So I've been driving my car with the check engine light on for a couple months, I know there is nothing really wrong, it has the same fuel efficiency it always has,.... it's a long story but basically there was some electrical damage done to the computer or something so the stupid car thinks it's got problems it doesn't. So now thanks to the idiot environmentalist BS on emissions in NC I'm probably going to have to piss away another $1000 on a problem which is not even causing environmental damage. I'm off to figure out what to do.... :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

6/26/2006 11:48:53 AM

i've got the same prob. Its probably an air flow or oxygen sensor. go to advance and have them use their diagnostic equip to see what the prob is.

6/26/2006 11:56:58 AM

my car does that. it has for the past ~2 years.

i just unplug the battery a couple days before i'm going to get my car inspected. make sure i've driven around at least 100 miles or so, then get it inspected.

(the light turns off for a while after i've unplugged the battery)

6/26/2006 11:59:34 AM

My wrangler has not gotten inspected since 2003 as a result of not being able to pass emissions.

Under the new rules is passes because they dont use the sniffer they use the OBDII plug which is not on old cars.

If any of you are behind me at a stop light ever and die I want to apologize in advance.

6/26/2006 1:29:13 PM

oh the benefits of having a car older than a '96.

6/26/2006 1:35:10 PM

^Amen! $19, wahoo!

6/26/2006 1:44:48 PM

$19? its always been like $9.50 . . . or maybe it was $7.50, can't remember now. But no more than 10.

6/26/2006 1:51:07 PM

Mark Jacobson Toyota just quoted me like $1000-1500 just for the part ! Which is weird cause the part appears to be $100-150 rebuilt online... I wonder if I've searched for the same part... Beginning to look like my car is moving to another county...

6/26/2006 1:54:00 PM

^^it depends on your county I believe. My vehicle is registered in Wake, but this year I had it inspected in Meck. Now before when I had to get emission tested it was like $28-30. So I can pretty much say your county has no emission inspection, or much of anything else

6/26/2006 1:57:43 PM

^^What part!!

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 1:58 PM. Reason : .]

6/26/2006 1:58:28 PM

I moved this to the garage, guess it belongs there

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=417281

6/26/2006 2:15:09 PM

I posted more in the other thread, but for anyone who may want to know. I just got mine inspected earlier today-so I know this to be true.

Inspection rate is the same all over the state, the only difference is if that county requires OBD testing. It's $9.50 if it's older than 1996, or $30.00 if newer (mine ). My inspection had been out since April. The bad thing is that even though it's getting done again in June, they still stamp April-but whatever!

6/26/2006 2:57:49 PM

just get inspected in another county

6/26/2006 3:56:19 PM

re: $19.50

Must have tinted windows

[Edited on June 26, 2006 at 3:59 PM. Reason : ?]

6/26/2006 3:58:24 PM

^^ I believe that the inspection depends on where the vehicle is registered, not where it gets inspected...

6/26/2006 4:43:20 PM

Yeah the inspection has to be done in the county it is registered in.

6/26/2006 4:44:19 PM

^No, it can be anywhere in the state. It just depends on the county it is registered in as to whether or not they have to OBD test it.
(Learned this today too )

6/26/2006 4:51:54 PM

^we have a winner.

6/26/2006 7:47:36 PM

^^ yep

6/26/2006 9:15:01 PM

holler at no more fucking inspections

thats one thing is definitely DONT miss ab nc...

6/27/2006 10:50:33 AM

^SC? or some other backass state.

6/27/2006 1:08:51 PM

my plates are for illinois but i'm living in kansas

not sure what kansas law is & dont give a shit, i'm moving back to illinois in less than a year anyway

6/27/2006 6:30:23 PM

Illi has inspections every 2 years.

6/27/2006 7:46:23 PM

i'll be moved out of illinois by then anway

6/27/2006 9:32:15 PM

You could take the negative terminal off the car for about 15 minutes. That should reset the check engine light. Do this in a parking lot less than a mile before the inspection station. Hopefully the computer in the car won't pick up the problem by the time you get there and you'll pass with flying colors.

6/27/2006 10:17:20 PM

Quote :

"You could take the negative terminal off the car for about 15 minutes. That should reset the check engine light. Do this in a parking lot less than a mile before the inspection station. Hopefully the computer in the car won't pick up the problem by the time you get there and you'll pass with flying colors."

ignore this post - this is bad advice - you will not pass this way

6/27/2006 10:27:02 PM

wisco has no inspections

ironic really for such a green liberal state (read: the 2 urban areas are liberal, the rest is a bunch of idiots)

6/27/2006 10:52:08 PM

no inspection in AZ either. well, you have to get emissions tested before you can get a license plate...

6/27/2006 11:07:39 PM

you can ignore the post if you want to, but if done correctly it will work. Believe me I've seen it done many times.

6/28/2006 9:30:50 PM

no inspections in MN

the mexicans drive cars with bigger exhausts than the cars themselves

6/28/2006 9:34:44 PM

darkwunder is wrong. You will not pass inspection. You computer has to reset and activate ready codes before you can be inspected. If he goes to a shady inspection station, and has a pre '96 car, it could work. Any 96 and newer car cannot have a CEL on.

I work at a shop, don't question me.

[Edited on June 28, 2006 at 9:47 PM. Reason : .]

