Yes you read it right. Seeing as I'm on break and sleep in till the cows come in everyday, my dad took the liberty of bringing my Z in to get smoged (the car is still on his name for insurance reasons) and they failed it.
Car passed the sniffer with FLYING colors:
CO% for example has a maximum allotment of 1.0 where the car measured 0.00. HC (in parts per million) has maximum allotment of 100 at idle where it measured 0, and at 2.5krpm it has a maximum allotment of 130 and it measured 1.
They told my dad that the factory ypipe has 2 cats in it, for a total of 4. They claim that's what it says in the State manual.
WOW I am pissed. No, this is not a difficult fix, and frankly it's pretty cheap too. I just need to buy a factory Ypipe and put it in. BUT, the car is PERFECTLY street legal. I REALLY don't feel like buying the part, jacking the car up and bolting in that heavy *** POS to get the same readings just to have to re-install the ypipe i have now. It is really the matter of situation that pisses me off, majorly.
Now I'm going to go on the phone and rage at these brain dead f***s for a while. (And yes i realize those that are FI have it much worse, but seriously this is f*** ********).

 

Why do you only have a y-pipe? That sounds useless to me.

 

Because I'm going FI at a later date, why waste money on exhausts that won't flow well with turbo? Besides, the Ypipe is the second most restrictive part in the exhaust system. PS you're a troll.

 

Its not your car. Dad will take care of it.

 

^ lol.

To the OP, not a big deal. I am turbo and was popped by the police while the car was parked and I was in a restaurant.

I had to uninstall everything which cost $1,700. I failed my first BAR exam because of a unhooked vacuum line. Despite being able to reconnect it there, they still asked me to come back for another test on another day.

Your Y-pipe issue is not a big deal.

 

Borrow a y pipe and show it to them, or go to a different station.

 

Why don't you suck my *****. Oh wait, I'm not gay. Your Mom will take care of it.
Troll comment gets troll reply. Have some respect.

 

Like I said, its not that big of a deal but it really pisses me off.
You got hit by the police while you were parked? Damn. Did you try to fight it?

 

The 350Z has 4 catalytic converters? Please circle them here. Thanks.

 

That's exactly what I said. In actuality it does. Search yields that there's a cat before the O2 sensor and behind it. After checking it out for myself, you can notice a bulge before the O2 sensor, under the heat shield, on the part of the cat that reaches to the Header. This makes sense, because if you think about it, the O2 would not get a proper reading through that honeycomb structure (This I know, I'm an Aero engineer in the learnins! ). Also, if the cat was in the Ypipe, they would have an O2 sensor nearby to throw some CEL's if something went awry. Lastly, I so highly doubt the temperature of the Y pipe could reach that to support/'energize' a catalytic converter.
OH WOA YOUNG SPOILED BRAT KNOWS S*** ABOUT CARS, WTF!

 

uhhh O2 sensor is place in the middle of the Cat. It does not split the cat into multiple cats..

 

If you call both parts of it one cat, then yes it is in the middle of the cat.
But the car technically has 4 cats, and after chewing out the inspection tech for a little bit they called up the local dealer and verified the Y pipe has no cats. So those down pipes (legally) "have 2 cats each"... and problem looks to be solved. Hopefully the car isn't flagged in the system. That could prove to be a ***** later.

 

That was one retarded smog tech!

MOTOR Emission Control Systems Application Book: #of Cats=2
ALLDATA = 2

Maxima/FWD=3
Path=4

Maybe fool didn't read the footnotes next to engine size column but still!
It's too damn easy to get a license these days! I get techs calling me to ask how to tell if something is AWD. And failure for a vacuum line? It says in the damn Inspection manual that the tech can reattach it and pass car.

Complain to the BAR and get that fool a citation. They can probably delete the inspection if you ask, they delete the undercover vehicles history after the tests so I know its possible

 

What is the smog tech smoking? There aren't any cats in the Y pipe.
There are two converter bricks in each cat. That's what he is thinking about.

The smog tech needs to be educated.

 

so your complaining about switching out a y pipe saying its heavy, and plan on going forced induction. lol

 

Yes. I hired a lawyer and fought it but unfortunately, I later found-out that a car does not enjoy the same rights as a home which requires search warrants. Since the cop was checking for emission-related equipment which in turn has to do with public health and safety, a car can be inspected without a search warrant IF it is in a public area (meaning outside of your garage or drive way).

As soon as your car leaves your property and goes out in to public, it is vulnerable to searches.

In the end, I was offered 3 alternatives which were sell the car, go to jail and have the car impounded or get it back in to compliance. I just the last alternative but I have my car the way I want it now, if oyu know what I mean.

As for your situation, yes, CARB lacks common sense and logic but on the other hand, all of these smog shops are privately owned and the owners don't want to lose their license and business due to these small modifications. Many of them play it by the book and won't take any chances which is understandable.

Just consider yourself lucky.

 

really though.... why just a y pipe? it may be the choke point on the stock system, but a new y pipe isnt going to do you much good when you try to go FI. guaranteed you will swap the entire exhaust and the y pipe will just have been a waste of money.

 

Your a ****ing lazy idiot. Are you 5 and in elementary school, really? "suck my *****" haha wow your a little ****.