Passing the emissions test with my 1997 Toyota RAV4 (episode 40)

[@CarlosContreras-gk9gp]

California here My Rav 4 Pass the test and thanks to you I been fixing it little by little

[@gonzogriff]

Paul, your dedication never ceases to amaze me. Didn't know about OBD1 morse code lol. I am so glad I don't have to deal with emissions currently, but that could always change. The fireside chat was also perfect.

[@Hyrshybyrshy]

Even though I don't live in the United States, I still watched the entire video. Good work. In Germany we also have correspondingly high standards when it comes to catalysts. I installed a mini catalytic converter in my RAV4. This saves me three quarters of the taxes. Best regards from North Rhine-Westphalia

[@DJKPlaysportZX3]

Thanks for this episode Paul, interesting and informative

[@RaysRacing1]

I just registered my 1994 rav 4 here in the Farmington location. All Original equipment passed first try with hc at idel 160 ppm. So proud of her.

[@HiFiInsider]

my second car is a 1995 Honda Civic. she runs like new and pass smog with flying colors.

[@guillermoortiz392]

what a complete video!!! thanks a lot for this kind of videos!

[@McAdamsMechanics]

I saw a guy on Craigslist asking if he could borrow a CAT for emissions and that he would rent it. That wasnt you, right? 😅

[@LabCoatPaul]

That's suspicious AF. Yes it was me.

[@andrewh8747]

😂

[@McAdamsMechanics]

@@LabCoatPaul I legit msged the guy and he told me, in paraphrasing, to hide the zuccini. So. 🤷‍♂️. Humans are interesting specimens.

[@JosephCoen]

Paul, thanks for all these videos. I'm down to just one 1st gen ('97), and it has a massive leak on the pinion seal of the rack and pinion. So, I need to pull and replace. Any chance you have a video of that in mind in the future?

[@josekarioka]

Have a good new year Paul!

[@sterlinghomard546]

Amazing!! Congrats on the pass! I live in Denver and I’ve been to emissions testing about 9 times now. They haven’t been able to test my 96 rav (silver, AWD manual, just like yours) because my Catalyst Converter sensor is “not ready”. I’ve asked if they can just put it on the dyno to test thetailpipe emissions, but they said the wheelbase is too short to fit on any of the machines in the state, so they need all the codes to read correctly to give me a pass. I saw an emissions inspector who told me my car was running super rich, so I took it to a dealership where they replaced my bank 1 sensor 1 oxygen sensor. It slightly fixed the problem, but I’m still running rich. They wanted way too much money to replace the other sensor and warned me that it might also break my cat because of rust. So now I’m working on replacing the other oxygen sensor myself as well as the MAP sensor, and I ordered a new cat (the one on the manifold) that I’ll have to retrofit to the rav because they don’t make that one anymore (as you know). Figured I’d replace the cat because I hate messing with rust. It’s probably extremely clogged anyway, like yours was. My temporary registration is now about 7 months expired and I keep getting ticketed for just having it parked outside my house on the street with expired registration (I don’t have a garage to hide it, unfortunately). What a nightmare this has been. Overall, glad to know I’m not the only one having problems trying to pass emissions. As always, thanks for the video, Paul!!

[@LabCoatPaul]

If you don't have a scan tool yet, pick this one up: amzn.to/48sXcCy Read your own codes, and also look at the datastream while the engine is running. It's unlikely the MAP sensor is bad, but you can check it's data instead of blindly throwing parts at the car. There's a 90% chance your catalytic converter is clogged. You might get lucky and find an aftermarket one that fits on the manifold, or you'll have to do what I did and put 2 of them under the car (for 1996 or 1997 model year). When I had a clogged cat, I had to downshift to 3rd gear to maintain 70mph on the highway up slight inclines. With a good cat, I can hold my speed in 5th gear.

[@Max_1883]

For most (if not all) EU member states, emissions tests are mandatory every X years. Where I live, it's every two years, and nationally defined.

