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Engine Specific Info and Questions => IDI Engine => Topic started by: Cheesetoast on April 16, 2007, 06:23:43 pm

Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 16, 2007, 06:23:43 pm
got this in the mail today, i'm going to frame it.

(http://members.shaw.ca/adowler3/airscare.jpg)
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: foxracer1 on April 16, 2007, 06:37:31 pm
NICE!!! I like that. I would frame it also. Did you get any sort of fine?  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 16, 2007, 06:45:12 pm
no fine, but when it comes time for aircare again, they'll probably *** at me, hopefully no cat anda  2.5" turbo back exhaust won't be a problem.  all i'll have to do is turn the fueling way down before i go.  I'm writing a letter back explaining that my vehicle is a diesel and is registered as such, and like all older diesel engines, they emit black smoke under normal operating conditions.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: 745 turbogreasel on April 16, 2007, 07:04:44 pm
Send them a nice note thanking them for alerting you to a dirty air filter.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: jtanguay on April 16, 2007, 07:13:07 pm
well they're just doing their job... they know it's a diesel... but since someone probably ***ed them out, they have to do something about it.

i find it funny how they talk about one small vehicle emitting poisonous gases, when they have the huge komatsu beasts out there hauling rock etc... those huge trucks burn a years worth of diesel in a day (250+ gallons)

i bet its those hypocrites who smoke too...  :lol:

i would be a bit weary about removing the cat if the car originally came with one... if you know the operator he might let you off... if you get a total dick they will make you get one put on.

good idea about turning the fueling down... disconnect the fuel enrichment and eco that thing up! it will run way cleaner than one of those crappy saturns with shot rings... you know what i'm talking about... they have blue smoke coming out the back...  :lol:
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 16, 2007, 07:33:27 pm
Quote from: jtanguay

good idea about turning the fueling down... disconnect the fuel enrichment and eco that thing up! it will run way cleaner than one of those crappy saturns with shot rings... you know what i'm talking about... they have blue smoke coming out the back...  :lol:


or dodge aries, or pontiac "goolies" (6000 le)
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: jtanguay on April 16, 2007, 07:42:09 pm
Quote from: "Cheesetoast"
Quote from: "jtanguay"

good idea about turning the fueling down... disconnect the fuel enrichment and eco that thing up! it will run way cleaner than one of those crappy saturns with shot rings... you know what i'm talking about... they have blue smoke coming out the back...  :lol:


or dodge aries, or pontiac "goolies" (6000 le)


lmao... that one comedian who called them Gooses

6000SE  hehe...  but yea I've only seen saturn's on the road with the bad oil burning problem... probably because the engine is so retarded that the egt's are high... could be the valves too i suppose... they are good on gas though!!!
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Black Smokin' Diesel on April 16, 2007, 07:47:59 pm
Quote
6000SE  hehe...  but yea I've only seen saturn's on the road with the bad oil burning problem... probably because the engine is so retarded that the egt's are high... could be the valves too i suppose... they are good on gas though!!!


Yeah but the cash you save on gas goes into your engine oil because you have to fill it up one a week :P
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: jtanguay on April 16, 2007, 08:20:33 pm
Quote from: "Black Smokin' Diesel"
Quote
6000SE  hehe...  but yea I've only seen saturn's on the road with the bad oil burning problem... probably because the engine is so retarded that the egt's are high... could be the valves too i suppose... they are good on gas though!!!


Yeah but the cash you save on gas goes into your engine oil because you have to fill it up one a week :P


true!  my dad fixed up one that was in a collision by some drunk dude in a parking lot... it was stick! very fun little car.  it was around $5 to go to wonderland and back to oshawa! not too shabby!  2002 saturn le i think
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: AdAm84 on April 17, 2007, 06:46:27 am
but they suck to take to the scrap yard. i took a 92 sl2(?) and it only weighed in at 1900lbs. (too much plastic) good thing i only paid $50 for it and scrap prices are high. lol.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: myke_w on April 17, 2007, 06:50:08 am
Hahaha! that's pure hilarity!
Title: perpetuating the problem
Post by: belchfire on April 17, 2007, 07:00:49 am
It's too bad that you see smoke production as a desireable thing.
One of the main reasons that diesels are disliked besides the stink and noise is the smoke. Being a biker I can say that there are few things worse that being behind a fume belching vehicle. Maybe you should look into bio-diesel or SVO. I am currently building an '81 caddy w/1.6 TD and plan to do just that.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: lord_verminaard on April 17, 2007, 07:08:26 am
Oh boy, saturns.  My ex girlfriend had one, it was an SL2 sedan with the DOHC 1.9 engine and a 5-speed.  I think every valve stem in it leaked and it burned a quart of oil in two weeks.  But damn it was quick!  It was faster than my Chevrolet Beretta GT with a V-6 and it regularly got MPG in the high 30's.

