So i went to a smog ref today...

[kouki_s14]

i got an exhaust ticket awhile back, and today i had an appointment with the smog ref
of course i put my stock exhaust back on since i didnt think my hks hiper (3 inch version) would pass
first thing they did was pop my hood saying they needed to check belts and hoses making sure they were all intacts and not cracking, for safety reasons.
one guy said "oh so you dont have a SR20"
they were nice guys though, i asked what happens when they catch people with the motors, they said "we just tell them to swap it back to the 2.4"
i always wanted to clear those things up, since i never got a direct answer on forums. i assumed that if you got caught with a motor swap the cops would tow your car away and not give it back, or something of the sort. but i guess not, although i do not know how much the "fix it" ticket will cost you since mine was a simple exhaust infraction

they test was performed with the decibel meter about 2 feet behind the exhaust at a 45 degree angle (not exact here, im guessing from what i saw) and the car was held at 4200RPM for a few seconds and it was done.

FYI i live in socal, and i went to the smog ref at ELAC (East LA College) in monterey park

just thought i would answer some questions i thought was never very clear for me and maybe others, if this was obvious to some of you, go right ahead and flame, i just thought i would let you guys know my experiences today

anyone else that went to smog refs in cali, feel free to post your experiences here!

[Flybert]

AHAHAHA fuck if i'd take an SR20 powered car to the ref. "we just tell them to swap it back to the 2.4" Maybe that's what they want you to think...

[Ritz S14]

I :heard: .. if you get popped for a motor swap. You can waive the ref fee for $450 or so.

[Dousan_PG]

adding to unconfirmed info above..if it is true...
450? thats it
chump change

[Ritz S14]

Ok. The waiver fee is just waives the Reff. But that doesn't mean you get to bypass the biennia(2year) smog.

Basically, you need smog. Regular smog/test only smog still applies.

It doens't JUST apply to motor swap. Say intake/exhaust/header.. etc.

Just like how if you have your front windows tinted in CA, instead of having them removed.. you pay the penatly off $275 or so..and you get that waived as well.

Loop hole, but to some..it can be an expensive one. $450 IS enough to hurt your wallet, but will save you a few days work from swapping back and fourth.

[TheTimanator]

they test was performed with the decibel meter about 2 feet behind the exhaust at a 45 degree angle (not exact here, im guessing from what i saw) and the car was held at 4200RPM for a few seconds and it was done.
thats really freaking close...
at that range and at 4200rpm how do some totally stock cars even pass?

also, why do they care if you have cracked belts or hoses? aren't they just there to test emissions? bah safety...I think they were hoping you had an SR or something so they could bust you!

[kouki_s14]

AHAHAHA fuck if i'd take an SR20 powered car to the ref. "we just tell them to swap it back to the 2.4" Maybe that's what they want you to think...

the guys there said people have tried to go there with SR20's but they sent them home...

Ok. The waiver fee is just waives the Reff. But that doesn't mean you get to bypass the biennia(2year) smog.

Basically, you need smog. Regular smog/test only smog still applies.

It doens't JUST apply to motor swap. Say intake/exhaust/header.. etc.

Just like how if you have your front windows tinted in CA, instead of having them removed.. you pay the penatly off $275 or so..and you get that waived as well.

Loop hole, but to some..it can be an expensive one. $450 IS enough to hurt your wallet, but will save you a few days work from swapping back and fourth.

really thats not too bad i guess, so basically you can just pay the fee and drive your car around again? wouldnt the cop give you a ticket that states that the car is unfit to drive on public streets? please clearify.....very interested and probably a lot of other people on the forums are interested too..

thats really freaking close...
at that range and at 4200rpm how do some totally stock cars even pass?

also, why do they care if you have cracked belts or hoses? aren't they just there to test emissions? bah safety...I think they were hoping you had an SR or something so they could bust you!

yea i thought that was VERY close too
my stock exhast got a decibel rating of 83.00 at 4200rpm. some people say the sound measuring is linear so to actually get up to 95db, the car has to be fairly loud. im not sure on any of these details so dont take my word for it

and yes the first thing i thought of the so called "safety inspection" was to just have a reason to pop the hood and check for motor swaps

o yea, i got the certificate that i passed the test, but it doesnt state that it was stock or aftermarket, no picture was taken. do you guys think i can use this certificate to get out of future exhast tickets??? that would be a great early xmas gift....

