Maryland State Emissions test failure-any suggestions?

"James C. Reeves" > wrote in message
...
> Sure it may clean up probably 1% of the cars out there that
> are a problem, but I've not known a single person to fail a emissions test
yet
> including yours truly.

I've dealt with 3 cars failing the MD test, and I'm only 18. Only one showed
any sign of not being in tip top shape at the time and all had emitted
barely any of the pollution factors they check for the two years prior. I
for one like the fact that they do emissions testing. What I don't like is
letting some guy I wouldn't trust to open my door driving the car on a
treadmill.

> So, it's obviously one of those liberal "feel good"
> measures that just cost people money and provide useless jobs to a few
hundred
> people and may actually contribute to smog!

Yeah! Don't forget about that damn public education too!

Richard

"Rita Ä Berkowitz" > wrote in message
...
|
| That's not my point. Evidently the government disagrees with you since
| there are so many gross polluters driving around with and without waivers.
| All my vehicles meet emissions standards so this isn't an issue for me.
|
| There are people out there that find it more economical to get a waiver for
| $450 every two years than it does to but a new car. If the government were
| worried about air quality you wouldn't have waivers in the first place.
| It's us fools that have to be fleeced into paying for something we don't
| need.
|

You are correct. The program is in place ONLY to satisfy the Feds so Maryland
can get it's share of Federal highway dollars. Clean air has absolutely
nothing to do with it...it fact probably does more harm than good having
10-million people go on 10 million unnecessary "trips" to the inspection
station and waiting in line an hour idling every two years (used to be every
year). Sure, THAT really helps keep the air clean...gees...who are they
kidding!

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:01:36 -0500, "James C. Reeves"
> wrote:

>You are correct. The program is in place ONLY to satisfy the Feds so Maryland
>can get it's share of Federal highway dollars. Clean air has absolutely
>nothing to do with it...it fact probably does more harm than good having
>10-million people go on 10 million unnecessary "trips" to the inspection
>station and waiting in line an hour idling every two years (used to be every
>year). Sure, THAT really helps keep the air clean...gees...who are they
>kidding!

I'm glad that someone else feels the same way as me about things like
this!

I have always done my own oil and filter changes. For many years now,
my friends and neighbors have told me that I shouldn't tip the used
oil down the drain at the front of my driveway.

Well, excuse me! *They* all go to garages and oil change places, and
don't have to worry about where the old oil goes. I suspect that the
garages probably tip it out at the back of the shop somewhere. So, I
get grief from them for pouring a half gallon of old oil down the
drain every 2 or 3 months! I mean, where is their sense of
proportion? How many people are there like me any more who do their
own oil changes? Just a tiny fraction of all used engine oil goes
down the drain, it's just a tiny amount, it really isn't enough to
make a difference to anything or get excited about.

They just don't understand how small an amount it is, in the big
scheme of things. I'll carry on doing it - tell me, where else am I
going to put it?
--
Dan Drake

Dan Drake wrote:
> On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 20:01:36 -0500, "James C. Reeves"
> > wrote:
>
>
>>You are correct. The program is in place ONLY to satisfy the Feds so Maryland
>>can get it's share of Federal highway dollars. Clean air has absolutely
>>nothing to do with it...it fact probably does more harm than good having
>>10-million people go on 10 million unnecessary "trips" to the inspection
>>station and waiting in line an hour idling every two years (used to be every
>>year). Sure, THAT really helps keep the air clean...gees...who are they
>>kidding!
>
>
> I'm glad that someone else feels the same way as me about things like
> this!
>
> I have always done my own oil and filter changes. For many years now,
> my friends and neighbors have told me that I shouldn't tip the used
> oil down the drain at the front of my driveway.
>
> Well, excuse me! *They* all go to garages and oil change places, and
> don't have to worry about where the old oil goes. I suspect that the
> garages probably tip it out at the back of the shop somewhere. So, I
> get grief from them for pouring a half gallon of old oil down the
> drain every 2 or 3 months! I mean, where is their sense of
> proportion? How many people are there like me any more who do their
> own oil changes? Just a tiny fraction of all used engine oil goes
> down the drain, it's just a tiny amount, it really isn't enough to
> make a difference to anything or get excited about.
>
> They just don't understand how small an amount it is, in the big
> scheme of things. I'll carry on doing it - tell me, where else am I
> going to put it?
I must say, as much as hate the system Maryland has, I do take my oil to
a depository.

