No longer an E-Check. WWII bomber?

[Stig / Major Tom]

Just witnessed the worst piece of crud automobile I've seen in years.
Up the street it sounded like a WWII bomber coughing & idling at start up on an English field in 1943.
Then it gathered itself and, misfiring and popping mightily, made its heavily laden run at me - hoping to clear the trees ....before joining the wing for a run across the Channel.

Turned out to be a once-white, super rusty, no-exhaust,
Cadillac hearse running on no more than 2 or 3 cylinders!
I watched him disappear into the gloom....and not seeing a fireball...assumed he did clear the trees.
Here's hoping an 88 puts him in a French field of barley an hour from now.
I quickly put the lid on my coffee as his unburnt fuel wafted over me.
Stig
Ohio discontinued E-Checks in this area, decades ago.

[Kansas kymco]

And I thought I had the worst peice of crud automobile next door. At least next door it doesn't run and in all probillity never will.
It's a rarity to see a old vehicles belching smoke even in states that don't have emisions testing. I don't think it's worth the time and money to implement not to mention the hassle. 

I you want to get serious about emissions the largest container ship puts out as much pollution as 370,000 vehicles.   The old expression comes to mind (Penny wise pound foolish).

[Forbes1964]

In Florida we never had statewide emissions tests. But we did have them in the mid-late 1980s for cars that were registered in certain metropolitan areas for a time. And we eliminated safety inspections in the EARLY 1980’s after our then Governor’s car failed inspection. There was a dark period of time when there was a large number of unsafe high emissions vehicles on the road.
Thankfully, those cases have gradually decreased over the years. Why? Because cars are simply BETTER. With computers, fuel injection, platinum spark plugs, etc., tune ups now consist of replacing spark plugs at 100,000 miles. Engines commonly go 200,000 miles before needing major work. The check engine light scares people into getting repairs because they think it’s actually the ENGINE getting ready to crash . (If it simply said “emissions “, it would probably be ignored) .

Suspension parts last longer and are often lubed for life . So neglect doesn’t matter a lot— And contrary to cars in the 1980’s , tie rods and ball joints actually will last a good while before wearing out. Despite people moaning and complaining about how complicated and expensive cars have become, let’s be honest. Those of us old enough to remember, can recall when the owner’s manual recommended checking oil at each fill up. People would be HAPPY if their car went 1,000 or1,500 miles before needing a quart of oil. Now, we complain if the car uses a quart before the next oil change is due. And most major emissions components such as the engine computer and catalytic converter are REQUIRED by law to have an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty. And mufflers are now usually stainless steel and last a good while. Notice that muffler shops either have diversified or simply closed.

Fortunately, The car that bellows smoke while misfiring and sounding like a TRUCK is increasingly uncommon. Even TRUCKS no longer sound like trucks.

We can partly thank strict government emissions regulation for the longer lasting engines, and federal crash standards for the fact that the car with the broken ball joint or separated tie rod is a very unusual site in a modern vehicle.

In spite of all that, there are still a few smoke bombs on the road. But not that many.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk