Well I had the emissions and noise tests done this morning... don't know what the hell I was so worried about. Thought I'd post what happened for searchability's sake if someone was after some information on this, because when I was researching for info I couldn't find much, so I will make this very detailed. I'd already spent a lot of time trying to make sure everything was in order... had my pea shooter exhausts made up (new mufflers with 2.25 inch pipes flanged onto existing exhaust so I could put my old canons back later, new 2.5 inch leuvered hotdog resonators, existing 3 inch front pipes and existing crappy 3 inch cats) replaced my hardpipe BOV's with the stock engine bay intake pipes (actually still had the stock recirc valves still connected and didn't realize!). I left my pod filter on since its a dry element type and I have stock intercoolers, so this is allowed. Since my car is a 1994 model I didn't have to worry about the extra tubes that go to the exhausts for the AIV valves, but I did superglue the exhaust temperature sensor cables onto the ends of the actual exhaust sensors to make them look like they were connected. They had been disconnected for a while but I didn't want to enter into an argument about them not being part of the emissions control system, besides, how could I prove that without having a printed service manual to show him. I had just over three weeks notice of the tests, not including the lead time in between getting pulled over and recieving the letter from the EPA (about a week and a half). I had already had done an EPA noise test about two years ago, and also recieved an EPA notification about a year ago about some cop that reported my exhaust was too loud whilst I was passing by (he was damn right ) so I already knew this time round it would be the full emissions and noise test, and therefore wasted no time in getting my exhaust modified and fixing everything up. BTW, the minimum notification that the EPA must give is 7 days, but given the number of "hoons" (as the cops put it) out there they probably have a bit of a backlog, which is evident from my three weeks notice. When you get the notification, on the back is an extract from the Enviromental protection act (Section 55) which says that the tests can only be done at the testing station if the distance from the vehicle's registered address to the testing station is less than 50km. Using a route planner on the internet I worked out that the distance from my address (Berwick) to the testing station address (Macleod) was 49.5km (D'OH!!). I am not sure what the alternative would be though if I was over the 50km, they would probably get you to do the noise test at an authorised exhaust shop and forget about the emissions test, as I'm sure they don't provide an at home mobile service! Also, the testing station at Macleod is the only testing station listed for Victoria (for emissions test that is). So I rock up this morning after nearly an hour drive, the place basically looks like a drive through carport , very tall (presumably to test trucks also) with an office attached on one side, and like a small mechanics workspace/kitchen on the other. There is no "pit" to drive over like I was lead to believe, for them to take a close examination of under the car, although there may have been at one stage since the concrete under the carport looked fairly new and the whole station was on a sort of small manmade hill. The tester checks my name and address, and then the very first thing he askes me is "what makes it a Fairlady". I give him the story about the Nissan Japan guys seeing "My Fair Lady" and adopting the name. He didn't seem too amused. He goes around the car taking notes, has a good look at the intercoolers and the pod from the gaps in the front bar. He asks if I have BOV's to which I said no, I think he may have had some sort of police report from when the cops pulled me over because he asked me again "so you didn't have BOV's fitted?", but I told him about how the "Police Mechanic" that was looking over my car thought that BOVs are attached to the exhaust and emit fumes so he stopped asking. As a gesture of goodwill I then pointed out that I did have the stock recirc valves fitted and showed him where they were. He then tried to poke around the engine bay but once he saw he had no hope in seeing anything under the mess of pipes he stoped. He then checked inside the car, had a good long look at my turbotimer and headunit (and the old headunit too, its disconnected and just filling the gap in the dash ), felt around to see if there was anything plugged into the Consult port (i.e. looking for a piggy back ECU), and checked the glovebox (e.g. looking for devices like an Apexi SAFC). Then he turned his attention to the exhausts, he had a very quick look under the car (probably to see if cats/resonators were fitted) then round the back to see the mufflers. So then to the emissions test. He asked me to start the car, and he attached his emissions testing device (probe thingy attached to a long cord) to the