Arizona diesel emissions test

[MMoyle]

Hi Gents,



I recently moved to Arizona and I came across something that made me furious! I found out that I had to get my 1st gen an emissions test. I thought..... not a big deal. I'll take it in, they'll sniff away, then I'll be on my way. I pulled into the testing station and this is what the guy said. "Put the truck in Park, and then put the gas pedal to the floor". So I put the pedel to the floor for a spilt second and let off. He then says, "No, keep it to the floor. " I said... I don't want to blow up my engine. He said this is how we do the test. To make a long story short, I ended up putting the pedal to the floor (in park) 6 times in a row for about 3-5 seconds each time!!!!!! This is how the procedure is done. Part of me wanted to drive out of there and not do the test. But I ended up doing it anyway. Is this crazy or what? I have never heard of such a ridiclous thing in my life! I can see putting the truck under load on a dyno, but in park?! Have any of you guys in Arizona done this?



Thanks

Mike

 

[John - K5AWO]

Yes, that is the standard Arizona test. I don't floor it though, I watch the tach and only let it run up to about 3,000 rpm. The hell with what they want. If they have any questions on that, "that's where the governor is set to" )



All they are doing is watching for smoke when the throttle is floored. . As for doing it more than once, never been asked to do that. One time is all I have ever been asked for.

 

[Greenleaf]

Sounds like you gotta move up here to Ohio's Amish Country. Sure the wages are in the toilet and you gotta dodge the road apples, but the air is fresh and we git to to whatever we want with our trucks



I do my own emissions tests;

Warm engine to operating temp. Place trans into 1st gear. Gently apply brake peddle. Hammer the trottle to the floor and "check for smoke" *



* the more the better





Scott

 

[JLEONARD]

Actually as scary as it apperas, that won't hurt a diesel engine provided it is up to temp. It is also sometimes referred to as the "high idle" test. It is standard to do that in a marine application. It assures that the governor is set correctly. Then you do it under load to insure that the propeller is correct.



Ct has emissions testing as well, but most of the test stations do not even allow you to to be within earshot of the test. I searched and found one that allowed me to stand next to the vehicle. Fortunately the test guy did not believe in flooring an engine so he only revved it to about 1500.



Jay

 

[DieselTweaker]

Yes i must agree with Scott ohio might suck for most other things but they could care less about some smoke, but if they ever did start checking for emissions i would say more that half of the diesels would be off the road

 

[WashingtonFLHTRider]

Washington State has the same test in the areas that have to test. They call it snap test. 3 times to clean it out. The second three times they actually take the opacity reading.



I have taken it several time with my Cummins BCIII 400 and my 3406B Cat.

 

[TWilkening]

I wonder what would happen if you had a vehicle blow up while they are doing the test?

 

[WashingtonFLHTRider]

Not really sure. But I do know what they do if the motorhome they are testing catches fire and burns the whole place to the ground. :-{}

 

[TKingsbury]

California also does a "snap idle test" on fleets that have 2 or more diesels over 6,000lb GVW. I have done these tests myself here at the County of Sacramento. We have a Bosch opacity tester. After the machine is hooked up, you follow the instructions. It will have you snap the throttle open and hold it until it says let off. It usually takes 2 or 3 before it starts to actually record the test because it wants to see less than 10% difference between snaps. At this point it will take 3 more readings and average them. I will say, the speed at which you depress the pedal makes or breaks the test. I have seen trucks that wouldn't pass a 60% opacity test when the pedal was mashed, but would pass with flying colors if the pedal was pushed quickly. Holding your engine against the governor will in no way hurt it, you could leave it like that for weeks on end. I recently went to a class put on by the guys at the California Air Resources Board (C. A. R. B. ) that do roadside testing of commercial vehicles. They said people are sometimes uneasy about revving their engines, but in the 15 years the state has been doing this testing they have never damaged an engine. They did say if an engine didn't sound healthy, they wouldn't test it until it was fixed. I know, a little long winded, but I hope this makes you feel better and sheds some light on how this testing works.

Travis. .

 

[MAX A/C]

Mike- Strange. Here in Tucson, the testing stations have rollers for the drive wheels just like a dyno. You then run it at the computer's indicated 47-55 mph while the sniffer is working (about 15 seconds at that speed. ) Back to idle, you're done. Then you get your results.



My '93 always recorded 1. 3 to 1. 5% opacity out of an allowable 30%. My "new" '01

I just got (101,000 miles on it) just recorded 0%! (Had it done before I learned that vehicles 4 years old & newer don't need to be tested... but they still get you for a test fee... don't get me started on that. )

Scott

 

[John - K5AWO]

(Had it done before I learned that vehicles 4 years old & newer don't need to be tested... but they still get you for a test fee... don't get me started on that. )

Scott

Uh, that must be why I was able to just roll thru the testing bay. My 98 met the "4 year old" requirement.



I once took a Fire Department Suburban down for a test a couple years ago. Same thing happened there. They just stuck the probe in the pipe and said to "floor it". 15 seconds later, they told me to move on.

 

[dan brooks]

Unfortunately, Tucson uses a different testing method than the Phoenix area. We use the dyno test down here, but Phoenix uses the "snap" test.



As far as the testing methods not doing any damage, I don't have a lot of confidence in that... the $!@#$!@ brain-dead idiots destroyed the gas cap on my '71 Ranchero two years in a row (try finding a matching cap at AutoZone ). Just shows the kind of people they hire to do the emissions testing... .

 

[Greenleaf]

Reminds me of the State Highway Patrol performing school bus inspections. They hired this new guy a few years ago and been failing all buses for brakes out of adjustment. He required the brakes to have "zero push rod travel" as in the brakes are "on" all the time. Where do they get these guys????



I would hope that if you are hired for a particular job, the person(s) doing the hiring would have the foresight to hire someone capable. DUH.



GL