I love watching the old dodge caravans around here, they smoke like a tire fire.  You should have written a letter back saying that "since I use biodiesel, the visible smoke out of my tailpipe is cleaner than the invisible gas coming out of yours.  have a good day!"

Or, find the person that called you in and do a big ol smokey burnout in front of their house.  :P

Brendan
84 Scirocco 8v <-- TDI in progress
01 Jeep TJ 4.0
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: Black Smokin' Diesel on April 17, 2007, 04:22:30 pm
Quote from: belchfire
It's too bad that you see smoke production as a desireable thing.
One of the main reasons that diesels are disliked besides the stink and noise is the smoke. Being a biker I can say that there are few things worse that being behind a fume belching vehicle. Maybe you should look into bio-diesel or SVO. I am currently building an '81 caddy w/1.6 TD and plan to do just that.


It all depends on what are your plans for the car. If you want more power, smoke is desirable as it means you still have room for boost.

Unfortunately, bio-diesel isn't available everywhere and SVO isn't an option for some people (like me where it's winter 8 months out of 12).

My car stinks, is loud and smokes. The only thing I can play with is smoke.

How the hell do you guys get the quotes working right??? :evil:
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: jimfoo on April 17, 2007, 04:53:22 pm
Quote from: "Black Smokin' Diesel"

How the hell do you guys get the quotes working right??? :evil:

You have to have your boost and fuel just right for the quotes to work. Just enough smoke to give the words a background. :twisted:
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 17, 2007, 07:23:35 pm
Quote from: belchfire
It's too bad that you see smoke production as a desireable thing.
One of the main reasons that diesels are disliked besides the stink and noise is the smoke. Being a biker I can say that there are few things worse that being behind a fume belching vehicle. Maybe you should look into bio-diesel or SVO. I am currently building an '81 caddy w/1.6 TD and plan to do just that.


when motor bikes are behind me, i go very soft on the pedal, i never smoke a biker.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: jimfoo on April 17, 2007, 09:41:15 pm
Personally, I like that diesel smell. Nothing against bikes, but most bikes are way louder than diesels. Now bicycles are another story. Around here a lot of them ride like a-holes, taking up the whole lane and not getting over. I'd smoke them in a second. :evil:
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: LeeG on April 17, 2007, 09:46:38 pm
Nice letter, I'm suprised I never got one with my old Jetta.  I did get lots of "phew your car stinks" type o hand gestures.  

They used to put these exhaust scan vans on the on ramps round here that would take pictures of cars/trucks that were belching their way up to freeway speed.  Haven't seen one for a while now though.


One of the guys on here (Dave from PP?) had a good idea: take the 2 outer clamshell pieces from a cat and tack them onto your straight pipe.

I doubt you will get much followup grief to the letter when you go in for testing, its all about pass or fail.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 17, 2007, 09:58:54 pm
Quote from: LeeG

One of the guys on here (Dave from PP?) had a good idea: take the 2 outer clamshell pieces from a cat and tack them onto your straight pipe.

I doubt you will get much followup grief to the letter when you go in for testing, its all about pass or fail.


yes, if they *** about the cat missing, i'll for sure tack on a fake cat.
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: tylernt on April 18, 2007, 10:58:06 am
Quote

How the hell do you guys get the quotes working right??? :evil:
Inside the "quote" tag, take out the equals sign, the double quotes, and the persons name. That's how I do it.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: jtanguay on April 18, 2007, 12:25:33 pm
disable HTML in posts under your personal profile settings, and your quotes will work perfectly!
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Black Smokin' Diesel on April 18, 2007, 02:15:39 pm
Quote from: "jtanguay"
disable HTML in posts under your personal profile settings, and your quotes will work perfectly!


