Another tale of car repair courtesy of mandatory e-testing

[VTEC_Inside]

Where to begin...

The gf is away for the weekend (Thurs-Mon) so she left her Integra here while shes away. Her birthday is Sunday, which of course is when she legally should have her new license plate sticker by. BUT, she needed to get an etest done first.

Chapter 1

So Thursday I decide to take her car to work. It occurs to me that I don't think shes gotten the etest yet. I give her a quick call and sure enough she hasn't. No biggy, I book it in for that day.

Bring it in and as usually go in and watch. The 40kph test is over pretty quick if the car is going to pass, but this one was starting to drag out. Sure enough "FAIL" on HC, CO, and NOx. HC and CO levels were only a little high, but I'd never seen NOx levels that high, 3050ish ppm!!!

I have one look and say out loud, holy crappy cat batman. Got a bit of a chuckle because either he didn't really know, or didn't want to say anything, but the guy claimed to not know what it could be, dumbass...

I ask them to quote me a cat and O2 sensor for good measure and drive away.

Got the cat replaced a couple hours later at a great local muffler place $252. :P

So I drive the car to work again on Friday and schedule a retest for later that afternoon again. Should have probably driven with the new cat a little longer, but meh. Bring the car in and voila! a pass on the etest.

I've known the mechanic that did the retest for quite some time so we were shooting the shit in the meantime. I mentioned the distributor episode that my gf had where somehow she just didn't hear it eating itself alive. He commented that his wife is no different, saying that he was driving her Civic and heard a massive CLUNK! over a bump. When he asked her about it she said she hasn't heard anything. At this he said the funniest thing I had heard all that day "you get pissed and call them a bitch under your breath and they hear THAT, but the front end of their car is falling apart and they hear nothing." lol...

Chapter 2

ANYWAYS, I pat myself on the back and drive home. Stop to pick up a sub, and then briefly at my grandpas. Leaving my grandpas house I start to hear an exhaust leak, yay! I swing by the muffler place just to see when they were open today (Sat) and peak under the car in their parking lot. I can see the crack in the rusted area at the flange meeting the cat.

Head over to Partsource, get a price on a center pipe, $195. Hold off on ordering it because I want to get under it and be sure. About 3min from my house and BOOOOOOMMMM!!!! SCRAAPE SCRAAATCH!!! lol.... Get home, look underneath, the centre pipe broke clean off from the flange and the cat dropped down (ball joint type connector at the front), and was dragging what was left of the center pipe flange on the ground. Removed the left over flange from the cat, and took the pipe off the muffler to prepare for today.

Give Partsource a call to actually order the pipe so it would be there today. Pick up the pipe and new gaskets this morning and throw the pipe on. Its all good now, $540 later including the cost of the etest/retest.

Appendix

Oh and the tires are F'D. They whir something fierce driving down the road (confirmed its not a wheel bearing problem). All 4 of them have got something weird happening on the inside edge, the tread pattern is kinda wavy for height, one set higher, other lower, etc.... Gotta call Michelin on that one... (Harmony's fwiw).

As I am conveying all this shit to my gf on the phone she has the fucking nerve to tell me that I just shouldn't drive it anymore.... 

Sidenote

Stay tuned for potentially another thread about the BS I've been through this week with my cable internet service as well....

[Raghavan]

Wow, you go through all that trouble and spend all that money and she doesn't even say Thank You?
Man, she's mean!

[VTEC_Inside]

Wow, you go through all that trouble and spend all that money and she doesn't even say Thank You?
Man, she's mean!

Oh she's going to pay me back and thank me if you catch my drift, lol...

[S204STi]

Oh she's going to pay me back and thank me if you catch my drift, lol...

Just treat her like Kobe Bryant treats his women...five minutes bent over a chair, show her what kind of man you are.

[AutobahnSHO]

...At this he said the funniest thing I had heard all that day "you get pissed and call them a bitch under your breath and they hear THAT, but the front end of their car is falling apart and they hear nothing." lol...

I've never called my wife anything like that but that is SOO TRUE!!!!

[S204STi]

You know, it's funny how much work I had out east, mostly due to the mandatory yearly safety inspection.  People were pretty much forced to take care of safety-related items that they otherwise would ignore, just running the car into the ground.  Sure was a nice racquet.

[the Teuton]

I knew there was a reason my car was registered in Ohio.  Time to take off the catalytic converter!

[JWC]

1971 Beetle...exempt from inspections...emissions and otherwise.

[sparkplug]

Why they quit selling VW bugs in the 70s?

[VTEC_Inside]

Unless the proposed changes go through, the Accord will have its last etest this year and that will be it.

>20yrs old, no testing.

[Rupert]

You know, it's funny how much work I had out east, mostly due to the mandatory yearly safety inspection.  People were pretty much forced to take care of safety-related items that they otherwise would ignore, just running the car into the ground.  Sure was a nice racquet.

Racket, not racquet.

[S204STi]

Racket, not racquet.

I wasn't sure, so I went for the more sophisticated looking spelling. 

[the Teuton]

What if I have a 35 year old car with a 10 year old engine?  How would that work?

[TheIntrepid]

What if I have a 35 year old car with a 10 year old engine?  How would that work?

Well then your car would be 25 years older than the engine.

[3.0L V6]

What if I have a 35 year old car with a 10 year old engine?  How would that work?

The car must comply with emissions standards at the time of manufacture. The car being considered the frame and whatnot. So, you could put a new crate engine in an 1960s car and it wouldn't have to pass emissions.

[Onslaught]

You know, it's funny how much work I had out east, mostly due to the mandatory yearly safety inspection.  People were pretty much forced to take care of safety-related items that they otherwise would ignore, just running the car into the ground.  Sure was a nice racquet.

I was an inspector back in high school. I have to say after seeing the condition that some people let their cars get to I think they are good things. I saw more cars with tires that could blow at any minute and other safety related things then I would have believed.

[S204STi]

I was an inspector back in high school. I have to say after seeing the condition that some people let their cars get to I think they are good things. I saw more cars with tires that could blow at any minute and other safety related things then I would have believed.

Oh yeah, I agree.  Safety inspections are wise, whether they are voluntary or not, because frankly if your vehicle crashes it could impact more people than just yourself.

[AutobahnSHO]

So what's up with Maryland??

There's mandatory inspection to register it the FIRST time, then never again.   ?!   ?!    ?!