Anyone familiar with smog testing? I think the technician is a crackhead..

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Likwid

Likwid

Sicc OG
#1
Apr 16, 2003
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#1
So I take my car to get a smog check performed and it fails. It passes in every test but the Check Engine Light. So the guy goes into details that my check engine light doesn't work and how he says whoever sold it to me must have disabled it somehow and that he can fix it, well at least that's what I gathered through his heavy far east accent. He also says it could be that my battery was low etc. etc. Now I drive the car back to my house, which is just two streets over and turn off my car in the drive way. I turn the ignition to the ON position without starting the car, and all of my lights turn on for a brief moment as they always have. SRS, OIL, Check Engine Light and so on all illuminate then turn off as normal. Now if I'm not mistaken, if my light were to be disabled or the bulb was shot, it would not turn on at all right?

Should I just go somewhere else and burn down his establishment after fetching buckets of sand from the beach?
 
M

MKB

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#7
Dec 19, 2002
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#7
The CEL should work as long as the bulb wasn't taken out. What year is your car? If you can borrow a scanner and have the codes pulled you will know what is wrong and you will know if your check engine light is actually on. Autozone used to scan the codes for you but I am not sure if they still do. AAMCO does it for free with an oil change but I don't know who does it free since I have a scanner but call around to the parts stores and some of the shops they might do it for free.
 
Likwid

Likwid

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#8
Apr 16, 2003
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it turns on when I start the car like all the lights do, so its not disabled or burned out. The car runs good and no other lights show when driving. During the test does the machine manually turn on the light as well or something?
 
M

MKB

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#10
Dec 19, 2002
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#10
The computer they hook it up to only reads codes that would cause a CEL. But I forgot to mention if you have had a code in the last 40 miles or so it won't pass either. I think the amount of driving is different for every car but it needs to be driven a certain amount before the code is actually cleared, so if the check engine light was on before then cleared it won't pass and the computer in the car needs to reset it (that only happens after driving X ammount without the CEL). Get it scanned, a good code reader can tell you if it has any stored or pending codes which won't always cause the CEL to go on. My dad was just recently fixing a mass airflow sensor on his car and he couldn't smog it until he cleared the codes then drove it for a few days without the CEL coming back on.
 
Likwid

Likwid

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#11
Apr 16, 2003
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#11
It passed all the computer emissions test, and he didnt say it had any pending codes or anything. He just said the light didnt work. But It does because I can see it when I turn on the car.
 
fillyacup

fillyacup

Rest In Free SoCo
#12
Sep 27, 2004
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#12
i think i remember hearing it takes normally 2-3 drive cycles. but that was for new pontiacs, like MKB says every car different and anything can be a drive cycle but i take it as your way to work, lunch and home from work 3 drive cycles
 
M

MKB

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#18
Dec 19, 2002
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#18
The CEL isn't a visual test because you could obviously take the bulb out. The computer that they hook it up to reads the codes and knows if anything would cause a check engine light. The smog guy down the street from my parents let them hook the car up to the machine before they payed for a smog just to see if the CEL was fully cleared and it wasn't. So if you could find someone that would let you do that you could know for sure. If not get it scanned and see if it has anything pending, if it doesn't have any take the car to someone that else because that guy might just be a crack head.
 
NiNe2FiVe

NiNe2FiVe

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#19
Apr 26, 2003
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#19
MKB said:
The CEL should work as long as the bulb wasn't taken out. What year is your car? If you can borrow a scanner and have the codes pulled you will know what is wrong and you will know if your check engine light is actually on. Autozone used to scan the codes for you but I am not sure if they still do. AAMCO does it for free with an oil change but I don't know who does it free since I have a scanner but call around to the parts stores and some of the shops they might do it for free.
Click to expand...

MKB said:
The computer they hook it up to only reads codes that would cause a CEL. But I forgot to mention if you have had a code in the last 40 miles or so it won't pass either. I think the amount of driving is different for every car but it needs to be driven a certain amount before the code is actually cleared, so if the check engine light was on before then cleared it won't pass and the computer in the car needs to reset it (that only happens after driving X ammount without the CEL). Get it scanned, a good code reader can tell you if it has any stored or pending codes which won't always cause the CEL to go on. My dad was just recently fixing a mass airflow sensor on his car and he couldn't smog it until he cleared the codes then drove it for a few days without the CEL coming back on.
Click to expand...
What he said. Get the car scanned to see if there are any codes that would turn on the light if it was working. And since it sounds like the light is fine, if there are no trouble codes, I say take it somewhere else. If youre working light isnt on, and there are no codes, then there shouldnt be a problem. Dude sounds high to me....Pep Boys will scan it for free BTW.
 
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