3sgte illegal?, Just wondering... Options

[Legit94GT]

Going off of the topic... Can a cop make you pop...

So i guess i totally never thought about this, but would soing a 3sgte swap into a 94-95 celi be illegal?
I say 94-95 because of smog regulations and OBDII, but aside from worrying about emissions... Would it be illegal to have a celi with a 3sgte in there? Assuming that you didnt do anything really crazy with...

Same questions goes for 96-99 celi's?

Please just facts or good links to helpfull sites.

[Dr_Tweak]

I believe that TECHNICALLY there is a federal law that states that you cannot install an engine into your car that is OLDER than the year of the car. In other words, you could install a 3rd gen or 4th gen 3SGTE into a 6th gen Celica and be okay, but TECHNICALLY you cannot install a 2ng gen 3SGTE into a 6th gen Celica. I say technically because I've never heard of any instance of this law actually being enforced and I'm not even sure if any agency is assigned to do so. That said, the only enforcement that you need to worry about will come on the State level, which varies from state to state.

Generally speaking, California is the most strict with some counties following the same procedures now, and the way the the laws are enforced are by the required vehicle inspection. The engine must pass the following tests:
Sniffer test at the tailpipe (engine runs clean). Almost any JDM engine in good running condition will pass this test.
Visual inspection for EGR. This is where most JDM engines fail since many do not have EGR. It seems logical that one could design a functional EGR system fairly easily that would allow you to pass.
OBD2 test. This is the really tricky one. On all vehicles 1996 and up a scan tool will be plugged into the OBD2 port to check for trouble codes and whatnot. ALL JDM ECUs, OBD1 or OBD2, will fail this test. The OBD2 JDM ECUs do not speak the same language as US-spec scan tools, so they will get a communication error and fail the test. This is the most troublesome of the tests performed since there is not any good solution to it at this time.

Some states do only a sniffer test which is usually passed easily.

Some states do a sniffer test AND an OBD2 test which of course causes problems on vehicles '96 and up as outlined above.

Some states, especially in the south and west, have no inspection at all.

How to beat the OBD2 inspection.

There are a couple of ways to get around an OBD2 inspection engine swap:
- Do your engine swap on a vehicle '95 or older (getting harder all the time since '95 cars are now 13 years old!)
- Some states actually have an exemption that you can achieve by attempting to "repair" the problem a number of times and showing receipts that you spent a certain amount of money to do so.
- In other states, it's possible to find a shop that will "help you out", whatever that means.
- Some people obtain a legal address in another county or state that does not have OBD2 inspection and they register the vehicle there.
- Keep your USDM engine, ECU, and harness in storage, and every time you need to do the inspection, swap in your old engine, ECU, and harness. Then swap back. (Some people actually do this).
- Run the JDM engine using an OBD2 USDM ECU. This is only possibly on a handful of swaps, one good example being the 2JZGTE VVTi swap into an IS300 or GS300. The IS300/GS300 ECU and harness is very similar to that of the 2JZGTE VVTi, so you can use the stock USDM harness and ECU to run the engine, with a piggyback or standalone and some good tuning. A number of people have passed emissions this way.
- Do your engine swap using a USDM engine that is OBD2 (not many great options)

How to beat the EGR Visual Inspection.

- Use an engine that has EGR
- Install an aftermarket or custom EGR system
- Find a shop that will help you out

Hope that helps!

-Doc

This post has been edited by Dr_Tweak: Jul 23, 2008 - 9:39 AM