6/28/2006 9:47:06 PM

you have to have driven a certain number of miles since resetting the battery stuff before you can get it inspected. Like 70 or something like that. When I was waiting to get my car fixed once, I overheard the mechanic explaining this to a guy who needed it inspected but they had replaced his battery first and then couldn't inspect it.

6/28/2006 11:37:49 PM

Maximadrvr is WRONG. I work a a car dealership and I see it done every week. When you disconnect the battery it resets the computer in the car. Vehicles don't have supercomputers so it takes a little while for the computer to pick up the problem again.

6/29/2006 12:15:36 AM

yeah it takes a while to identify the problem again, but it also takes a while to get back into inspection readiness mode, which will also prevent the car from passing inspection (96 and newer).

6/29/2006 12:38:05 AM

^yes. I think the confusion stems from the fact the inspections are different in different places for different cars. Most of the advice given here probably works somewhere in NC, but here in Wake county you gotta pass the idiot OBD II test which is smart to the whole reboot by unplugging battery trick. Also disabling the light manually is rumored not to work either, although I'm not sure how they figure that out , maybe there is a code for that in the computer or something. Anyway, in short big brother is watching your new car if you live in the heavily populated counties in NC. Rather than just checking the emissions they insist on making sure silly lights are not on because hey the check engine light causes pollution. I wish they'd put half the effort of fraud-prevention into policing their own social programs as they do to making sure our cars obey their inane pollution regs.

6/29/2006 2:33:52 AM

I'd like to know how it is that everyone's cracking down on gas guzzlers and vehicles with crappy gas mileage....and vehicle emission inspection isn't required across the board? And hell, now cars in NC made before '96 don't even get emission inspected, purely to save a buck. It just doesn't make any sense from an environmental POV.

6/29/2006 1:13:49 PM

Quote :

"now cars in NC made before '96 don't even get emission inspected, purely to save a buck"

no, its b/c most of those cars wouldn't pass, and it would cost more than the car is worth to bring them up to standards, and most people who drive pre '96 cars probably dont have the money to do that. What if the gov told you that you had to shell out a few thou to make your car compliant with standards that didn't apply when the car was made? people would go ape shit.

6/29/2006 1:18:50 PM

^the theme is the same. Money before the environment. Most fixes aren't that $$ though. And if you can't afford it then thats tough shit. I just find it funny that in this day and age the gov't cares less about what comes out the tailpipe more and more, offsetting any benefits we receive through new technology in new vehicles.

6/29/2006 1:21:09 PM

Wait, I thought yearly inspections were another opportunity to dip into joe taxpayer's wallet. Now you're telling me it has to do with the environment?

6/29/2006 1:22:41 PM

^of course they want our money. But you're telling me that removing emission testing for OLD vehicles is good for air quality? Obviously its overall bad. Hell, most cars made in the last 6-7 yrs don't even need emissions testing b/c they're still fairly new.

6/29/2006 1:32:35 PM

Quote :

"And if you can't afford it then thats tough shit"

very dumb pt of view.

6/29/2006 1:34:31 PM

If they really cared about air pollution then they would pull over and impound the vehicles that I see from time to time that have the Spy Hunter smoke-screen coming out the back.

6/29/2006 1:37:36 PM

Quote :

" But you're telling me that removing emission testing for OLD vehicles is good for air quality? Obviously its overall bad. Hell, most cars made in the last 6-7 yrs don't even need emissions testing b/c they're still fairly new."

emissions testing was never removed from old vehicles, it is either different standards, or never existed.

and, the emissions tests for newer vehicles are more to ensure that the emissions control/monitoring systems still function correctly.

[Edited on June 29, 2006 at 1:38 PM. Reason : .]

6/29/2006 1:37:59 PM

Quote :

"emissions testing was never removed from old vehicles, it is either different standards, or never existed."

My car was made in 1992. I purchased it in '99. Ever since I've had to have it EMISSIONS tested every year at its inspection. Guess what, due to some law passing in NC now I don't. (had it inspected 3 weeks ago). Personally I don't mind, but its very hypocritical if you ask me.

yeah its a tough stance, but why should the gov't spend BILLIONS of our taxpayer money on something stupid for the environment when there's an easier fix right here (start at least)

6/29/2006 1:58:41 PM

My 87 F150 has been emissions tested for at least the last 7 years I've owned it. It passed and would still pass emissions tests with flying colors. The number of pre-96 vehicles still on the road decreases every day, so it isn't worth it to keep the sniffer machines in working order. NC is planning on rolling out emissions testing to most if not all of the 100 counties in the next few years for OBD-II vehicles. It would not make economical sense to force non emissions counties to buy test equipment for the decreasing number of pre-96 vehicles and to buy the test machine for the OBD-II stuff too. From an environmental point of view, I understand where you are coming from, but I think the economical practicality cannot outweigh the environmental side of things. Another thing is that most of the dirtiest polluters skip out on inspection already.

6/29/2006 5:20:41 PM

My 1993 Saturn was emissions-tested in 2005 but doesn't need it in 2006 because NC law changed.

I never understood the logic behind that. Older cars are more likely to pollute, because of age (e.g. old cats) and because they were mnaufactured when standards were less strict. If the goal is to reduce pollution, the State should require tailpipe testing for older cars. They should also have uniform standards.

My conclusion is that the goal of NC emission testing is something other than pollution reduction.

6/29/2006 5:31:40 PM