bob_442
mad scientist
I hope this post helps others avoid ending up where I did...
I've owned a pair of one-ton "Chummins" trucks for a a while now. One for somewhat more than a decade. One for somewhat less than a decade. I did not do the conversion for either. Both vehicles, when I bought them had California titles with a "D" on them (meaning diesel). Both of them originally had 454s in them (as told to me by the sellers, at the time of the transfers). The fact that the trucks came with 454s is indicated in the VIN code, so there's no hiding this information. Back in 2020, while COVID was raging, I was shocked to see "Smog Check Required" on the registration renewal for both trucks. These trucks are 1988 and 1989, respectively, and in Ca, should be exempt from the biannual smog check, if they are diesels. I started down down the road to see the smog referee, but I chickened out at the last moment and cancelled the appointment. My logic was that the less the government knew about my vehicles, the better off I was. Instead I took a different tactic. I started calling DMV. It took many long calls with long hold times talking to folks that were clearly not knowledgeable about what was going on. Finally, after a month or so, I hit paydirt. I found someone that I could email an image of my titles to, and he got it fixed. A couple months later, I got my license plate stickers in the mail. I thought I was done. I suspected what had happened was that the looked at VIN codes indicating gasoline, and if the truck was marked otherwise, they just "fixed it". I found out a month ago, that I was right!
A month ago I got a letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair stating that the 1988 was inappropriately marked as a diesel and that they have fixed it. And that now, I would be subject to smog checks. If indeed the truck has a diesel in it, I should see the referee. OK, so I did that. Apparently, even though you could just go down to DMV, and tell them it is a diesel, and hand over your title, and get a new in the mail, this wasn't kosher. You have to get a referee exemption, and that never happened for the truck.
I didn't know anything about the details of the Cummins engine other than it was likely mid-1990s; it has a P-pump, and it is a 12-valve. Well, now that the referee prompted me to find the engine plate, and send info about the 1988 truck, I know a lot more. Very bad news. I'll start from bad and go to worse. The first bad thing -- the Cummins was manufactured in 7/1997. 1997 Dodge Rams with Cummins in them had catalytic convertors. My 1988 truck does not. Oh, by the way, when upgrading a vehicle to a newer engine, all the new smog crap has to go with it. OK, so given that fact, to make this right, I would have to find and install an extra-special-california-compliant catalytic converter. But then there is the second problem, the 1997 vehicles are OBD2 compliant. The 1988 truck would need to be as well. The engine computer from the 1997 vehicle was not transplanted along with the vehicle. Without that computer, and without knowing the old truck VIN, I don't know of any reasonable way to solve that problem. And now the pièce de résistance, the donor truck was federally-smog-certified, not California, and the 1988 truck is California-certified. That is the kiss of death. The engine swap would not be approved. Once my registration expires, the truck will be really big boat anchor.
So I would have been totally screwed. Now I'm still screwed, but a little less so. Turns out, thanks to Towcat, I have a 1993 Dodge D250 in my back yard, with a Cummins in it. Its been there for a decade or so. I bought that truck just for the motor -- a spare. I went through the process with the referee, asking "what if I put *that* motor in?". Turns out, that is OK. 1993: no cat, no computer, and California-certified. I do need to import the intake grid heater and the corresponding dash light (which I'm good with). So I can still keep and use my truck. I just have a lot of hard work to do to make it happen. I'm pretty sure the same thing is going to happen to the 1989 truck, and the news there is going to be really, really bad. I suspect that engine came out of a non-highway machinery. Maybe even a generator. That's even worse than a federally-certified engine. I may have to kill that vehicle. I do have a 6.2 I could put in it, but what is the point? The truck isn't useful to me with a 6.2.
There are other would-be-options. If the truck was garaged in California in a rural area, it would be exempt from Biannual smog checks (but not vehicle sale checks). Or, if it was registered out of state...Neither of those options work for me.
Anyway, now I'm moving through the various stages of grief. Now I'm trying to look at the bright side of things. I'm finally getting rid of that truck parked out back. I'm learning more and more about Cummins. This is like doing a conversion, without having to do all of the work, 'cause it already has a cummins. Now I have an opportunity to easily make sure I'm running with the KDP fix.
I am wondering what happens after I get the referee exemption. Guess I will find out. The question is, does the truck have to get inspected biannually, or is it like any other diesel of that vintage?
Anyway, if in California, doing a diesel conversion in a smog-check locale, and think you're going to be exempt from smog checks and will get away with it -- think again. Go through the referee, or don't do the conversion at all.
