California Emissions for 90 4runner from Texas

[gabe]

Hey guys,

I've got a 1990 4runner V6 (never a california vehicle). I am planning on moving to San Luis Obispo, and am worried that my 4runner won't pass emissions. Any info would be helpful... like how many catalytic converters and oxygen sensors you guys in california have. And if older 4runners typically have problems with emissions. And if so, any tricks or suggestions to be able to pass...

[Crinale]

are u already in california? if so go talk to a referee station and they will tell u everything u need to do

[gabe]

No, it's gonna be 2-3 months, and I was going to try and fix anything that needs to be done before the move.

[Crinale]

read over this website
http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/brochures/howto/htvr9.htm

its the official how to by the dmv

[Robinhood4x4]

I've never had a problem with mine passing smog. They also do an under hood inspection to make sure you haven't messed with anything. The guy even told me my electric fan conversion with the temp sensor sticking into the radiator fins wasn't legal but he passed me anyway.

And then he asked me what this odd looking contraption in the engine compartment was for...the one that said "ARB Air Compressor" right on top.

[slosurfer]

Hey guys,

I've got a 1990 4runner V6 (never a california vehicle). I am planning on moving to San Luis Obispo, and am worried that my 4runner won't pass emissions. Any info would be helpful... like how many catalytic converters and oxygen sensors you guys in california have. And if older 4runners typically have problems with emissions. And if so, any tricks or suggestions to be able to pass...



The good thing for this county is that you more than likely won't have to go to a "test only" location which is where they do the whole visual inspection like Robinhood was talking about. You may want to get a new gas cap since they test those now. My ford failed because of the gas cap but luckily it was on the pretest so it wasn't as costly as failing the real test.

I would definitely pay for the pretest, so that if you fail on something bad, it won't pop as a gross poluter.

Where in SLO are you moving to?

[Robinhood4x4]

That's right, where I was living in the bay area was the "enhanced area"

[gabe]

The good thing for this county is that you more than likely won't have to go to a "test only" location which is where they do the whole visual inspection like Robinhood was talking about. You may want to get a new gas cap since they test those now. My ford failed because of the gas cap but luckily it was on the pretest so it wasn't as costly as failing the real test.

I would definitely pay for the pretest, so that if you fail on something bad, it won't pop as a gross poluter.

Where in SLO are you moving to?


We don't have a place picked out yet, but we are considering everything within 10-15 mins drive from SLO (Town, not County). My wife would rather be within SLO city limits though. It just costs more. We are definitely looking forward to moving though. Our kids are going to be starting school soon and we want to be somewhere permanent by the time they start. So this move is a BIG decision for us.

And thanks for the info guys...

[slosurfer]

Yeah, we used to live downtown SLO which was awesome, but then we started a family and moved to off of Foothill at the base of Bishop Peak. Now we are in Los Osos because it was much cheaper rent and we needed more room.

In regards to the original question, when I brought my van from CO (I don't know if it is a CA emmissions vehicle or not), all I had to do was to just go get a regular smog. It didn't get the whole visual smog inspection. DMV gave it a small visual inspection when I registered it, but it was more of a safety inspection (lights, turn signals, seatbelts, etc..).

[gabe]

My wife lived on Patricia Ct. and went to Bishop's Peak Elementary growing up... and we love that area, but Los Osos is cool also. I'd like to be closer to the water too. Thanks for the info...

[Crinale]

Chris, was your van from the Denver area? It may have been passed because the "high altitude" emissions package that they put on cars in the mountain regions of Colorado is exactly the same as CA emissions..

[slosurfer]

As far as I know, if your vehicle didn't come stock with CA emissions equipment, then it shouldn't make it fail (of course your vin number will prove whether it did or not). However, I do believe it still has to pass the actual test that we are all subject to.

