have an interesting offer on the table for my rambler. it involves a 2002 something that starts with S and has lots of U's in it and is my favorite color in the world - WRB. however, said car has a much larger engine in it and no more turbo.
i will begin the discussion with one fact - the car is plated and driven, but current owner lives in one of the 45 non emission counties in the state. i live in one of the 7 that test. in the interest of the environment, it would be on my list to install converter and make it run as clean as possible, but it will also be a track rat/toy with low miles driven, so i would not feel horrible that it puts out more emissions than stock, if it indeed does.
therein lies the issue - car has stock computer in it that runs gauges and whatever else it did besides engine controls. is there a way to "tune" this computer so that all the readiness monitors are set so i can roll quietly through my OBD2 plug in emissions test and roll out the other side with a pass, or should i start looking at the painstaking task of getting collector vehicle license plates that exempt me from testing like i did for my impala?
it's not a done deal but he's very interested in my car and i am in his, and i'm probably going out saturday to check stuff out and see if it is a trade i'd like to pursue. if anything hacky abounds i'll turn and leave, but my automotive ADD is ready to move on from the rambler.
TL:DR = can i have a 2002 wrx computer tuned to lie to the emissions nazis?
on the no more turbo motors a high flow cat (I'm partial to 50 state OEM grade magnaflows) with o2 sensor spacers you should be able to have a tune that keeps the codes at bay.
Is the "much larger engine" just larger in displacement, or more cylinders too? EG, EZ? If the latter what engine management does it have?
engine management = carb and HEI - yes someone stuck a carbed 350 in a bugeye wrx.
it would not stay for long as LS power would certainly replace it when i find enough spare parts to build a 4.8.
In reply to patgizz:
IMO you are boned. It might pass the sniffer test but it wont pass the plug in test. Also for most states that do emission testing older motor in newer car is an instant fail but a newer motor in that car and it is fine, so I say it wont pass until you go LS.
no sniffer, and ohio has no visual test so they don't know what is under the hood. only a plug in test.
boned is one of my most used words.
Do you have a summer home in one of the other counties where you could register the car to that address?
If you don't have that address, I do. You could register it here.
Does registration have to be a physical address or can it be a PO box in a "good county"?
I have never lived in any of the "wrong counties."
Yes, you just need to know somebody who can reflash it.
EDIT: Look here http://www.romraider.com/ accordign to this thread https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/can-we-talk-about-something-illegal/43995/page2/ you can use it to force pass readiness monitors.
These guys in Wakeman do Evo's. Do they do Subaru?
http://www.buschurracing.com/
Buscher did subarus briefly, very briefly, then the fanbois got to him with their stroking of certain vendors and not embracing someone who tries new things, test their findings and attempts to come up with outside the box solutions in developing new products. Dave Buscher found himself loathing their market and pulling out very quickly, but from the treatment he was given I don't blame him
Leafy
Reader
7/18/14 10:48 a.m.
Piece of cake. Leave the stock ECU wired to power and the OBDII port. Plug in rom raider, disable all the check engine lights and select the option to auto set all monitors to ready and passes the plug in test with ease. Making a carb'ed 350 pass the sniffer is way more work.
move... it's the only legal way to do it..
