CA smog laws

[wxman1]

There is another wrinkle to this issue. Ok, so we should all keep our vehicles tuned and running
smoothly. However, simply because your engine runs smooth and you're not belching smoke
out of the tailpipes, that only roughly correlates with emission levels of hydrocarbons(HC) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). If they really want us to keep levels of auto emissions in check, then
they (the auto parts industry) need to make low cost emissions checking equipment available.
Nearly all of the current test equipment for doing a tailpipe test still costs an arm and a leg.
I don't know about you guys, but I can't afford to pay several thousand dollars for test
equipment to measure levels of HC, CO and NOx. In the past 25 years, computer power has increased by several orders of magnitude, yet the auto parts industry still demands these
ridiculous prices for this kind of test equipment. Case in point, I just paid $150 for an OBD2
code reader from Orielly's. All this stupid thing does is read a code that the car's computer
spits out and display it on the screen. IMHO this device should cost no more than $50, MAX!
Of course, our trucks don't have codes or computers or such. So, we would have to rely on
tailpipe tests to determine if our tuning is helping or hurting levels of various pollutants.
So if the CA assemblywoman thinks we're being disengenious (thats just a fancy way of calling
us liars) then she and her silent supporters in the auto parts and auto service industry are
subject to the same criticism.

Jim
Mt Juliet