Things That Can Affect Your Smog Check Results

Tricks That Help You Pass A Smog Test

Our customers are sometimes amazed to discover that a few simple acts may help them pass their smog test. This is especially true if you are driving an older car.

While you shouldn’t expect any of these tricks to give you a miracle cure for a polluting vehicle, they may help a borderline vehicle pass. This way, you may have the gift of time to make costly repairs before having to recertify.

Here are some tricks to consider trying before bringing your car into our smog check facility in San Jose.

Get your motor running.

Drive around at least 20 minutes before showing up for your smog check. A smog check should always be performed on a car with a toasty engine. You may have heard this tip before, but you may not know why this is true. Having a warm engine will help ensure that it will reach the proper fuel mixture and combustion levels.

So let your teenager practice driving before arriving at Green Star Smog Check. After driving around with your teen, you will be ecstatic to arrive at our smog check facility.

Keep your car battery connected.

Your vehicle’s internal test monitors may be erased if your car battery is disconnected. This is true even if you re-connect the terminals to the same battery. Our technicians need access to this monitored information in order to complete your test.

We know that you don’t always get to pick when to replace your car’s battery. If you recently disconnected or replaced your battery, wait five to seven days before getting your smog check completed. Make sure you drive at least 100 to 150 miles before bringing it into our Green Star San Jose location.

Get your oil changed before coming in for your smog check.

Dirty engine oil can negatively affect your emissions test. Dirty fumes that come from dirty oil may become part of the engine’s combustion. This means that your car’s old oil can lead to a bad emissions report. Plus, not changing your oil can harm your engine.

Make sure your tires are properly inflated.

We know you probably think we are crazy to suggest that your car’s tires have anything to do with your smog check. Surprisingly, it does. During a smog test, our techs may drive your car on a dynamometer to obtain the necessary readings. If your vehicle doesn’t have proper tire pressure, it may be unstable during the test.

We know it’s surprising, but a car’s tire pressure can be critical in passing a smog test, especially for borderline cases.

Is your check engine light illuminated? Figure out why.

Cars displaying their check engine lights are less likely to pass an emissions check. In fact, if your check engine light is on, it may result in an automatic failure. Figure out why your check engine light is on before bringing it to us.

Now that you know these tricks that may help you pass your emissions test visit Green Star Smog Check in San Jose. We are a star-certified, test-only facility, and we will make the smog check process as painless as possible.

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