Just a quick ? for the pros. Im planning to shorten my rig about 12 inches here soon , and because its a 98 i need to keep it smog legal.Is there such a thing as a smog legal fuel cell?( I did a quick search,brought up a lot of toppics on fuel cell , but dident see any thing on "smog legal"cells) Its a stock v-6 tacoma motor with no other mods. Needs to pass california smog law:(
Any info on the subject would be greatly appereciated...Thanks:)

As far as I know they are all legal, provided the have a line running back to the tank for the vapor canister.

Your screwed! The OBDII laws leave little room for mods

Having talked to several of the vendors, none are according to them as they are not DOT approved, for what that's worth.

Robert,
I have a cutsom home brewed fuel cell in my rig (also a 98 xcab tacoma shortened about 12"). My bro AJ just welded it up (the guy who fabbed your front bumper) out of some steel plate with all of the stock mounting flanges, baffle, return lines, etc....mounted to it. I talked with a smog guy down here in the bay area and he said as long as the vents and return lines are there, he said it was fine. However, the DOT legality of the tank itself may be in question. If it is a line item on a smog checklist (DOT approved tank), then u may have problems.

well that is defenatly a step in the right direction.Have you had to smog yours yet?I know that some of the YJ guys are doing something like that in order to lengthen the frame.I just smoged my truck a few months ago and the guy didnt look under the rig, but i cant take any chances here.It would be terrible to go through with this only to find out that i cant make it legal again.as for DOT when would they check thit?I guess a CHP officer on a ram page could?Any one els have info on this,Need help bad ,Got to start on that flat bed:)

Originally posted by Old Scout
Your screwed! The OBDII laws leave little room for mods

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: only if your too lazy to look up the laws and build around them. I'm running an OBDII motor in an 89 truck with an 89 tranny, an 85 tcase, a custom exhaust, custom ECU, intake, and a mix of other parts, and its all 100% smog legal. its a PITA but you can do almost as many mods to an OBDII motor as any other, you just have to go about doing them more carefully.

Dallas

Originally posted by StinkBug


:rolleyes: :rolleyes: only if your too lazy to look up the laws and build around them. I'm running an OBDII motor in an 89 truck with an 89 tranny, an 85 tcase, a custom exhaust, custom ECU, intake, and a mix of other parts, and its all 100% smog legal. its a PITA but you can do almost as many mods to an OBDII motor as any other, you just have to go about doing them more carefully.

Dallas

well stinkbug your not in a full Enhanced Smog Check Area are you? :rolleyes: Rocktaco and I are!


What are the Differences between Basic, Enhanced, and Partially Enhanced Smog Check Areas?

In Basic Smog Check areas, stations inspect vehicles using a BAR-90 analyzer to perform a two-speed idle test, which measures both hydrocarbons (HC), and carbon monoxide (CO), but does not measure the amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx), a critical chemical in the formation of smog and secondary aerosols (a fine particulate matter). In Enhanced Smog Check areas, stations inspect vehicles using a BAR-97 Emission Inspection System (EIS) with a dynamometer that performs a loaded-mode test. This test procedure, also known as the Acceleration Simulation Mode (ASM), measures HC, CO, and NOx. In addition, a percentage of vehicles that require biennial Smog Check inspections are directed to a test-only station for inspection. In new Partially Enhanced Smog Check areas, inspections are performed using the BAR-97 EIS with a dynamometer, but vehicles are not directed to test-only stations for biennial inspections.

Other program elements remain the same regardless of Basic Smog Check or Enhanced Smog Check areas. For instance, the repair cost minimum is $450 in both areas, and visual and functional checks are required, as are gas cap pressure checks. Also, vehicles with excessive emissions are still labeled as gross polluters.

Originally posted by StinkBug


a custom exhaust, custom ECU, intake, and a mix of other parts, and its all 100% smog legal.

Dallas

Try again. You must use a OEM cat on a OBDII rig to be legal

So then what are these people doing?Is every one with a newer modified vehicle hew live in these areas slipping the smog guy a franklin? or registering there vehicle out of state?It sounds to bad to be true:confused:

Sorry scout, but your not totally correct, and yes my area is enhanced smog, i run the dyno, check the cap and everything else. on the Cat issue i actually had to call a smog ref about it. the law states that no cat can be modified if the car is less than 5 years old, nothing about OBD2, since my ECU says its a 96 i'm over the 5 year limit and can run a universal cat but it has to be in the same layout as the stock vehicle. for example mine has to have one O2 in each down pipe then a y pipe then one more O2 then a cat then another O2. on a 98 you'll have to wait another year to change cats.

Dallas

Rob why do you want to do that........Your truck is :rainbow: :rainbow: enough already:flipoff2:

Actually I was looking into this too....when i tube the rear of mine i need to do something with the fuel tank!

getting back on topic, i think the easiest and probably cheapest thing to do is pick up a tank from the junkyard and use it. How big a tank do you want? Just as a suggestion the isuzu amigo and troopers have a 22 gallon tank that is pretty square and would work quite well for many applications, and it already has all the vent/evap stuff in it as well as a fuel level pickup.

Dallas

My truck is smog legal, but my friend also works at the shop. He said as long as it had the returns, etc..it was fine. I also talked with a bay area smog shop and he told me the same thing.
He didnt care about the legality of the tank itself, just as long as it passed the inspection process.

on another note...r u going to be selling your bed? know someone who needs a black one.

It looks as if illl have to go see the smog guy befor i do anything but it seems as though what ever i do it wont be"legal"but if i can get around that i will.I think i like the idea about getting another tank from something els like the isuzu or somethin like that.I have a 18 gallon tank now and would like to have something close to 20.As for selling the old bed,hell ya anything to offset the cost of this project.It sounds to me like its going to take some time to work through all this cali smog bull shit:mad:

Stinkie, you haven't actually smogged that thing, have you?

....just pre-research, right?

Randii

Did you ever resolve this? I am trying to get my homebrew fuel cell legal and need to know if I am wasting my time :(

Originally posted by Keith Strong
Did you ever resolve this? I am trying to get my homebrew fuel cell legal and need to know if I am wasting my time :(

I think your wasting your time.....unless you can plumb a cap to the existing spot so that they can pressure check it...