[TheTimanator]

yea i thought that was VERY close too
my stock exhast got a decibel rating of 83.00 at 4200rpm. some people say the sound measuring is linear so to actually get up to 95db, the car has to be fairly loud. im not sure on any of these details so dont take my word for it
sound level (when talking about distance) is not linear. think about it...if you walk away from your car it gets quiter when you get further away.

the rule is everytime you double the distance away from the source you loose 6db.

ex. 95db @10 feet would be 107db @ 2.5 feet

[DP_Michelle G]

The ref fee is $500. They tell you to swap it back then they report what they find to the dmv. At least that what they did to my bf he had to swap it back before he could register the car.

[Var]

adding to unconfirmed info above..if it is true...
450? thats it
chump change



I got popped with my SR in pinky. THe cop wrote the ticket as "modified emission system". The fine was 340 bucks. I went to court and told the judge i didnt have money to fix it. She cut the fine in half and sent me on my way. I believe the 2nd time you HAVE to go to the ref. I didnt.

[Ritz S14]

I got popped with my SR in pinky. THe cop wrote the ticket as "modified emission system". The fine was 340 bucks. I went to court and told the judge i didnt have money to fix it. She cut the fine in half and sent me on my way. I believe the 2nd time you HAVE to go to the ref. I didnt.

Well.. that's cause you parted out pinky.

[Var]

Well.. that's cause you parted out pinky.


no it's not. I got the same ticket for my black car. I went to court, told the judge i didn't have the money and she cut the fine in half. 2 months later i registered my car(but smogged at a test-only center[where i worked at the time])

3 months after i parted out pinky, i got a registration renewal notice in the mail. All it needed was a smog at a test-only. That's why the new owner of the shell will be able to register it with no problems. I payed the fines.

[rps13_fastback]

good info, thanks for the post kouki s14

[rps13_fastback]

I :heard: .. if you get popped for a motor swap. You can waive the ref fee for $450 or so.

my friend did this. just paid whatever the fee was.. i believe it was in the $300 range also .. and didn't have to take the car to the state ref.

i also konw someone who got a state ref ticket who ended up selling the car to his friend, and went to court to tell tehm he sold the car. the judge just dismissed everything. his friend was able to register the car just fine, he did NOT have to take the car to the state ref.

[trsilvias13]

for those who got the ticket or know the person:

can you find out if on the ticket did you get one of those where it say MUST GO TO STATE REF or something in that manner and would that apply to this situation? I mean I gotten tickets for exhuast where you can just fix it, but I gotten another one where i say no CARB on the intake and no EO # on the exhaust manifold, must take to state ref.

[omgosh]

yea i thought that was VERY close too
my stock exhast got a decibel rating of 83.00 at 4200rpm. some people say the sound measuring is linear so to actually get up to 95db, the car has to be fairly loud. im not sure on any of these details so dont take my word for it

the correct term for the increase is exponential.

[SoCalS14]

Eh, tell them the car is out of state at the time of smog, then they will give you another year...Better than nothing.

[supportTHEezln]

East LA College is in East LA, not Montery Park. Just wanted to clear that up. (Montery Park starts a couple miles east)

[TurboStrong]

damn this is good stuff.

well how about this one.

i just traded my stock s14 for a s13 with an s14 sr in it but the previous owner got a intake,maifold,and exhaust ticket and he has to go to the state reff.but the cops didnt say anything about the sr and he jsut got the car 4 days before he got the ticket and it was not registered yet so it had that sticker on the back.if he transfer's the title under my name would the reff ticket go away??pelase help asap!thanks

[drftwerks]

awesome searching, but cmon 3 year old thread?

[240trainee]

I highly doubt it

and look at thread dates, there have been threads about CA's rep stations, kinda big news, should look into it.

