What makes a muffler illegal in California?

[lkmarsh]

Shopping for mufflers on RockAuto, keep bumping up against
"not legal for sale in California and New York".
Not looking for cherry bombs or turbos, just a stock muffler.
The one on the 69 is a 30" case and looks old enough to be original.
What makes a plain old muffler outlaw in the PRK?

[SJTD]

Emissions related parts need to have CARB approval to be legal in Kal. I doubt you'd have a problem with a stock looking muffler. Be sure it has the air tube on it if you need it. I don't think they'll refuse to sell it to you.

Do you need the two year smog checks in Modesto?

[asphaltrockdweller]

You can thank Sacramento again, and the PRK.
They now can issue you a $1000.00 ticket (not a fix-it ticket) on the spot. The arresting officer makes the judgement call on the spot.




CA Assembly Bill AB 1824.




CA. V.C. 27151 No person shall modify the exhaust system of a motor vehicle in a manner which will amplify or increase the noise emitted by the motor of such vehicle so that the vehicle is not in compliance with the provisions of Section 27150 or exceeds the noise limits established for the type of vehicle in Article 2.5(commencing with Section 27200) of this chapter. No person shall operate a motor vehicle with an exhaust system so modified.

[lkmarsh]

Not for a 69. No problem finding one for the 68 Impala. Jeep isn't running now so the muffler can wait.
I can understand going after unplugged bikes and imports, but unless I missed something, the mufflers I saw
listed at RockAuto were stock replacement mufflers.
If they are louder than stock I'll pass anyway. I have the Chevelle for noise.

Might get lucky at the next swap meet. Been known to happen...

[babywag]

For some strange reason this is not just a muffler issue.
I couldn't buy an ignition module off Amazon for my Caprice.
Order would not go through because an OEM ACDelco module was flagged as not CA legal. Was a bummer because it was open package Amazon warehouse item that was cheap!

Have seen reports of similar from folks in CA on other parts too.

[SJTD]

Reminds me of trying to buy R134 on Amazon. Ordered it, never came. Figgered I only thought I ordered it. Ordered again, nothing, thought I ordered it? Happened four times over a couple weeks. Last time I paid more attention and was sure I had done it and did a little digging.

Turns out there's a link for canceled orders on Amazon and there were the four orders from the same place. Why didn't the vendor say he wouldn't ship to Kal???

Would've been nice if they just showed up on the orders page as cancelled instead of getting moved to a special page.

I did finally get it from another source. A little more spensive but still way less than locally and didn't have to pay the $5 per can deposit. Or is it $10?

Headed up to Nevada next week to nose around. Gotta make a list of other contraband I can't get here.

[goldhammer]

I'll add this in on mufflers. On USFS and BLM ground and in some areas, any other public ground, if they can pass a wire through the muffler, you get hit with the ticket for no spark arrester. With the fire seasons they have had over the past few years, they are getting tighter on that one.

On the A/C front, I work in a body/paint shop and our NAPA wouldn't sent out a new tank of refrigerant for our machine because we didn't have our tech's certificate on file with them..........

[babywag]

That's funny on A/C & NAPA...
I finally broke down and bought a 30lb tank of r134a because didn't want to deal with the small cans ripoff pricing and deposit nonsense.

It was like $90, and counter dude NEVER asked for or said a word about my AC certification (which I had with me).

[letank]

same for the camshaft on summit, I had to say that it was for my 1966 wagoneer...


As for the muffler, you may be lucky at your local autozone, this is where I got the muffler for the 85 a few years ago

[rang-a-stang]

I don't think its a CARB issue, I think its the cancer warning paperwork crap. I read somewhere that there is certain paperwork that has to be filed here to sell parts in CA that says whether it contains chemicals known to cause cancer or not. Many manufacturers are just saying F'it and not selling those parts here.

[joe]

<<"What makes a muffler illegal in California?">>
Prolly the manufacturer didn't pony up the $$$ to get it C.A.R.B. certified.

[rang-a-stang]

I'm pretty confident mufflers don't require CARB numbers (certification).

[asphaltrockdweller]

I'm pretty confident mufflers don't require CARB numbers (certification).

Yeah that!


But Commiefornia did institute a new law last year on "modified" exhaust. It kinda is up to the LEO to decide if your exhaust has been modified to make more noise.
They instituted this to combat street racers, but it has been used on all kinds of cars. The "Super Car" community is all up in arms, as many of them have been ticketed under the new law. The thing is non of their cars have been altered in the exhaust and still make lots of noise.
The fine for this ticket is $1000.00.

[lkmarsh]

Bought a muffler from RockAuto that had the right measurements. The way the old muffler
came out in pieces made it clear I couldn't wait. It's a little louder, not much, not ticket bait loud.
The old one sounded better, but it was going to fall off at the next speed bump.

Saw a few vendors at the last swap meet with $20 cans of R12, did not score any since the hoses
on the A6 are original. AC is a problem for another day. Currently working on the Chevelle wiring.
Relays for the tailgate window, the door windows and locks, headlights and fog lights.

[SJTD]

Genuine R12? In Kal? For $20?

Hard to believe. Shoulda bought all they had. I looked at Walmart the other day and I think the cheapest 134 they had was $9 plus the deposit which you have to eat if you're stocking up.