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I am turning to some of you CA FTE'ers for some answers. Our son has accepted a position with a company that will necessitate a move to the San Diego area. He is planning to take his 92 Bronco. Can anyone tell me what will be required for it to be emissions legal for CA? I understand that testing & requirements vary even by ZIP code. From what we can ascertain he will not be required to undergo a "sniff" test (NOX levels?). It does have an aftermarket [universal] cat, muffler, and tailpipe; all having been changed due to rust/corrosion failure. If it needs to have a new headpipe & cat assembly I have found a Walker unit that leads me to think it would be CA smog legal. However, the description also carries some text: "Direct Fit; Front & Rear; Replaces Both Front and Rear Converters; Fed. & Calif. Emiss. Models.; Replaces Multiple O.E. Converters. Only Failed Converters May Be Replaced. Not Legal For Sale on Vehicles Licensed in the State of California".
Thank you for any input those of you in the know can provide.
Unless there is something missing from the OEM emissions and Thermactor system, the truck should be fine. Not even the obnoxious state of California can mandate that you rebuild a vehicle that was not originally built for sale in the state of CA just to fit their ridiculous emissions testing. If that was the case, they would have to stop every vehicle that crossed their border and make the owner add any crap they deemed necessary to the emissions system for any car traveling into the state. (Now that I think about it, CA might actually try to be that obnoxious about it if they thought they could.)
Now if the truck stays in CA and will end up being registered there, there may be some changes that CA will mandate. But there would be no need to worry about that until such time as the registration needed to be dealt with.
Yes, we are inquiring about what may be required for CA registration purposes. The job is most likely a long term situation. Referencing my initial post, I would assume the Walker y-pipe & cat should pass since it is billed as a direct replacement and the original parts are probably obsolete from Ford. Walker's text in the item description probably just carries the boilerplate verbiage required by their legal department. Any other perspectives - especially from CA FTEers who have had to deal with similar matters - would be most welcome.
While in SD be sure to go to the the nice restaurant that gave Dean Martin the concept "Tea more Martunis, Please" they are delicious. Name of the place is Blue ....something.
Run what you brung. just have him tune it up prior to the snif test. also changing the oil prior helps. just make sure its driven at least 30mins so the motor is good and warmed up before getting the sniffer done.