Some of the vehicles, especially chicken buses and trucks, but no where near all of them, belch black smoke in great amount here in Guatemala, especially when starting up hills, of which their are endless.
I dont' think there is any required pollution inspecition, and it makes me think that the demands, largely from the US I think, for cars with pollution controls, have benefitted Guat. and other countries too, because the controls work well until they break, and only a few break.
Did you mean GOAT as in Go Over Any Terrain?
It all depends on where they import their trucks from. Even then, if either there aren't any pollution control laws, or no effective enforcement, the pollution controls may be disabled in country to improve mileage. I can imagine that in a poor country without pollution enforcement owners may make money by removing and selling the catalytic converters from vehicles that have them and welding in a plain piece of exhaust tubing to close the gap.
There is no require pollution inspection here, either.
Say what? There certainly is a requirement in the US for testing to make sure that vehicle emission systems are working. In NJ, it's every two years. This was forced on the states by the feds. We wasted a billion dollars on dynamometers back in the 90s too, forced by the feds, to simulate highway driving while testing. Then just a few years later, the feds decided that was no longer necessary so all that was ripped out and scrapped.
That was never done in NC. In some counties they did put a tester in the exhaust pipe but was not required in other counties. Now all they do is hook up to the computer plug in the car. If the car is old enough not to have that plug , that part is skipped.
I had an older truck without the plug and went to an independent garage and all they did was fill out a paper and scrape the old sticker off and put a new one on. Nothing was checked. Much of that went on I am sure.
Do any of the other countries have any emission testing or standards ?
Yes. John T.
I slept late for the first time on this whole trip, until 10:30, and with the full-room overhead light on no less, so I have no time to read the whole thread now, but just to say that even in 1971, I went to Chapultepac Park which has what once was Emperor Maxiillian's big home, which is now the Museum of iirc Antropology, and it's up on a high hill, as an emperor should have it, and one could look down on the city of Mexico City and see the big dark cloud of pollution hanging over it. As bad or worse than Los Angeles, USA. Of course when you were in the city and you looked up, there was alwaya a grey cloud though it did not occur to me to look up, and maybe rain had an effect.
It would suprise me if they had not done something in the following 53 years. When I have time I'll look for info.
The government in Guatemala and elsewhere do many of the "liberal" programs tht the US does, but I think they are not labeled liberal or conservative. Like making people wear masks, standign 3 feet apart when in line. I can see stickers on the floor in this hotel at the front desk and in other buildings on the floor. And indeed, I looked into the rate of Covid before I left and it was once high but since October there have been afaict no deaths and no hospitalizations. And the rules are relaxed or gone, though the stickers remain. People are .... someone's knocking at the door. I"ll finish this later.
The United States is a very big place. I have never had a vehicle subjected to emissions testing, unless it was done at the factory.
Here in Ontario, the requirements have evolved over the years - Years ago, vehicles older than <5 ?> years required a tail-pipe emissions test ; and a test for transfer of ownership along with the Safety Certification. At some point it was determined that the Check Engine Light could be trusted and if it wasn't throwing a code it was OK. Of course Harleys and vintage muscle cars can pollute the countryside as much as they want .. < cough cough .. >
John T.
Anyone who lived in the LA basin during the 60s, 70s and 80s understand exactly why emissions testing was very important in that area.
In michigan, it's not such a bit problem.
TX has the requirement in only a few counties (IIRC the ones that are more overpopulated).
Theer is no emissions testing or vehicle inspection in Montana. When I was running AZ plates there was testing in Phoenix and maybe Tucson but western Pima country where there are more coyotes than people was exempt.
When I first visited Joshua Tree NM in the early '80s I remember a sign on one of the overlooks that basically said "See that big hazy area? That's LA."
Most of the black smoke belching deisels have either had the pumps boosted to make more poiwer or have worn out injectors (mostly the latter) which makes them hard on fuel AND sometimes low on power. Generally badly adjusted diesels still run - better than badly adlusted gasoline engines - and the technology to adjust them PROPERLY is often not available to the back-yard / shade-tree / bush mechanics tasked with keeping the poor things on the road.
My experience?? Zambia, Burkina Faso, Mexico, Cuba, and several south sea islands - but particularly Zambia and Burkina
On diesels the common test was an "exhaust opaciry test" which fails if it belches black smoke - - -
i976 in Mexico City you could cut the air with a dull knife - about the same as London England in 1973 - where after 12 hours when I blew my nose into a white tissue it was BLACK. In Mexico City it was more photochemical smog than carbon particulates due to the unique topography etc producing an almost constant "inversion layer"
Not generally an issue in the "red states" - particularly in the south and mid-west
But really, how much are the vintage muscle cars driven, and what percentage of cars on the road do they comprise??? Also, the emmissions cops HAVE been showing up at some "hot rod" events checking to make sure that "restomods" - old cars with new engines - have all the polution controls required for the year of the ENGINE - not the car - - - - and yes - in Ontario They don't (at least yet) test - but they look - - -
We prefer to be called "flyover country", since not all of those states are red. Michigan is fairly blue at the moment; the governor is talking about forking over $1 billion to build or rehabilitate housing, which I guess is in short supply and too expensive compared to the median income.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.