how hard is it to smog a jdm motor?

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 03-03-2008, 09:03 PM
  #1  
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
theo79's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: East Bay/ Camp Pendleton
Posts: 856
Car Info: 2002 wrx
how hard is it to smog a jdm motor?

im thinkin about swapping either a JDM V7 STI HYBRID ENGINE EJ205/7 (AVCS) or a JDM V7 LEGACY ENGINE EJ205 (AVCS) hopefully before summer time.

how hard is it to get these motors to pass just the sniff test for smog?


Thanks,
Theo

(posted in bay area section because of smog question relating to bay area/ california)


Thanks,
Theo
theo79 is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 09:13 PM
  #2  
Registered User
 
gsxbusar1300's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Bay Area, Ca/La Jolla, Ca
Posts: 105
Car Info: 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
everyone always says its impossible to smog a JDM motor here in CA even with a double catted DP and cat. i've asked this question because i was considering doing a JDM wrx conversion for my RS, so as far as i know its impossible...well let me rephrase "its impossible to get it smogged LEGALLY" lol
gsxbusar1300 is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 09:18 PM
  #3  
Registered User
Thread Starter
iTrader: (6)
 
theo79's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: East Bay/ Camp Pendleton
Posts: 856
Car Info: 2002 wrx
wow lol
i might have to re-think my options here.
so with 2 cats still no passing?

what about with tuning?
theo79 is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 09:19 PM
  #4  
Registered User
 
aronnax's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: The Bay
Posts: 31
Car Info: 08 WRX
what about a USDM STI motor in a 2.5rs? can you get that legally done?
aronnax is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 09:19 PM
  #5  
VIP Member
iTrader: (17)
 
VRT MBasile's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 22,776
Car Info: '13 BRZ Limited / '02 WRX
Noah of LIC Motorsports says its all in the wiring. He didn't bother to explain though, probably cause no one would have understood

look for the thread in the LIC Motorsports forum titled "no more conversions" and he mentions it towards the end of the thread
VRT MBasile is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 09:20 PM
  #6  
VIP Member
iTrader: (17)
 
VRT MBasile's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Posts: 22,776
Car Info: '13 BRZ Limited / '02 WRX
Originally Posted by aronnax
what about a USDM STI motor in a 2.5rs? can you get that legally done?
yes.

(if you can find a shop in the bay area to do the conversion)
VRT MBasile is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 10:36 PM
  #7  
Registered User
iTrader: (4)
 
STi-owns-evo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: East Bay / Pomona
Posts: 3,670
Car Info: '02 PSM WRX
Originally Posted by aronnax
what about a USDM STI motor in a 2.5rs? can you get that legally done?
I believe as long as the motor comes from a USDM car, and the motor comes from a newer or same year of the car, it is smog legal.
STi-owns-evo is offline  
Old 03-03-2008, 11:51 PM
  #8  
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
 
Jewbaru's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Sacramento
Posts: 988
Car Info: 05 STi
Originally Posted by STi-owns-evo
I believe as long as the motor comes from a USDM car, and the motor comes from a newer or same year of the car, it is smog legal.
Basiaclly, Alot of the legality is in the wiring. With JDM engines chances are they lack alot of the emissions devices IE TGV's and Airpumps and whatnot.
Jewbaru is offline  
Old 03-04-2008, 07:43 AM
  #9  
VIP Member
iTrader: (22)
 
medicSTi's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Vacaville
Posts: 9,542
Car Info: 2017 CWP WRX & 2007 SWP WRX
It's been done and passed, so it can be done and passed. Ask the LIC guys (even though they no longer swap engines)
medicSTi is offline  
Old 03-04-2008, 08:29 AM
  #10  
Warm Fuzzy Admin
iTrader: (45)
 
sybir's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2001
Location: Sacramento, CA
Posts: 13,799
Car Info: 97 LOB, 05 FXT, 03 Tundra
It can be done and passed, it can't be done to the letter of the law.

Emissions (sniffer) on a mild turbo car are easy....hell, they run cleaner with no cats than some cars with 'em, so a stock exhaust should do it. The problem is the OBD2 check, all the registers, parameters, etc, and it's a grey area.

Will it pass if you're running a USDM ECU? Probably. If you get an **** tech who looks and sees that your heads are different or your Japanese ECU doesn't report a parameter the way a US car is suppsed to, will you fail? Probably. CA is not a friendly place for grey-area swaps because you don't have anything to fall back on. The ECU checks are what will get you.
sybir is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
FLIWRX
Engine and Drivetrain
0
04-30-2007 01:27 PM
psoper
Meetings, Events & Donuts
28
07-10-2006 11:08 PM
dunnojack
Suspension, Handling, and Brakes
10
07-19-2005 02:15 PM
Rat
Bay Area
3
02-12-2004 06:46 PM
IS2Scooby
Hawaii
11
09-13-2003 03:12 PM



Quick Reply: how hard is it to smog a jdm motor?



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 05:50 PM.