Time For A Smog Check? How To Increase Your Chances Of Success

If it's time for the dreaded smog and safety inspection, you want to make sure that your car passes with flying colors. Failure to pass the smog check could leave you without a car until you can take care of the necessary repairs. Luckily, there are some tricks you can use to increase your chances of passing your smog check on the first try. Here are four of them for you to utilize.

Take Your Car on a Drive

If you spend most of your time driving around town, your car may have a buildup of oil and gases in the catalytic converter. Unfortunately, that buildup can cause your car to fail the smog check. To make sure your engine gets hot enough to burn away the residue on your catalytic converter, you'll need to drive at higher rates of speed. To do that, you'll need to get your car out on the highway several times before you schedule your smog check.

Have Your Hoses Inspected

If you have an older model car, the hoses may be showing signs of wear and tear. Unfortunately, if they are, your car may not pass the smog check. That's because cracked, damaged, or loose hoses can cause pressure leaks that can interfere with the emissions readings. To identify those problems, have your hoses inspected prior to your smog check. If your mechanic identifies problem hoses, have them replaced right away.

Get a Fill-Up

If you weren't planning to fill your gas tank before taking your car in for a smog check, you need to change your plans. An empty gas tank can lead to false readings on your emissions test. Your car will be running for several minutes during the smog test. If your gas tank isn't full, fumes will build up in the tank, which will send vapors into the fuel lines. Those vapors can cause your car to fail the smog check. You can avoid the false fail by filling your gas tank before the test.

Insist on a Pre-Inspection

If you've decided to forego the pretest, you're putting yourself at risk for a fail. This is particularly true if you have an older model car. When you have the pretest, you'll receive a preliminary report regarding the status of your car. If there are issues that will result in a fail, the pretest will identify those so you can have the repairs taken care of prior to the official test. One of the benefits of the pretest is that the results aren't sent to the state, which means they won't know that your car failed the initial test.