emissions question

[baddis]

if there was an engine that came with no emissions equipment that burned cleaner than the stock engine did with all equipment that was functioning properly would the swap still be considerd illegal? i am looking into a swap that i think the only emissions equipment is a catylitic converter less cylinders but more displacement. i just don't want to run into emissions problems the bigger engine burns cleaner and has more power and fuel economy.

[MAKG]

If there were an engine that came with no emissions but burned cleaner, pigs would fly out of my butt. Modern automotive emissions are about 2% per mile of what they were in the early 60s.

You may be able to talk a state agency into that IF it were true, but it's a gray area Federally. Odds are, RIGHT NOW, no one would enforce it Federally. That can change in a short time.

There has NEVER been a gasoline vehicle produced whose only emissions was a catalytic converter. Before then, there were lean burn carburetors, various spark advance strategies, manifold-ported smog pumps, positive crankcase ventilation, and evaporative emission controls. Electronic ignition was virtually simultaneous.

[almostclueless]

There is ZERO way for an engine with no emissions equipment to produce less oxides of nitrogen (major part of smog) than controlled engines.


You could have a vehicle with an injected engine and a sealed fuel system that passes everything else, but it would still produce too much NOx.

[MAKG]

Except of course that electronic fuel injection and sealed fuel systems are both emissions equipment.

[Dave R]

If there were an engine that came with no emissions but burned cleaner, pigs would fly out of my butt.
Great, thanks, now I have to get that visual image out of my head.

[85_Ranger4x4]

Legally it just has to be certified for emissions of the model year of the vehicle or newer. Judging by your discription it isn't, but we don't know either what engine it or what it is going into.

[almostclueless]

Except of course that electronic fuel injection and sealed fuel systems are both emissions equipment.

I'll give you the fuel system part......but fuel injection is not necessarily emissions....just very efficient which aids in reduced emissions.

[MAKG]

That's true, but the list of exceptions is VERY short.

E.g. early 70s Porsches.

Which still had SOME emissions equipment for sale in the US (e.g., PCV).

OBD-I was specifically mandated by CARB as an emissions device, phased in over several years ending in 1988.

[Bill]

if there was an engine that came with no emissions equipment that burned cleaner than the stock engine did with all equipment that was functioning properly would the swap still be considerd illegal?

Is there anything in the regulations that state all engines must reduce emissions beyond what the engine would emit without emission control devices? I don't know, but it wouldn't surprise me if there was such a requirement.

Other than that technicality, if the engine was EPA or CARB approved, it would be legal to swap that engine in place of another engine of that model year or prior and within vehicle class If it was originally a car engine it wouldn't be legal to put it in a truck, or the other way around. You would also be required to swap in the transmission and the same axle ratio, and use any speed sensors on the axle of the original vehicle.

[JohnnyO]

I think it would depend on the state. Some states require a "visual inspection" to make sure all the required equipment is there. I live in PA where as long as it passes the sniffer test they don't bother with anything else, which seems fair enough.
I'll defer to MAKG's and Dave R's expertise, but I think the only way a non-controlled engine MIGHT be able to pass a test would be to run it on propane or LNG.

[MAKG]

No, Johnny. It's regulated by the Clean Air Act, which is Federal. Canada has similar Federal rules.