ancient thread because I encountered something
equally ancient today that just made me chuckle.
.
I went for inspection [in Mass, not Georgia] to the garage I
usually go to, where by now they really should have had any number
of Priuses through their premises, but they were still pretty
shakey on getting a good OBDII read on the thing. The guy said
that he had gotten instructions from the Massachusetts RMV on how
to handle these things, and waved a battered, crumpled piece of
paper he'd pulled off the windowsill. I asked him for a closer
look, and found that it's the same printout of my idle instructions
that I had given them last year. They still had it there to
refer to. But even with all that and the personal attention I've
given them trying to bring them up to speed on this, they clearly
still had no idea what was really going on, and started talking
about needing the key to "start the car" when it was already powered
up and only needed a foot applied to pedal to make the engine run.
.
Eventually, they just brought me into the bay and had me do it.
.
At least they figured out that they needed to unplug my Scangauge
to get their reader connected up.
.
Unrelated note: if you're going for inspection soon, and you've just
come through the winter, check your lightbulbs before you go. Lamp
filaments are more likely to pop when cold and then hit with full
supply voltage, and of course many of our cars have been through
a stem-to-stern salt soaking and higher likelihood of connector
corrosion. This time it wasn't one of the license plate lamps
which it was a previous time and was briefly whacked back into
life enough to pass; this time I'd lost a front marker light and
fortunately had a couple of spare 168 type wedge-base 5W bulbs
kicking around to pop in there before setting off.
.
I want to start replacing various lamps with LEDs, but it's hard
to determine from product pictures if LED modules will be bright
enough in the right directions to be within spec and work well
with the existing reflectors, etc etc.
.
_H*