Some folks frequent this board who appear to have some experience with this kind of thing, so, like the masochist I apparently am, I’ll heap another opinion or several onto the pile. I know if you attempt to “research” this on the Internet, you’ll find plenty of opinion and rare substance.
Here goes:
Let’s say I have a 1992 Ford F-150 with I6 and automatic transmission. Fully road legal.
Let’s say I wander into a pasture and discover a 2011 Mustang GT, crushed from the top, and talk “Farmer Jeb” into letting me have it for practically free. It is a runner and fully usable. If you’re only 14" tall.
So, as the enterprising soul I am, I think “let’s stick that nice engine in the old F-150. I’m tired of reliable gobs of torque and long for that V8 rumble”.
Presto, changeo: one Coyote V8 and 6-speed equipped street racing 1992 F-150. Should be shyte-tonnes of fun.
Now here’s the question: What happens when I pull in to the local sticker station? Obviously, the F-150 with its I6 and automatic = no problem cheapo “safety only” inspection sticker. I have the impression that they don’t even check for emissions stuff. Pop hood. See engine: check. Close hood, check blinkers, horn, windshield wipers, parking brake aaaaand sticker it, bubba, we’re done.
The 2011 GT would be a completely different experience involving anal OBDII probes and visual inspections for out-of-place emissions equipment, etc…
So what happens with my hybrid?
I love anecdotes, but if you can point me to ANY literature or documentation to back up a position so posited, that would be off-the-charts!
Thank you.
I haven’t done it, but my understanding is that the magic is having a chassis and VIN that exceeds 25 years old. Once you have that, it should be a safety only inspection, but I a looking forward to others that can confirm.
If I pull in with an old chassis, do they actually ID the motor to determine its year?
I haven’t done it either but have to agree. It’s no different than if you have a new motor in an old Camaro or Mustang.
As I read it, once the chassis is 25 years old it no longer matters what year the motor is.
Separately, a roughly 10 year old read of the emissions laws in Texas did allow a chassis less than 25 years old to have a complete emissions legal newer engine and driveline to be swapped in, engine, trans, headers, and cats. In that scenario, validation of the engine year seems likely, and inspection stations that would know how to pass it would seem rare. No idea if that path is still valid.
Again, I haven’t yet used either path. And really want to hear from someone who has.
I have had several vehicles that required a safety only inspection. If the VIN only requires a safety inspection, then that’s all you need. For example, any Heavy Duty truck whether gasoline or diesel only needs a safety inspection. So whether it’s a 69 Camaro SS with a brand spanking new vette motor or a 2001 Silverado Heavy Duty, you still need only a safety inspection.
The engine is irrelevant if the vehicle is 25 years old or more. It’s all based on the chassis, which is determined via the VIN. Once you hit 25, the vehicle becomes statewide exempt from emissions testing.
Now, younger than 25 things get interesting. If the vehicle was manufactured in 1994-95, it will still need to pass an emissions inspection using an exhaust gas sniffer, producing less than or equal to the specification for the vehicle’s original engine displacement. In your case, a Coyote 5.0 will produce far fewer emissions than an old 4.9l I6, so this would still be a nonissue. However, if the vehicle was built after 1996, it would need to supply data via the OBD2 system. This information includes data about the make and model of the vehicle and the engine installed, in addition to the onboard emissions diagnostic data. If you were working with a GM product, changing these to match your application is well-documented, but with Fords, making the changes is hit or miss depending on the donor ECU. In any case you would need to transplant a full working OBD2 system into the swap vehicle.
Now, let’s say you drive a newer vehicle, and you remove the catalytic converters. Normally this will trigger an 0420 code for catalyst efficiency, and set the emissions monitors to Failed, and you’ll automatically fail the emissions inspection. However, many modern ECUs can be flashed to simply not monitor catalyst efficiency. The presence of catalytic converters is not stated as a requirement in any emissions inspection in Texas. The only reasons it would fail previously are a) the presence of any active engine-related OBD2 code is an automatic failure and b) removal of the catalytic converters will trigger readiness monitor failures for both the Catalyst and Oxygen Sensor. All 17 emissions counties specify that you fail if you have 2 readiness monitors in the Failed or Not Ready state. If these monitors are removed from the ECU, you will have all RMs in the Ready state, and pass your inspection.
