Mike V Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Howdy all. I have just taken the plunge and registered on this board although I have checked out lots of your posts in the past. Always found some interesting reading! I currently own two Subarus: A '97 Legacy Brighton Wagon (actually is the wife's car) and an '87 GL wagon (pretty much a goner due to rust). My current Subaru situation is that the '97 is up for inspection and they have just instituted mandatory emmissions inspection here. Since my CEL light is on (has been for a LONG time), it failed inspection. I took care of the mechanical problems and will bring the car back to the inspection station/garage tomorrow and I plan to have them read me the computer codes. Guess I'll gpo from there, right? Looking forward to interacting with y'all! Mike V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sweet82 Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Mike, Welcome to the board. Don't dispare just because your old subie has terminal rust! My old subie did too. I just put a new body on and kept going...if fact it's much happier now:D http://usmb.net/gallery/albuo21 Good Luck Glenn 82 SubaruHummer 01 Forester Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
northguy Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Welcome to the board. For helpful hints on how to pass inspections, do a search on passing emissions tests. EdRach has written numerous recipes to beat the system. Good stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slo5oh Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Mike V, I've fooled smog stations with older cars, but the new OBD-II systems are a headache. If you don't live a communist state (i.e. cali) you should be able to take it to any good auto parts store and they will read your codes for you for free. It's probably something simple like an o2 sensor (or 2). Once you replace the bad part you should clear the codes and you should drive it for around a week before you try to smog it again. It takes about a week before the computer starts accepting long term memory. There are ways to speed this process up... but I'm not sure if they work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david2z4 Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 Hi, just had to post to get rid of the red message nagging me to post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattocs Posted September 15, 2004 Share Posted September 15, 2004 I heard to beat emissions you can let your tank get down to like 1/4 of a tank and put in a whole bunch of the Heet alcohol additive. It will be running off moslty alcohol and should be real clean. I dont know if this works...but it might. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rweddy Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 I heard to beat emissions you can let your tank get down to like 1/4 of a tank and put in a whole bunch of the Heet alcohol additive. It will be running off moslty alcohol and should be real clean. I dont know if this works...but it might. Yep that was my fix. I have done this on lots of cars. But that will not fix the CEL light that is on. If that is on you automatically fail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86subaru Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 welcome , i sold a rusted out fwd 5sp wagon and it ran good , but i have others to drive Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie Posted September 16, 2004 Share Posted September 16, 2004 I have what seems to be unusual internet advice for you. Keep your car well maintained and fix what is wrong with it. Oddly enough I do this myself and smog is not a big problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike V Posted September 16, 2004 Author Share Posted September 16, 2004 Thanks for warm welcome guys! Well, I just dropped the '97 2.2 back at the service station/inspection station. This is just your basic local garage. They specialize in nothing and although they can "inspect" for emissions and pass or fail your car, they do not have a "technicians" license. Apparantly, here in PA, if you have a technicians license and you make the car owner spend enough money (I believe over $150.00) on trying to get the car to pass the emissions test, they can put a sticker on it even if it does not actually pass! Some scam, huh!?! Anyway, it seems these guys can at least read the computer codes. I don't know if they will be able to interpret them. I may be back here later today for help with that... Oh yeah - As far as I know the car is not actually emitting high amounts of pollution. Since the CEL is on, it fails automatically. So, 'round we go... Thanks again folks. I'll be in touch. Mike V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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