New California Smog Law Starting July 19, 2021

[Xtra]

Just thought I should give the heads up to fellow Californians.

According to Road and Track  " If you live in California and run an aftermarket tune on your car, you might want to think about flashing your ECU back to stock before heading out for your biennial Smog Check. Starting July 19, 2021, testing stations will begin to check whether cars are running OEM or California Air Resources Board (CARB)-approved tunes. If your car isn't, it'll fail the test."

 

Another source states " Before your vehicle will pass a Smog Check, you must have the vehicle’s software restored to the OEM software version. Once the software is restored, have your vehicle reinspected by a licensed Smog Check station. Note that vehicles initially directed to a STAR or Referee station must return to the same station type to complete the inspection process."

If you believe the vehicle’s software is already OEM or CARB-approved and yet your vehicle failed Smog Check, schedule an inspection with the Smog Check Referee.

If you unknowingly purchased a vehicle with illegally-modified software, you may file a complaint with BAR.

Road and Track continues:

"California is among the strictest regions on the planet when it comes to emissions policies, so it's not surprising to see the BAR implement a rule that it thinks will curb emissions by preventing cars from using aftermarket tunes that could increase said emissions, no matter how negligible that increase may be. 

Tuning your car is one of the easiest and most effective mods you can do to a car, one that often provides measurable results, especially if the car in question is turbocharged."

 

 

 

[enigma-2]

So what's stopping someone from flipping the tune back to OEM for the smog test and then back to an advanced tune the day after?

 

Is there any record in the software showing the history of changes like in other computer software tables?

[handfiler]

17 minutes ago, enigma-2 said:

So what's stopping someone from flipping the tune back to OEM for the smog test and then back to an advanced tune the day after?

 

Is there any record in the software showing the history of changes like in other computer software tables?

 

It depends on the level of modifications really. If you have installed an aftermarket supercharger for example, the answer would be no. If it's a tune file installed on a vehicle with no (or minimal) modifications then it's not an issue.

Just like my X4 programmer does, the CARB test facility will be able to read what tune file is installed. It's all available by plugging into the diagnostic port.

[enigma-2]

Don't think we're on the same page.

 

Are you saying your tune is California CARB approved? If so it would not be a problem. But for those whose tunes are not, they have no choice but to return to OEM tune. (After all, that would be the entire purpose of testing for cars that have been re-tuned for performance and modifying the emissions out of compliance).

 

My question was, can they tell if a non-OEM tune was ever used? (Its not uncommon for software changes to keep a log of changes - and the car's computer, is a computer). 

 

If there's no record, whats stopping someone from re-tuning the day after the test? But if there "is" a log, it could be a red flag that its being tuned.

[handfiler]

Ford can tell exactly how many times the PCM was flashed and when it was flashed. I don't know if CARB has that capability. I don't think that would be their mandate. They are probably only interested in what is flashed on the PCM at the time of testing but pure speculation on my part.

Thankfully it's a non issue where I live.

[akirby]

2 hours ago, handfiler said:

Ford can tell exactly how many times the PCM was flashed and when it was flashed. I don't know if CARB has that capability. I don't think that would be their mandate. They are probably only interested in what is flashed on the PCM at the time of testing but pure speculation on my part.

Thankfully it's a non issue where I live.

My understanding from Ford engineers is all they can see with a stock tune is how many ignition cycles have occurred.  So if you bring it in with 25,000 miles and only 50 key cycles they know it was reflashed.  Of course they can see a non stock tune.

[handfiler]

I don't have direct knowledge but I have stayed at a Holiday Express Inn on a few occasions.

[omar302]

6 hours ago, handfiler said:

Ford can tell exactly how many times the PCM was flashed and when it was flashed. I don't know if CARB has that capability. I don't think that would be their mandate. They are probably only interested in what is flashed on the PCM at the time of testing but pure speculation on my part.

Thankfully it's a non issue where I live.

 

3 hours ago, akirby said:

My understanding from Ford engineers is all they can see with a stock tune is how many ignition cycles have occurred.  So if you bring it in with 25,000 miles and only 50 key cycles they know it was reflashed.  Of course they can see a non stock tune.

 

As per the attached document, they'd look at the ignition cycle counter using mode 9. But the LMS tuner does not reset the counter, neither on a performance tune or when returning to stock. I have seen this myself. So it won't be detectable.

G0000128 Gas Engine Performance Modifications.pdf