I've owned a pair of one-ton "Chummins" trucks for a a while now. One for somewhat more than a decade. One for somewhat less than a decade. I did not do the conversion for either. Both vehicles, when I bought them had California titles with a "D" on them (meaning diesel). Both of them originally had 454s in them (as told to me by the sellers, at the time of the transfers). The fact that the trucks came with 454s is indicated in the VIN code, so there's no hiding this information. Back in 2020, while COVID was raging, I was shocked to see "Smog Check Required" on the registration renewal for both trucks. These trucks are 1988 and 1989, respectively, and in Ca, should be exempt from the biannual smog check, if they are diesels. I started down down the road to see the smog referee, but I chickened out at the last moment and cancelled the appointment. My logic was that the less the government knew about my vehicles, the better off I was. Instead I took a different tactic. I started calling DMV. It took many long calls with long hold times talking to folks that were clearly not knowledgeable about what was going on. Finally, after a month or so, I hit paydirt. I found someone that I could email an image of my titles to, and he got it fixed. A couple months later, I got my license plate stickers in the mail. I thought I was done. I suspected what had happened was that the looked at VIN codes indicating gasoline, and if the truck was marked otherwise, they just "fixed it". I found out a month ago, that I was right!
A month ago I got a letter from the Bureau of Automotive Repair stating that the 1988 was inappropriately marked as a diesel and that they have fixed it. And that now, I would be subject to smog checks. If indeed the truck has a diesel in it, I should see the referee. OK, so I did that. Apparently, even though you could just go down to DMV, and tell them it is a diesel, and hand over your title, and get a new in the mail, this wasn't kosher. You have to get a referee exemption, and that never happened for the truck.
I didn't know anything about the details of the Cummins engine other than it was likely mid-1990s; it has a P-pump, and it is a 12-valve. Well, now that the referee prompted me to find the engine plate, and send info about the 1988 truck, I know a lot more. Very bad news. I'll start from bad and go to worse. The first bad thing -- the Cummins was manufactured in 7/1997. 1997 Dodge Rams with Cummins in them had catalytic convertors. My 1988 truck does not. Oh, by the way, when upgrading a vehicle to a newer engine, all the new smog crap has to go with it. OK, so given that fact, to make this right, I would have to find and install an extra-special-california-compliant catalytic converter. But then there is the second problem, the 1997 vehicles are OBD2 compliant. The 1988 truck would need to be as well. The engine computer from the 1997 vehicle was not transplanted along with the vehicle. Without that computer, and without knowing the old truck VIN, I don't know of any reasonable way to solve that problem. And now the pièce de résistance, the donor truck was federally-smog-certified, not California, and the 1988 truck is California-certified. That is the kiss of death. The engine swap would not be approved. Once my registration expires, the truck will be really big boat anchor.
So I would have been totally screwed. Now I'm still screwed, but a little less so. Turns out, thanks to Towcat, I have a 1993 Dodge D250 in my back yard, with a Cummins in it. Its been there for a decade or so. I bought that truck just for the motor -- a spare. I went through the process with the referee, asking "what if I put *that* motor in?". Turns out, that is OK. 1993: no cat, no computer, and California-certified. I do need to import the intake grid heater and the corresponding dash light (which I'm good with). So I can still keep and use my truck. I just have a lot of hard work to do to make it happen. I'm pretty sure the same thing is going to happen to the 1989 truck, and the news there is going to be really, really bad. I suspect that engine came out of a non-highway machinery. Maybe even a generator. That's even worse than a federally-certified engine. I may have to kill that vehicle. I do have a 6.2 I could put in it, but what is the point? The truck isn't useful to me with a 6.2.
There are other would-be-options. If the truck was garaged in California in a rural area, it would be exempt from Biannual smog checks (but not vehicle sale checks). Or, if it was registered out of state...Neither of those options work for me.
Anyway, now I'm moving through the various stages of grief. Now I'm trying to look at the bright side of things. I'm finally getting rid of that truck parked out back. I'm learning more and more about Cummins. This is like doing a conversion, without having to do all of the work, 'cause it already has a cummins. Now I have an opportunity to easily make sure I'm running with the KDP fix.
I am wondering what happens after I get the referee exemption. Guess I will find out. The question is, does the truck have to get inspected biannually, or is it like any other diesel of that vintage?
Anyway, if in California, doing a diesel conversion in a smog-check locale, and think you're going to be exempt from smog checks and will get away with it -- think again. Go through the referee, or don't do the conversion at all.
