Post by divtal on Aug 31, 2018 18:58:12 GMT
In California, new cars don't have to have a smog-check for the first 5 years. So, my 2012 Corolla had to have it's first one this year.
The day after I received my notice from the DMV, I took it to a neighborhood garage that runs smog tests all day. When I went to retrieve it, I was told that they couldn't do the test, and asked if I had disconnected the battery, recently. I said "no." For the record, I don't make a habit of disconnecting my car battery. It doesn't sound like a great deal of fun, to me.
(My car had been part of that massive recall of faulty air-bags, which involved several makes of cars. I heard about it several months before I was notified that my car was involved. And, it was 10 months between the notification, and it being "my turn" for the repair. During those 10 months, I couldn't have a passenger in the front seat.)
The repair involved disconnecting the battery, and that wiped all of the recorded data that's necessary for the "smog-machine," to its job. I was advised to drive it, on the freeway, for about 100 miles, to "rebuild" the data. I drove it far more than that ... to no avail. I was told that cars can differ, and some may need hundreds of miles. So, I took it to Toyota and paid $350.00 to have them run it, to a state-of-readiness for the smog test.
I will never, again, submit my car to any procedure without asking if it will involve disconnecting the battery. If it does, and my car is anywhere close to needing a smog test, I will weigh holding off from that procedure, until the testing is complete.
This may be elementary to those of you who have knowledge of automotive technology, but it was a $350.00 lesson for me.
The day after I received my notice from the DMV, I took it to a neighborhood garage that runs smog tests all day. When I went to retrieve it, I was told that they couldn't do the test, and asked if I had disconnected the battery, recently. I said "no." For the record, I don't make a habit of disconnecting my car battery. It doesn't sound like a great deal of fun, to me.
(My car had been part of that massive recall of faulty air-bags, which involved several makes of cars. I heard about it several months before I was notified that my car was involved. And, it was 10 months between the notification, and it being "my turn" for the repair. During those 10 months, I couldn't have a passenger in the front seat.)
The repair involved disconnecting the battery, and that wiped all of the recorded data that's necessary for the "smog-machine," to its job. I was advised to drive it, on the freeway, for about 100 miles, to "rebuild" the data. I drove it far more than that ... to no avail. I was told that cars can differ, and some may need hundreds of miles. So, I took it to Toyota and paid $350.00 to have them run it, to a state-of-readiness for the smog test.
I will never, again, submit my car to any procedure without asking if it will involve disconnecting the battery. If it does, and my car is anywhere close to needing a smog test, I will weigh holding off from that procedure, until the testing is complete.
This may be elementary to those of you who have knowledge of automotive technology, but it was a $350.00 lesson for me.
