Exhaust Leak, I need help on what to do?

Question

I have a broken bolt on the exhaust manifold, would smog pass me or not???

Answer 1

A few questions first. I apologize. What year, make and model?

What state and county?

In Missouri, we have 2 tests. Safety AND emissions.

Any exhaust leak will fail the "safety" test.

Our "emissions" test is now only done to 1996 and newer cars through the OBD2 connector under the dash.....OBD2 systems started in 1996.

I do both Inspections for Missouri. A broken manifold bolt is mute, however if it does create an obvious exhaust leak, it would fail under the 'safety' test, Not the smog test but non the less......

Answer 2

oh man, dont fix that, rock it out!! tell everybody its a drag car and youre running open headers!!

Answer 3

This is a gray area depending on what state you are in and how anal the smog technician is performing the smog check.

An exhaust leak before the catalytic converter can be interpreted as grounds for non compliance during an inspection. A reasonable smog tech might overlook it if it wasn't a large leak that made the engine sound like a Harley Davidson. If the rest of the vehicle was in compliance and it was a very small leak, chances are the smog tech will pass the vehicle.

An exhaust leak after the catalytic converter is not grounds for failing the smog check. However, if the leak is large enough, the machine may not allow the vehicle to test. This is because the sample will be considered diluted. If the leak is large enough it lets too much oxygen into the pipe causing the machine to stop the test because of sample dilution.

It is acceptable, if the hole is large enough, for the technician to insert the probe into the hole to get the exhaust sample. However, if it means the technician has to crawl on the ground and find the hole, he is probably going to just abort the test and tell you to get the leak fixed.