[s13silady]

damn this is good stuff.

well how about this one.

i just traded my stock s14 for a s13 with an s14 sr in it but the previous owner got a intake,maifold,and exhaust ticket and he has to go to the state reff.but the cops didnt say anything about the sr and he jsut got the car 4 days before he got the ticket and it was not registered yet so it had that sticker on the back.if he transfer's the title under my name would the reff ticket go away??pelase help asap!thanks

i believe the ref will go away, but the previous owner will have to pay the full amount to bail.

[spacedog]

the guys there said people have tried to go there with SR20's but they sent them home...



really thats not too bad i guess, so basically you can just pay the fee and drive your car around again? wouldnt the cop give you a ticket that states that the car is unfit to drive on public streets? please clearify.....very interested and probably a lot of other people on the forums are interested too..



yea i thought that was VERY close too
my stock exhast got a decibel rating of 83.00 at 4200rpm. some people say the sound measuring is linear so to actually get up to 95db, the car has to be fairly loud. im not sure on any of these details so dont take my word for it

and yes the first thing i thought of the so called "safety inspection" was to just have a reason to pop the hood and check for motor swaps

o yea, i got the certificate that i passed the test, but it doesnt state that it was stock or aftermarket, no picture was taken. do you guys think i can use this certificate to get out of future exhast tickets??? that would be a great early xmas gift....

I've talked to the ref's. You can have any aftermarket exhaust you want so long as it doesnt pass the 95 decibel limit.

[Boostin on you]

wat was the vc?

if its just modified exhaust you can go to the police department, officer asks yoi to rev your engine to around 4-5k. But if its chp you have to go to them and they are too anal. Its a trap they will catch you and fix it ticket everything illegal on your car
from window tints to ride height, no front plates


I go to ELAC, they dont charge for smog refs.

[UNISA JECS]

Exhaust Noise and the Law California USA (http://www.cent-21.com/laws/exhaust-us.htm)

[ho0dlumka13]

What if u get a "loud exhaust" ticket is that the same as a modfied exhaust ticket?

[illvialuver]

so if you can afford 300 hundred dollar smogs and 450 everytime you get popped than sr is the way to go.

[Boostin on you]

What if u get a "loud exhaust" ticket is that the same as a modfied exhaust ticket?
'


yes it is, just swap exhaust go to the station ask for a write off and cops will hear it then sign the paper and its over

[FaLKoN240]

I knew this thread was old when I saw V (Ritz S14) posting...

Then I checked the post date.

[240esux]

so if you can afford 300 hundred dollar smogs and 450 everytime you get popped than sr is the way to go.

$300!!! damn thats a grip.

supposidly the reff stations are on hold til further notice cause the state cant afford it at the moment.

[Mikey88]

i got a recent referee (modified emissions citation)/exhaust mod/no front plate ticket last month...i got my courtesy notice a few weeks ago...the results $385.00 for the combination of the three...$215 if i get the exhaust mod and front plate fixed...so my ref ticket unfixed ended up being $215

[skylindrftr]

huh that sounds rather cheap for a ref ticket, from what i heard they are 5 - 1500 dollars

[sr20det_s13]

You guys are lucky my brother got popped then cop took away his car. gg but for smog IF i was to sr20 wouldnt it be better to smog your ka24 then right after swap it so you dont have to worry about smog for awhile? If that works.

[skylindrftr]

Never heard about a car being taken away unless they were street racing or had stolen parts.

[The Gray Ghost]

Ok. The waiver fee is just waives the Reff. But that doesn't mean you get to bypass the biennia(2year) smog.

Basically, you need smog. Regular smog/test only smog still applies.

It doens't JUST apply to motor swap. Say intake/exhaust/header.. etc.

Just like how if you have your front windows tinted in CA, instead of having them removed.. you pay the penatly off $275 or so..and you get that waived as well.

Loop hole, but to some..it can be an expensive one. $450 IS enough to hurt your wallet, but will save you a few days work from swapping back and fourth.

I got busted for tinted front windows; so I got two clear windows from the parts yard and put them in ( about 30 min. work) and went and had the ticket cleared. $10 for court fee and $15 for the Sherriff to sign off on the ticket. I am now going to put the tinted windows back in ( about 30 min. ) and that is the secret to the whole thing

[S14DB]

11-22-2005, sigh...