Kevin, I'm not sure where it originally came from. I just meant that I wasn't subjected to a "test only" place w/ visual inspection. In fact there's a note on my test where he wrote that the charcoal canister is too hard to get to to inspect it. :laugh:

[gabe]

I just meant that I wasn't subjected to a "test only" place w/ visual inspection. In fact there's a note on my test where he wrote that the charcoal canister is too hard to get to to inspect it. :laugh:


I'm going to have to make sure I go to this guy when we get there.... :)

[Crinale]

I just meant that I wasn't subjected to a "test only" place w/ visual inspection. In fact there's a note on my test where he wrote that the charcoal canister is too hard to get to to inspect it. :laugh:

I'm going to have to make sure I go to this guy when we get there.... :)

cept the charcoal canister on our 4runners is way easy to get to... have you ever actually tried to work on a 80's toyota van? it takes forever to do anything :P

(quote fail >.<)

[bigarms23]

when i bought a 4runner from colorado it passed smog and the visual for ca so long as it has the factory equipment ie converter sensors egr canister and that stuff

[gabe]

I just meant that I wasn't subjected to a "test only" place w/ visual inspection. In fact there's a note on my test where he wrote that the charcoal canister is too hard to get to to inspect it. :laugh:


I'm going to have to make sure I go to this guy when we get there.... :)


Well, I'm here now! We are living in Santa Margarita. We've been here about 3 weeks. I got my truck pre inspected and passed emmissions but they did the visual inspection and said I was missing some intake parts. Truck was running great, 3 days later, blew a head gasket! Also, got our chrysler mini van inspected, running great, 5 days later threw a rod! I'm just taking this as major coincidence. Maybe it has to do with going up the grade, and putting a lot of stress on our vehicles. We were use to flat ground most of the time.

Anyways, we're having a shop in SLO put a rebuilt engine in the van. And I'm going to change the head gaskets. Any advice on a quality gasket kit would be greatly appreciated. And also any advice on things to upgrade or swap out while I'm getting this deep into the engine.

[gabe]

Oh ya,

-SLOSurfer-
where is this place that you got your smog done?

[slosurfer]

I don't remember the name of the place I originally took the van to, but I highly recommend Todd's Garage (http://www.yelp.com/biz/todds-garage-morro-bay)in Morro Bay. I've been taking my vehicles (4 of them) there for years now. One of their employees has been coming to the Pismo Jamboree the past couple years too. Tell them Chris with the 4runner, 4wd van, and runs the carwash up the street sent you.

Are you missing intake parts because you have an aftermarket intake, or because you have a non Cali emissions model? I don't think they can make you add parts if it wasn't oem to your vehicle, but I could be wrong.

Welcome back to the Central Coast! Once you get that head gasket fixed, we'll have to hit up Pozo.

[Seanz0rz]

too bad about the engines.

for head gaskets, i would stick with OEM. may pay a little more but you can be pretty well assured they will be very good.

[partsman93274]

I would definitely pay for the pretest, so that if you fail on something bad, it won't pop as a gross poluter.


[/quote]

Great advice that I wish I had read about two months ago. I'm now the proud owner of a Gross Polluter. Doing my part to slowly kill Mother Earth according to the state of California.

[slosurfer]

Yep, I pay for the pretests on my van and my 89 f250. Glad I did last year on the Ford because the gas cap ended up failing, so I would have been out much more $$ had it failed on the actual test.

[partsman93274]

Wish California would make their own cash for clunker program. I wouldn't mind owning a new Tacoma but surely wouldn't enjoy the payment.

[gabe]

I don't remember the name of the place I originally took the van to, but I highly recommend Todd's Garage (http://www.yelp.com/biz/todds-garage-morro-bay)in Morro Bay. I've been taking my vehicles (4 of them) there for years now. One of their employees has been coming to the Pismo Jamboree the past couple years too. Tell them Chris with the 4runner, 4wd van, and runs the carwash up the street sent you.

Are you missing intake parts because you have an aftermarket intake, or because you have a non Cali emissions model? I don't think they can make you add parts if it wasn't oem to your vehicle, but I could be wrong.

Welcome back to the Central Coast! Once you get that head gasket fixed, we'll have to hit up Pozo.


My truck has a 95 engine in it I think. I'm not sure if the air intake parts were present on that year. And I'm pretty sure that my truck isn't a california emissions vehicle. I think it was originally a Colorado truck. I'm not sure though.

My plan was to talk with the referee and see if I could get an exemption. But since the head gasket blew, I can't really go and show them the vehicle. So, I'm just going to get it running again and then take it somewhere else to get pretested.

[Crinale]

Check if your truck was originally sold in the Denver area.. the "high-altitude" package they installed on some vehicles there was just the CA emissions package

[slosurfer]

You should be able to find out a bunch of that info just by researching your VIN#