[@numberwhite7082]

I have a 1998 Rav4 with an obd1 port. 😭I jumped up when you showed a video of your 97 with an obd2 port, i never checked to see if mine had it since i spotted the obd1 port in the engine bay long time ago.

[@nickaa827]

every vehicle in California past the year 1970 has emissions testing required, not sure what years get what tests but everything 96 and newer gets tailpipe emissions testing, where you get the readouts of the toxic emissions, as well as component inspections. Also most community colleges with an automotive program have courses you can take to become emissions compliance inspector certified thru the BAR (Bureau of Automotive Repair). Meaning you can become a smog technician yourself.

[@AFFMotorsport]

In Australia we didn't get OBD2 in any first generation Rav4, don't have to deal with emissions testing but we pay a lot more for Rego.

[@guillermoortiz392]

fun fact: I have a 1996 rav4 here in Costa Rica, Manual transmission and well, It hasn´t the OBD2 conector at any place. :( (that car was imported by Toyota brand dealer here at Costa Rica in 1996) I think that maybe the requirements of the dealer at those years wasn´t so strict for new cars) Just maybe, I really don´t know

[@Aug-Ustinus]

My RAV4 was sold to me as an 1998, the VIN points to 96-12, old model bodywork but I have electronic ignition and now it seems ODB1 .... I guess it's build over many years .

[@McAdamsMechanics]

Franken-rav

[@cbkenison]

Another great video Paul, I liked your explanations and deadpan jokes. You did a good job discussing some of the reasons emissions regulations are important. However! I don't know if your analysis 'Best for the Environment' is correct. You would need the volumetric flowrate to multiply each concentration by to get total hydrocarbon output. This would be proportional to engine size and RPM, not total MPG. Regardless, I loved this portion and almost clicked off the vid before watching till the end. Interesting to see how MPG (the only number I usually look at) isn't the whole story.

[@LabCoatPaul]

Thanks! I'm glad they're useful for you.

[@nugravityzm]

It’s so good that in our country I can move without catalysts, I understand your pain very much.

[@briangoldberg4439]

There's something I don't fully understand. If it was running rich after the cat swap, how is that the fault of the cat? Wouldn't that more likely mean you need to adjust the fuel/air mixture via the ECU or something?

[@MrNgMichael]

Wow that's annoying that you can't use 1 pretty efficient CAT from later models... I feel that when buying used cars, buying the last model year to reap all the benefits of the previous iterations is probably the best

[@LabCoatPaul]

The 1998-2000 RAV4 have a few improvements over the 1996-1997: Better headlights with separate high and low beam bulbs Most people think the tail lights look better Removing the instrument cluster doesn't require dropping the steering column Extra cupholders under the radio 2 coil packs instead of a distributor Better exhaust system with 1 catalytic converter

[@CarlosContreras-gk9gp]

❤ love your videos ❤

[@nonenone4219]

I have a 2000 Toyota Rav4. My front seat passenger side floorboard carpet gets extremely wet when it rains. Is something clogged and where is it located under the hood if so?? Can you help me please??. I also had a new windshield installed, but both sides of carpet is not affected.

[@LabCoatPaul]

First take a look under the carpet. The floor has a few rubber plugs. Make sure they're not loose. Next, take the car to the carwash and pressure wash the exterior, while checking inside for leaks. Spray around the edges of that new windshield to see if you get any leaks. Also check the door seals. It might be possible you're having condensation not draining from the air conditioner, but that usually happens during the summer. Also, does the carpet smell like coolant, or is it water?

[@nonenone4219]

@LabCoatPaul No sir, it's definitely water. It didn't start happening until they replaced my windshield. First, it was both sides wet carpet, then they came back out and took the windshield out to reseal it. Now it's just the passenger side carpet wet, but extremely wet now. Is there a drain called the cowel? Or a cover that they could have damaged that I can check? And where is it located in my rav4?? Thank you very much for your help and all those great videos. 👍

[@MahdiAlfardan-i9r]

What size tires have u used ?

