So my tags expire in Jan and it's my emissions year for the Blue 8. I have till end of Feb to get the test and tags without being charged a late fee. I have doubts that it'll pass by just adding the smog air pump and cats back. Should I try this first? Will it matter if I take the test multiple times before I pass?

If I fail my next plan is to pull off the intake pipes, install the K&N intake I have, tie the waste gate open, then flash to a stock emissions map. I'm thinking this should be good enough even though the turbo is still installed. It should not spool much and just end up blowing air to atmosphere.

What do you all think? Try plan A or go straight to B? Or spend my time out in the cold and completely pull the kit off?

GR-8 wrote:Will it matter if I take the test multiple times before I pass?

You can take it as many times as you want (and can afford),
I had to re-test about 6 times back in the day when my Geo wasn't passing, then before the last test, i used gas-additive-cleaner stuff + warmed up the car a lot on the high-way, then took out the air filter right before doing the emissions and it finally (barely) passed.
After that I ended up selling it to someone in a non-emissions county...

If you fail the first time, you can retest again for free within 10 days.

Jimmy, I'm thinking with the stock cat and air pump you can pass. I would try that first, if you don't then disconnect the turbo charge pipe and basically run it NA. You get a retest for free within 10 days so it wouldn't hurt to try the plan with the least additional effort first.

All of that sounds way better than pulling your kit. Good luck! (test early and get it done with while the weather is a little more decent in case you do need to go to more extensive work)

The only question I would have is if it will pass the visual inspection. Luckily the turbo isn't hanging out in front or visible at all, really, so you could just tell them it's an intake or something.

Or just tell them it's the Mazdaspeed RX8 lol.

That was my thinking. Hopefully they just take a peak and the don't dig too deep and see the injector for the meth. I doubt they will know what it is anyways. I was thinking to cut the stock air box to cover everything. We will see.

Great timing for this thread. I too have to get my emissions done for a January registration and this will be the first one that I've ever done with my testpipe in...

Any bets on whether or not I'll pass with just the (1) cat left?

Its my experience they look for an air pump, any obvious leaks, and a cat. Anything else and they couldn't care.

Usually most cars have one main cat, and its typically the one farthest from the exhaust header. The other cats are designed to heat up faster to clean up emissions until the car is warm, then they typically get too hot to do anything useful. Assuming the car is good and warm, you should be able to pass with just the main cat.

I pulled out the restrictor pills on my RX7 3rd gen to limit boost, had just the main cat in place (no pre-cat), a working air pump, then warmed up the car on the highway before passing first try.

Try to go when they are not busy, so they can inspect you quickly and get you on the dyno. They just keep inspecting your car if they are waiting for someone else to finish on the dyno.

Good luck!

e-85 is your friend

I'm going to try with the turbo then. Just put the cats in. I'll let you all know sometime next week how it goes.

Dave can you send me a map with the CEL turned off. They'll go off after I connect the o2 sensor and the air pump. But I hate that they are always on now.

SecondGenPAt wrote:e-85 is your friend

E85 is something I'll think about when I do a custom kit. Just not that many fuel stations around.

Yeah, I'll send you a new map.

Make sure to get air pump working and drive for a good 30 minutes plus before heading to the test station to get the cat good and hot.

Like Matt (alpha) said, we both passed in our FD's with the stock cat, air pumps and limited boost. I'm sure the good factory cat, electric air pump (not to mention your side exhaust ports) you can pass. I would only worry about inspection.

OK. I seem to be burning oil. White/Blueish smoke constantly coming out of the exhaust. Even after the car has warmed up. I don't think I will pass burning oil like this. Just started a couple days ago. Car runs, starts and drives fine except for the smoke. I can smell the oil.

This is not cold smoke. I'm talking about clouds of smoke.

Ouch. Not good.

I had a smoking TII pass emissions (smokes on acceleration, probably needs a turbo rebuild), but if its smoking just sitting around, then it'll probably never get on the dyno. They'll probably hand you a yellow form saying that its unsafe to test. They won't charge you though, which is nice.

Umm, I'm thinking your best bet would be to go to the DMV, and register it as non-operational until you get things figured out, unless you think you can get it fixed by the end of the month (you might actually have two months, I think they consider the registration late at the start of March). Of course this assumes you have a second vehicle to use...