Holy macaroni!!!! Thank you!
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: BellCityDubber on April 18, 2007, 05:25:41 pm
Quote from: "Black Smokin' Diesel"


How the hell do you guys get the quotes working right??? :evil:


BSD.. you have to check "disable HTML in this post" at the bottom when you write a post, or have it selected in your user preference.
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: BellCityDubber on April 18, 2007, 05:26:42 pm
-=edited=-
next time I swear I'll read till the next page
:D
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: myke_w on April 19, 2007, 08:18:34 am
Quote
It's too bad that you see smoke production as a desirable thing.


Not so much that I think smoke is desirable, just that someone mistook it for a car that was improperly tuned. Until diesel engineering can control the injection process dynamically across the entire rpm range, we will have smoke, no 2 ways about it.

If you want to rip someone a new one about smoke / particulates, go after the emissions standards board for semi trucks and shipping, construction, and industry.  They keep scrubbing systems at bay and exempt said pollution sources from emissions standards. Diesel cars are the least of the diesel / particulate problem.


 :wink:
Title: Re: perpetuating the problem
Post by: Northern RD on April 19, 2007, 10:10:19 am
Quote from: myke_w
Quote
It's too bad that you see smoke production as a desirable thing.


Not so much that I think smoke is desirable, just that someone mistook it for a car that was improperly tuned. Until diesel engineering can control the injection process dynamically across the entire rpm range, we will have smoke, no 2 ways about it.

If you want to rip someone a new one about smoke / particulates, go after the emissions standards board for semi trucks and shipping, construction, and industry.  They keep scrubbing systems at bay and exempt said pollution sources from emissions standards. Diesel cars are the least of the diesel / particulate problem.


 :wink:


Or you could do what CARB did and nail all those nasty, dirty Briggs and Stratton lawn mower engines,... :roll:
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: dieselsnowmobile on April 19, 2007, 12:54:00 pm
Ahh, I would not even worry about Air Care giving you a bunch of B.S. about your diesel's smoke.  The Toyota Prius is not passing Georgia's emission test.  Read this article. (http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6931)
Title: Me, too!
Post by: funkaholik on April 19, 2007, 01:47:51 pm
I got one of those letters about my TDI.  My car only puts out a bit of smoke under full acceleration, and the only time I "bomb" someone is if they're tailgating me.  It's not much of a bomb from this car, though - more like a puff.  So some angry bumper-rider must have called it in.  

I replied to the letter stating that the car is a diesel and only emits a small amount of smoke upon hard acceleration, such as merging on the freeway.  Never got any reply, so I assume that was a sufficient explanation.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: AdAm84 on April 20, 2007, 06:25:52 am
i can't believe that our little 1.6 engines are contributeing to pollution that much. i only smoke people when they are tailgaiting. :twisted: oh yeah, your best bet is to take your working cat off the car and to a scrap yard. there is a place here that is paying between $40 and $80 for them. they want them for the platinum catalyst. then if you talk to the right guy he'll give a shell from an old one. then we just weld a staight pipe into them. I wish i had known this earlier, because we punched soo many cats out and threw away the guts. :x
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: commuter boy on April 21, 2007, 11:10:31 am
You don't have to reply to it, and no sense in doing it either.

If your car is of a model year that came with a cat as OEM, they'll look for it, and if it isn't there, they'll automatically fail you, even if you pass the emissions test.

Happened on an 89 Fox I had, the cat looks like a resonator.

You can get a generic 2.5" Magnaflow cat for $100, get some flanges from Dave at PP and make a test pipe the same size.  Just swap in the cat for inspections, and bolt the test pipe back in for regular driving.
Title: Someone phoned my car in for smoking them
Post by: Cheesetoast on April 21, 2007, 06:42:38 pm
Quote from: "commuter boy"
You don't have to reply to it, and no sense in doing it either.

If your car is of a model year that came with a cat as OEM, they'll look for it, and if it isn't there, they'll automatically fail you, even if you pass the emissions test.

Happened on an 89 Fox I had, the cat looks like a resonator.

You can get a generic 2.5" Magnaflow cat for $100, get some flanges from Dave at PP and make a test pipe the same size.  Just swap in the cat for inspections, and bolt the test pipe back in for regular driving.


or i could even attach a cat casing to the car with a hose clamp, if htey ask, i'll say it was rattling.