drivers side exhaust. The device itself sits on a trolley and measures four things, but I can only remember three, % of O2, % of CO2 and % hydrocarbon (or was it carbon monoxide?). He let the car idle with it for about 20 seconds, then revved the engine a little and then held RPM at around 2000 for a while. Not sure what that was for, as the regulations say that this test is to be conducted at idle, but perhaps he was making sure that normal operating temperature of the engine and/or cats had been reached. This was despite just having driven for nearly an hour to get there. Let me just say, that even with a pod, full custom exhaust with crappy no name brand highflow cats, slight engine misfire at idle and an engine known for running rich, my car passed this test by a country mile. Emissions were at about 1 %, maximum allowed is 4.5%. I'd be willing to wager that if you chip your ECU with something mild (e.g. a mild HiTec ECU, maybe even a MiNES chip since there was a run of MiNES zeds), that you would probably still pass this test, as long as your cats are in good order. After that the tester asked me to drive forward to a painted yellow square about 30m ahead of the "carport" for the noise test. After setting up his microphone (passenger side) he asked me to start car, he then did three runs of slowly raising RPM to 4800, holding for a couple of seconds, then releasing throttle (spot on with regulations). I already knew I would pass this test since I had it tested at Daalder's in Dandenong two weeks ago after having the exhaust modified, but it was reassuring to see that I got the exact same results... 86 @ 4800 RPM, 89.5 when letting off the throttle. He then said "thats fine" and then showed me how I can drive out. All over in less than 10 minutes. Below are some interesting points on stuff he did not check. This could be different for other testers though... so YMMV, or he just might test that many cars that he just knows that 99/100 times that all this stuff is ok so he is not that thorough. FWIW, I seem to remember reading somewhere that the tests are supposed to be done by a qualified mechanic and the guy who did the tests looked more like a geek than a mechanic. He had sort of fuzzy curly grey hair and very clean appearance (kind of like a tree hugger), looked almost like he would normally work across the road at the other EPA buildings testing things like water quality. Anyway here are the points: -According to regulations, there is supposed to be some major scrutineering of the engine and exhaust, to check that all emissions controls are connected and in good order, e.g. O2 sensors, AIV pipes, checking the exhaust for leaks etc. He didn't even take a close look at the vacumn pipes on top, let alone even check for obvious boost jets etc. If this guy would normally have checked for this on other cars, I guess its an advantage having a Zed since the mess of an engine bay and the already low ride height makes this impossible without a pit to drive over, he barely attempted to do this at all. The other thing is (which is more likely), unless you get a tester that is familiar with zeds they wouldn't know to look for things like AIV pipes, so if you have aftermarket front pipes as long as you conceal/remove the rubber pipes they won't look at them and go "Hey I don't know what these are, but this is something that was obviously connected at factory". I was expecting that the tester may not know about certain things, but I was at least expecting that he would be through. He was neither. -According to regulations, there is supposed to be a check for exhaust smoke, and check that it does not last longer than 10 seconds. I was worried about this as my zed suffers from mild "smoky turbo" at prolonged idle due to blown seals, but i've noticed that since fitting the pea shooters that this has reduced, presumably due to the exhaust restriction reducing the tendancy for the oil to be drawn down the dump pipes. Perhaps unless there is smoke bellowing like a chimney then they just check this in obvious scenarios, like say checking an old car for badly blown seals, but thats just speculation. -Both the emissions test and noise test was done on one exhaust only. According to regulations, it is supposed to be done on both, and then the highest reading of both is used to pass or fail. -He didn't do the AFM test, which is disconnecting the cable to check that the engine stalls (hence detection of after market management devices) He only checked obvious physical locations. So thats about it, sorry about the length. I'm happy I now know what it takes to pass, so now I'm off to put everything back
Great write up mate I've been defected twice and its a damn pain going through. Its alot better once you know what you have to have done in order to pass. Might be an idea to put a list of stuff thats needs to be done in order to pass a EPA or roadworthy in the tech section
Love the writeup They would however be disappointed to disconnect the AFM on the Zed, as the car won't stall, just won't rev over 2,500rpm
