Passing inspection with Megasquirt?
#1
Passing inspection with Megasquirt?
Looks like I'm buying a supercharged 97 running Megasquirt as a standalone, but I need to pass inspection in my area of PA.
The stock ECU is not included w/the car so I will have to locate a 97 ECU & install that. Can I swap that in then simply pass inspection worry free & put the MS back in after?
Will I have to put some miles on the stock ECU first to get it "ready" so it can be read for inspection or no?
Last edited by Agent-Orange; 12-23-2017 at 09:56 AM.
#2
I used to live in PA and had to deal with inspection and emissions in my county (Allegheny). I purchased my cars stock and had them inspected as one normally would the first year. After that first test I just made sure that the odometer in the car at the time of inspection showed less than 5000 miles so I could utilize the 5000 mile emissions testing exemption. My shop never gave me a problem with the visual aspect even with the typical MS powered turbo setup as seen here on MT and catless exhaust.
I assume you live in an emissions county so you'll need to have the factory ecu running the car. Can you just pull the belt off the s/c and drive it NA with the stock ecu (assuming the shop isn't picky on visuals)? Most OBDII ecu's will show test ready within 30-50 miles of driving in my experience.
I assume you live in an emissions county so you'll need to have the factory ecu running the car. Can you just pull the belt off the s/c and drive it NA with the stock ecu (assuming the shop isn't picky on visuals)? Most OBDII ecu's will show test ready within 30-50 miles of driving in my experience.
#3
I used to live in PA and had to deal with inspection and emissions in my county (Allegheny). I purchased my cars stock and had them inspected as one normally would the first year. After that first test I just made sure that the odometer in the car at the time of inspection showed less than 5000 miles so I could utilize the 5000 mile emissions testing exemption. My shop never gave me a problem with the visual aspect even with the typical MS powered turbo setup as seen here on MT and catless exhaust.
I assume you live in an emissions county so you'll need to have the factory ecu running the car. Can you just pull the belt off the s/c and drive it NA with the stock ecu (assuming the shop isn't picky on visuals)? Most OBDII ecu's will show test ready within 30-50 miles of driving in my experience.
I assume you live in an emissions county so you'll need to have the factory ecu running the car. Can you just pull the belt off the s/c and drive it NA with the stock ecu (assuming the shop isn't picky on visuals)? Most OBDII ecu's will show test ready within 30-50 miles of driving in my experience.
#8
Every year, since I moved to GA, I go through the same annual ritual;
- swap out the larger injectors for stockers
- wire open the WG
- flip a switch and use the standard IAT sensor (instead of the GM sensor in the IC tank)
- swap over the connectors from the MS and connect them to the stock ECU
- wire the NBO2 sensors back into the harness (a matter of switching a connector)
- plug the EGR back into the harness
- (and new for this year) swap out the GM coils for the stock coils
- go through a week of trying to get the Readiness Monitors to go green (and usually finding some stupid glitch that needs repairing before that happens)
Then I get the "Inspection Certificate", get re-registered and reverse the whole process.
Is it a pain in the a$$? Yes.
Is it worth the trouble? Yes.
I say all of that to say this; I find it strange that people want a non-standard (i.e. turbocharged, or supercharged) Miata, and don't want to endure some "pain" along the way. For me, a few hours wrenching in the garage (which I enjoy) and a week of non-turbo driving is a very small price to pay.
IJS...
- swap out the larger injectors for stockers
- wire open the WG
- flip a switch and use the standard IAT sensor (instead of the GM sensor in the IC tank)
- swap over the connectors from the MS and connect them to the stock ECU
- wire the NBO2 sensors back into the harness (a matter of switching a connector)
- plug the EGR back into the harness
- (and new for this year) swap out the GM coils for the stock coils
- go through a week of trying to get the Readiness Monitors to go green (and usually finding some stupid glitch that needs repairing before that happens)
Then I get the "Inspection Certificate", get re-registered and reverse the whole process.
Is it a pain in the a$$? Yes.
Is it worth the trouble? Yes.
I say all of that to say this; I find it strange that people want a non-standard (i.e. turbocharged, or supercharged) Miata, and don't want to endure some "pain" along the way. For me, a few hours wrenching in the garage (which I enjoy) and a week of non-turbo driving is a very small price to pay.
IJS...
#11
Boost Czar
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Will a modified car fail inspection in PA? So long as you dont need odb-ii, i dont see why it would fail an inspection. I mean you have a SC...the MS add an AIT and vacuum hose in the engine bay.
#12
Some PA counties check emissions and yes if it's '96 and up it gets plugged in to check for codes and readiness. They are supposed to do a visual as well to check things like egr, cat, evap system. They had tailpipe tests (and even dynos in some areas) for pre obdii cars but I don't know if they still use them.
#17
No, they don’t... you know that! You’ve said so yourself... federal crimes and all that.Step 1 - research emissions requirements in YOUR area. In metro ATL GA, 96+ need to pass obdII yearly AND cave a catalyst present - which means stock ECU and sensors. 95 and older need catalyst present and pass sniff test, which is easy enough on Megasquirt.. after 25 years, no testing. every state/county can be different.
#18
Elite Member
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One of the latest variants actually uses all the emissions equipment, checks if they work as intended, and if they do and no CELs are present, the readiness monitors are set, otherwise they are cleared. I have an EGR stepper on my bench as I'm typing this, writing the code that checks the coils.