PA inspections/emissions

[fyrftr50]

For those PA residents, what does an "Inspection/missions" mean, what kinds of things do they check. Just wondering if it is similar to our Ontario Safety Certification (checks all safety items and won't allow a car on the road till it passes - brakes, suspension, steering, lights, belts). Cheers!

[bill1978v8]

The inspection and emissions are needed to keep your car on the road legally. They perform a safety inspection that covers the tires, brakes, suspension etc. The emissions is a computerized tailpipe test and a visual inspection of emissions equipment. If your looking at a car that has current stickers on the windshield then thats a good thing.

Bill

[spyder_xlch]

The emission testing depends on what county you live in. I don't know what the cut off is but it goes by population of the county. The higher populated counties have the visual and tail pipe test. The county I live in just has the visual. If my cat was gutted out but was on and didn't look tampered with it would pass. The safety inspection if done correctly will check brakes (pads/shoes, rotors, drums, hoses and steel lines), tires, suspension, steering, lights, wipers, glass, rusted out frames, holes in the body, exhaust, basicly anything that would make the car unsafe to drive. I am a certified inspection mechanic and I have seen things slide by. The saftey inspection is the same for all counties. Bryan, if it's the Mirage in Philly then it would be subject to the full emission inspection.

[fyrftr50]

Not the Mirage. Found a 79 Monza 2+2 on Craigslist in Philadelphia and wanted to see if your standards for safeties are similar to ours so I know what to expect ... and it sounds like the tests are pretty much the same. Cheers!

Hey Bill, I'm hoping Lynch is close to Philly now, maybe he can check the car out for me. if not, i'll wait for Matt to get off his butt, lol!!!

[vega_man_larry]

Bill Lynch now lives in the Pocano Mountains. He's in a resort community, I forget which one. He is near Pocano Raceway.

Larry

p.s. I lost his number too.

[fyrftr50]

Thanks Larry
Actually I had an old PM from Lockhart with his new number and just got off the phone with him. He's doing well, house is almost done, but he is a couple hourts north of Philly. Oh well, might just have to take a flyer with this car and go for broke, lol.

[EagleFish]

Bryan,

What Matt didn't tell you is that if a PA car has a current inspection sticker on the windshield, for the most part, you can assume that the car is in good mechanical condition adn probably physical condition. (???)

When a mechanical inspection is performed, the inspector (mechanic) will use a variey of instruments and gauges to determine if the parts being inspected are within the minimum operating tolerances. For example: The thickness of the brake lining, the rotors, the drum diameter and the rotor runout will all be measured to within thousandths of an inch and then recorded on the inspection form. The wheel cylinders and calipers will be checked for leaking fluid or cracked/split rubber boots. The ball joints are measured for play. Tie rod ends, idler arm, pitman arm, etc. are all checked for play. The exhaust cannot leak and there are to be no holes in the body where exhaust fumes can enter the cabin or rough sheet metal that can injure a pedestrian. Any part or part of the car that does not meet the specifications and tolerances the car fails the inspection and cannot be driven on the road until the repairs are made and the car is re-inspected. Every inch, system and part of the car is to be inspected. I think you get the idea.

PA has one of the toughest auto inspections in the country. It has been that way for many a decade. The State police come around periodically and inspect the inspection stations and the inspectors (mechanics). If the records are not correct and the mechanics are not doing the inspection properly, fines can be levied and inspection licenses revoked.

Of course, sometimes things are allowed to pass and there is always going to be a black market for illegal inspections stickers. But, for the most part, the vast majority get their cars inspected.

John (John and Richard)

[spyder_xlch]

Of course, sometimes things are allowed to pass and there is always going to be a black market for illegal inspections stickers.

That's what we call a "lick 'em and 'stick em" (of course the stickers have adhesive on them) You can assume that if a vehicle has a current sticker everything is safe. But there are always going to be the lick 'em and stick 'em jobs, and cars that just barely slid past months ago. And guys like me that can inspect their own cars.

[Vegarun]

DOES ANYBODY HAVE THE U-TUBE THAT GOES TO THE EGR FROM THE INTAKE TO THE EXHAUST SIDE.
Have to keep it all original for California SMOG!!!!

[cjbiagi]

Wow, how far back does California smog? You would think 44 year old cars would be exempt.

[cosvega76]

I believe '75 is the cutoff year. They've lost their sense in CA.

Chuck

[hammerdown7]

I believe '75 is the cutoff year. They've lost their sense in CA.

Chuck

Chuck, I'm not sure they ever had any.

I lived in Bakersfield when the running cutoff included '75. For a number of years they forward one year each year. Near the end of the year I bought a '76 Cosworth with Webers expecting within less than a year they would move the cutoff to '76. I bought the car and drove it cross-country from South Carolina. And the rest of the story is they quit moving the cutoff. I ended up with a garage queen until I moved back to Michigan.

Dick

[cosvega76]

From what I remember, they had a rolling 30-year exemption. A couple of years ago, they stopped it and truncated it back to 1975.


Chuck

[hammerdown7]

I was there from 2002-2004. They stopped the 30 year roll while I was there. The roll was the reason I bought a '76. They got me!

Dick