What steps should you take to pass your inspection?
If you need to get a smog inspection in the near future, there are still a couple things you can do to give your vehicle the best possible chance of passing.
First off, you want to make sure that there is no check engine light on. If it is on, no matter the reason, your car will probably fail the test. Even if it’s a false alarm, it could still result in your car immediately failing. Therefore, you want to go see a mechanic and figure out exactly why the check engine light is on. If you need to get some work done, then you might as well get that done now rather than after you fail the smog check and have to go to the effort of rescheduling another.
Second, you want to check coolant levels, gas levels, tire pressure, and maybe even change the oil. Any number of small facts can add up to a failure, so you want to make sure your car looks as good as possible when it comes time for the inspection.
Third, it can help to drive the vehicle at highway speeds in the days leading up to the test. At low speeds, the catalytic converter doesn’t get hot enough to purge residue, so if you head to the smog inspection after only driving at low speeds around the neighborhood, that could fail your vehicle. By hitting higher speeds on open roads, the catalytic converter can heat up enough to get rid of oil and gas gunk.