Regarding the safety inspection going away: it was proposed in the state senate last May, but failed to gain enough votes to get to the governor’s desk. It has not been brought up for this year’s legislative session. Personally, I think this is for the best. If your car doesn’t meet the basic safety requirements, it shouldn’t be on the road. The safety portion of the inspection is only $7, so it’s not like it’d be saving you any money either.
I have no legitimate experience with this except hanging out the in the TDI forums, and considering doing an engine swap on a 1981 rabbit. My understanding is:
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You must meet of exceed the specifications of the emissions requirements of the date of manufacture/sale of the original Chassis of the vehicle.
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You must not remove any part of the certified chassis of the vehicle (including the cat, even if you don’t need it in your county) because the car as a whole was certified to meet the Category of emissions that applied to it when it was manufactured. The exception to that of course is if you replace it with the same or better. You could obviously add emissions parts like a cat, and you should because I like breathing clean air.
In your example, if your old truck had a muffler, make sure what you are swapping has a muffler. If your old truck had a cat, make sure what you are swapping has a cat. If you old truck didn’t have OBDII, then they aren’t allowed to require you to have a OBDII port.
The only grey area I’m a little unsure about is the difference in fuel type (say diesel to gas or gas to diesel) because they can’t exactly force you to test your gas swap to the old diesel title III emissions standard.
That’s a scary thought.
Not at all.
I see plenty of cars on the road and wondered HOW they passed, but still, they’re out there in droves. Mostly, this would eliminate my having to fiddle with time off work to go visit my friendly sticker pedlar and try to avoid the “windshield wiper tax”. Y’know, except they’ll still insist on emissions testing, making me sorrier than ever to not have a diesel.
Texas is 1/15 of the states in our fair Union STILL requiring state safety inspections, even though there is roughly zero proof that they improve the safety of our roads one iota.
They DO keep mechanics in jobs, though. To be fair, i never met a tech who LIKED doing state inspections. They’d all rather do actual work on cars for their paycheck than push pencils around for bureaucrats…
On my 91 vette, they didn’t even bother opening the hood for the safety only inspection. They just checked the lights, horn, quick glance at the tires and drove it around the building for a brake test, and that was at a kwik kar type place. I would guess that most techs would be more interested in how you made the newer engine fit and run in the older car, than worrying about the emission concerns, if they even bothered to look.
Not a scary thought at all to those on this forum and those that care (to those that don’t care - it never mattered anyways)
The '92 F150 MIGHT have an OBD I port. 1992 was the first year OBD I was required on light trucks, and if it was an early production truck it might not have one. It wasn’t until 1996 that light trucks had to have OBD II. Since it is a 26 yr old truck having either is moot in Texas. You can put whatever you want under the hood and be legal.
Also, one thing to keep in mind is that Texas considers a turbo a “muffler” which is why I do not have an actual what most people believe are mufflers.
I researched it reallly heavily before placing the “strait pipe” in where the normal muffler would be. I didn’t cut it out, my buddy & previous owner did.
When was the last time you saw an “inspection” done “by the book”? (this only happens for when the State Trooper is administering the exam)
State inspectors in Texas do not have to be technicians/mechanics…
And above all else “ASE” is a marketing tool
My local inspection place wouldn’t inspect it with out a “muffler”. Even though I showed them the law.
Tim,
You may have run into the guy trying for “employee of the month”!
So what’d you end up doing?
I’ve a buddy who couldn’t get his van inspected because the exhaust exit was behind the rear tire, instead of out the back, i.e. “not far enough back”. This was due to previous owner having installed a trailer hitch and rerouted the exhaust when it was new. So it had been just fine for 15 years, and previously inspected at the same facility, but suddenly one day, became noncompliant… This is what worries me the most about sinking money into a project that “kind of” complies, like the scenario I’ve outlined…
I went to another station. The inspection only in Lewisville. Although I don’t go there for my Jeep because he thinks since the ABS light is on he can’t inspect it.
Did you have to pay twice and just suck it up, or were you able to avoid all that?