PA Emissions Inspections May Effect Your Triumph
technical writing provided by Bob Iwan
Pennsylvania has been struggling to come into Federal compliance with the emissions testing program and was in jeopardy of losing millions in federal funds if an agreement could not be reached with the feds. Well, it appears a settlement has been achieved and a final review of the regulations is under way. The following information is an overview of the testing guidelines, its impact on driving our Triumphs and where to go to get additional information.
In a nut shell, ‘96 and newer cars get an emission station computer hook up that looks for OBD II system codes for emissions systems failures (if it sees a code, the car fails ). They also get a gas cap pressure test done with a tester that is also hooked up to the same computer.The information gathered by the computer is sent to PennDot with your vin number and whether your car passed or failed. There is not a visual inspection done for missing emission equipment on the car because if it's missing, it sets a code. Stations in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh will still be doing dyno tests.
Cars built between ’75 and ‘95 get a gas cap test and a visual inspection for any missing equipment. If the emission station inspection tech doesn't know anything about what kind of equipment to look for on our Triumphs, the computer system will tell him what to look for on any individual car. Also, you can't just tell the emissions inspector that there aren't any smog pumps or air piping tubes available for your specific Triumph as a means to seek the inspector to exempt your Triumph. Instead, he will need to check the computer and if the information is not there, he has to call MCI (the outfit running the nuts and bolts of this emission program) and they will tell him if there is a part available or not. If the part is not available (or a replacement part), then you can get a waiver. Also, exemptions have to do with the age of the car ( older than 25 yrs is exempt ) not the tags (editors note: This is still not clear since the link in the next sentence indicates that all motorcycles, hot rods, classics and antique tagged are exempt and makes no mention of age). You can all go to and look at information that is there. Keep in mind that it is not fully updated and there will still be additional clarifications as required.
The station “set ups” to do this testing cost anywhere from $5,700 to $6,800 and the tests will probably between $20 and $40. It takes longer on the old cars to visually check them than it does to computer hook up to the new ones. As Bob learns of any additional information or further clarifications, we will keep the members apprised of this.