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DEQ in Portland, OR

$te4dyBrickin'

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Mar 6, 2018
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OK so long time since I've posted on here, but now It's for a good reason.

So, I've just moved out to Portland from Austin, TX, and after a month of roaming the streets (EASTSIDE!!!) and using the "awesome" Tri Met system (specifically MAX, although every weekend some BS happens to cause delays, forcing me to skate damn near all of Portland lol), I've decided to come back to Northern Mexico for my car. Now here's the catch. This is for all my K-Jet fam out there.

Currently, my car has no catalytic converter. The furthest I've been able to trace my '79 back is to Spokane, Washington, circa 1999ish. The owner at that time had drove the car from there on down to Tejas successfully. Now im guessing once he got here that either he had the cat removed or the car had never came with one period. This is a non-California or Oregon car, just FYI.

What are the chances of me NOT passing DEQ with this setup? I understand that the emission values in Oregon are definitely more strict than that of Texas, but has anyone in the area ever passed DEQ with a K-Jet car that has no cat? It would be nice not to have to put one on there, but I sure do have a work around for if I absolutely have to. I would just like to not have to do that period, If you know what I mean.

On another note, I have no address (yet) in Portland, so if I wanted to play the game, what surrounding counties don't do DEQ? A co-worker of mine told me about how he has his address and cars registered to a property out in La Grande, OR, (far east) where they don't give a damn about emissions, so..... yea that would be a good get around. I actually do that here in Tejas. Travis county has emissions, but I live on the edge of the county, right next to Bastrop county, home of "f*ck them emissions (you oughta see these diesel trucks!!!).

Im planning on leaving this weekend to head back up that way and I'm just looking for some insight on what I'll have to expect once the time comes to register the car in Oregon.

So thanks in advance for those who care to respond on this. I'm looking forward to seeing Mt. Hood and Mt. Saint Helens on a clear day again!
 
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What Harry means is they do a visual inspection first and look with a mirror on the end of a pole under your car and guess what they are looking for? Any cats under there? Har har har. THat being said people have taken the cat off and punched it out and put it back and then they pass the inspection. Passing is easier actually now they just sniff at idle. They used to do it on a dyno and do pulls while sniffing. Ahh the good old days.

So trick to getting it passed with no cat is put on fake empty cat, then fill k-jets tank with say half E85, change your oil, pray to the k-jets gods and go try and pass.

Anyway I don't have to DEQ where I live. But the neighbors do, that is how close I cut it on the cut off line for DEQ. Straight pipe out the side!

Or other option is put cheapo real cat on it and then try and pass. Best part is you don't have to pay until you do pass. So all the attempts will be free. One time took the ex's 90 740 turbo about 10 times and it was ohh so close to passing, did all the tricks. Finally it was the valve adjustment then it passed. This was with the old dyno sniffing days.
 
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Ok so that's awkward. I just called a dude at a Volvo shop in Portland and he told me straight up that they do no visual inspection. But ya know it's all good. I'm finding the counties that are "Bastrop certified" lol. There's a way around deq!
 
Just because you can doesn't mean you should. There is a good reason why air quality in Portland is good despite its size.
 
Ok so that's awkward. I just called a dude at a Volvo shop in Portland and he told me straight up that they do no visual inspection. But ya know it's all good. I'm finding the counties that are "Bastrop certified" lol. There's a way around deq!

They totally do a visual with a mirror on a stick. I was there just a few months ago.
 
If the car was a California-spec 240 with Lambda-Sond, it'll definitely have a 3-way cat from the factory. The 49 state cars didn't have Lambda and instead had EGR, which usually used an oxidation cat setup. If I remember correctly, that setup looked a little different under the car. Most 1977-79 240s on the west coast are California spec with Lambda-Sond, though.

It's entirely possible that the PO took it to a Volvo shop in VanBC and they installed an exhaust for a Cdn spec 1978-80 B21F car, which has no cat at all and no Lambda-Sond or EGR.

-J
 
If the car was a California-spec 240 with Lambda-Sond, it'll definitely have a 3-way cat from the factory. The 49 state cars didn't have Lambda and instead had EGR, which usually used an oxidation cat setup. If I remember correctly, that setup looked a little different under the car. Most 1977-79 240s on the west coast are California spec with Lambda-Sond, though.

It's entirely possible that the PO took it to a Volvo shop in VanBC and they installed an exhaust for a Cdn spec 1978-80 B21F car, which has no cat at all and no Lambda-Sond or EGR.

-J

YES!!!! I mean your right on the money! No egr, no Lambda Sond, no cat. That's exactly what I have! I do have a single wire o2 sensor though, but it's no Lambda Sond.
 
But he doesn't mention if it's connected to anything. :-P ECU? Frequency valve? Badge on grill? Who knows?

Yea I think it's only connected to the dummy light in my dash. It doesn't even say lambda. It says exh/egr, though I do hear my frequency valve. I've had to clean it before in order to get the girl running smooth, at least relatively.

P.s. 2000+ miles in 3 days. Atx to Pdx. K jet stands strong. Still only using premium gas. 90+ octane. I'll never put E85 in a car that doesn't run well with it. That's committing a sin against K jet, but first asking for forgiveness to the gods of K jet. That's absolutely disrespectful.
 
Worst thing you can do is let it sit. Drive it hard and often for many trouble free kjetz miles!
 
I just ran a pre-OBD car through DEQ and they did an Idle test and a 2500 rpm test checked the filler neck for an unleaded nozzle restrictor and used a mirror to check for CAT. Had to replace the failed CAT to pass.
 
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