They may dump it in the bay for all I know, but I got it disposed of
from my end properly.
Incidentally, any bay donations to me are total wasted money since I
could not stop a wetlands destruction in my own front yard. They didnt
do squat.

nothing to do with emissions, but has a lot to do with the crabs and fish

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004, Dan Drake wrote:

> I have always done my own oil and filter changes. For many years now,
> my friends and neighbors have told me that I shouldn't tip the used oil
> down the drain at the front of my driveway. Well, excuse me! *They* all
> go to garages and oil change places, and don't have to worry about where
> the old oil goes. I suspect that the garages probably tip it out at the
> back of the shop somewhere.

But they don't. They have a storage tank and a company (Safety-Kleen
is one of them) that comes by weekly or biweekly to collect the drain oil
and take it away for proper processing -- or, alternatively, the shops
burn the drain oil in their space heaters. It does not get "tipped out at
the back of the shop somewhere", your ignorance notwithstanding, because
to do so is illegal. It's known, legally, as dumping hazardous waste.

> So, I get grief from them for pouring a half gallon of old oil down the
> drain every 2 or 3 months!

When you're a lazy, selfish, polluting asshole, you will (and should) get
grief.

What vehicle do you have that takes 2 quarts of oil, by the way?


> where is their sense of proportion? How many people are there like me
> any more who do their own oil changes?

Enough to support a goodly supply of oil and filters at every auto parts
store, Wal-Mart, Target, Zeller's, Ace Hardware...

> Just a tiny fraction of all used engine oil goes down the drain

....because of selfish, lazy assholes like yourself who can't be bothered
to take the used oil to the store where they bought the new oil, or to
their local service station...

> it's just a tiny amount

....multiplied by a lot of people...

> it really isn't enough to make a difference to anything

That's your ignorant opinion. It is not correct.

> tell me, where else am I going to put it? --

It would take you all of four minutes with a telephone to find at least
two places to properly dispose of used engine oil.

Good grief Dan, which 3rd World Nation do you live in?

Where I am we have hazardous waste drop-off locations that are open
year-round. The one here is open 6 days a week. My local site will
take, free of charge, up to about 9 quarts of used motor oil per visit.
I can also drop off unwanted paint, pesticides, my old batteries
(including car batteries, AA, AAA, C and D stuff) at the same place. I
believe most garages will accept used motor oil - they usually have a
big tank at the back of their shops that gets collected regularly.

In all likelihood, the water in the drain at the end of your driveway
goes back into your local drinking water supply.


Michael

On Fri, 10 Dec 2004 23:01:20 -0500, "Daniel J. Stern"
> wrote:

>When you're a lazy, selfish, polluting asshole, you will (and should) get
>grief.

<snip>

>...because of selfish, lazy assholes like yourself who can't be bothered

<snip>

>That's your ignorant opinion. It is not correct.

<snip>

I apologize for trolling. Sometimes it's just too difficult to resist
doing it. Especially when the fishing is good...
--
Dan Drake

Simple. Re-register the car in another state, where they don't have
such stupid rules. Carry on driving as if nothing had happened.

old school bmw owner wrote:
> Michael Low wrote:
>
> > You should fix your oil problem first.
>
> Michael thanks. The answer is hard to accept, because I'm
thick-headed
> but after the denial stage, anger stage, compromise stage(I can't
> remember the forth one)

despair

Jim

"old school bmw owner" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> 1986 BMW325e 178,000 miles:
> First test: FAILED NOx [actual=3.4829(gpm)cutpoint=2.8000(gpm)].
> So I changed oil and oil filter,spark plugs and air filter. Ran a full
> tank of gas with a bottle of Guaranteed to Pass and put a bottle of
> Heet in tank before retest with Chevron 87 octane gas. I ran the car
> for over 1/2 hour before retest to get it hot.
>

I just looked at my smog test results because I too failed my last smog
test. I also had very high NO numbers. The smog guy told me that my CAT was
on its last leg. He told me to drive around the block, including the freeway
from one exit to the next, then he put my car on the machine IMMEDIATLEY
upon my return while the CAT was still hot. My car passed easily on the
second test.

What happens is the car sits for a while in the parking lot waiting its turn
on the machine, and the CAT cools down. The first test they do is the Low
Speed test, and the NO numbers are high. Then the High Speed test heats the
CAT, and the NO numbers fall into line. I suspect, although I do not know
for sure, that if they did the high speed test first, the low speed test
would pass. In any case, it sounds like your CAT is getting old and does not
do its job anymore.