12 Jul Evaluating Smog Check Rumors

No one wants to fail a smog check test. The pain of going in once is enough, let alone having to repeat the test twice, simply for a small mistake. However, the fear of failing is always there. What if your car does not pass? What if it requires extra maintenance which means spending more money?

People have a lot of advice on how to pass a Palmdale smog check. Some of it is valid, and some is, well, not so valid. But it can be hard to determine what is a myth and what will actually help your car to pass. Let’s look at some of these common tips, and see how well they stand up on their own.

1) Fuel cleaners and Octane boosters are going to make me pass.

Some people think that because something contains the word ‘cleaner,’ it will automatically improve the health of their engine and help them pass a smog check. However, this may not be the case.

Fuel cleaners do clean the engine of your car, but where does the dirty engine mess go? It has to escape somehow, and it usually escapes right through the cylinder head of your car. Essentially, it is being burned out of your vehicle in the form of emissions—exactly what you don’t want to show up on your smog check.

The same can be true of Octane boosters. While it is not guaranteed that they will cause you to fail, they do increase the amount of emissions in your tail pipe. All in all, try to avoid the uses of these products immediately before a smog check test.

2) General maintenance is required on my car so I pass.

This is one that gets tossed around a lot. It’s kind of like getting a physical done before you join a sports team. You might have peace of mind that everything in your body is running properly, but ultimately, it won’t make you play any better.

The same is often true of cars. While having a tune-up is not required, it will probably make you feel better about passing the smog check. It can save you time and money of having to repeat a smog check in case you do end up failing for something that could have been fixed beforehand.

3) I should warm up my car’s engine before a smog check.

Sure, a car usually functions better when it has been driven around or warmed up just before doing something. The engine will run smoother, and you know for a fact that nothing is hindering it from running.

But in reality, warming up your engine at high RMPs is not going to do a lot. Most of the time, your car will have to wait at the smog check before getting looked at, so the effort you went to just became useless.

These are just three of the common tips that often get shared when people ask for smog check advice. Our advice? Make sure your car is in good running condition, and then take it in. Chances are, if your car has been running fine, it will have no problem passing a Palmdale smog check.

Call us right now at 661-538-9135 or click here to set up an appointment online.

source: http://northridgesmogcheck.net/why-are-smog-checks-important