[@jesusramos-my2qr]

Ive replaced the purge valve the egr solenoid and fixed vaccum leaks and replaced the egr valve and i still got P0401

[@LabCoatPaul]

Have you tried cleaning out the EGR passage in the head where the valve bolts on? Also remove the throttle body from the intake and clean that up too. Make sure your oxygen sensors are working too. If you don't have an OBD 2 scan tool yet, get this one so you can look at the datastream: amzn.to/48NUuau

[@jesusramos-my2qr]

Sorry to be back to you late but i replaced many lines as they cracked and dry rotted I also cleaned the throttle body the intake manifold I was told I had to replace the charcoal canister but I'm hesitant since its over 300 dollars

[@jesusramos-my2qr]

Thanks for being a part of this community truly underappreciated

[@MB-iq6wq]

$77 for a year rego ? In Victoria Australia I just paid $1000 for a year 😒

[@AFFMotorsport]

Depends on your Zone, I'm in the rural zone and its a lot cheaper. Plus our price includes TAC, Paul's doesnt include any insurance.

[@LabCoatPaul]

I paid $91 for 1 year of RAV4 registration, $30 for the emissions test (also done every year), and I pay about $1,300 for car insurance every year, but it's for 2 cars. The RAV4 alone is $392/year, but it's only cheap because it's the second car. If it was my only car, I would still be paying close to $1,000/year for insurance.

[@MB-iq6wq]

@@LabCoatPaul ah I see, still very envious of some of the US motor vehicles , they seem very relaxed compared to Australia, Also Paul I want to thank you for these Rav4 videos , I’ve got 97’ 4door and these videos have been awesome , planning the rear Dif hanger repair soon.

[@sirsir108]

No emissions tests in oregon unless your in Portland i don't expect it to stay that way for long though

[@barthanes1]

My car is old enough to drink, so they don't test emissions any more.

[@pas50cal-63]

Hello @lab coat Paul. I was wondering where did you get that nice strut bar from? I want to but one 😅

[@LabCoatPaul]

It's a stock Toyota strut brace, and the cool part in the middle was made by www.youtube.com/@BudgetBuildBureau Here's my video about the strut brace: kzbin.info/www/bejne/a6KafYOGg8x-Zposi=QkTFqhtqVQAX_MJ-

[@pas50cal-63]

Oh Thank you!! 😁

[@reudagerashby196]

egr and all this emission saving shit just cakes up the intake, valves and shit engine die way faster than the old dino burners hahaha

[@LabCoatPaul]

Yes. Even though my 2017 Tucson has cleaner tailpipe emissions, the GDI system requires burning gnarly chemicals every 10K miles to clean the intake valves. Also, 3K miles or less oil changes are required if you don't want your engine to blow up. Most Hyundai GDI engines get gasoline in the oil, and a lot of them start burning oil around 80K miles. The old cars don't have those problems.

[@wills5482]

Only 91$? Thats cheap AF. Here we pay 3.5% of the total value of the vehicle based on something like KBB, so i have to pay about 1000 bucks for my car and another 1700 bucks for my motorcycle. Yay

[@LabCoatPaul]

That's crazy. KBB says my 1997 RAV4 is worth $2,000 private party value. 3.5% of that is $70. Hmmm... maybe I'm the one overpaying. My 2017 Hyundai is worth $16,000 according to KBB, so 3.5% would be $560/year. I paid $151 to register my Hyundai for one year. That does not include insurance. I pay $1,200/ year to to insure 2 cars.

[@barthanes1]

Gotta love the bureaucratic BS.

[@ZZ-bt2jr]

Inspections are such absolute BS. Your car has to be perfect one day out of the year, can be a total wreck the rest of the year. It has absolutely nothing to do with safety, just government restricting liberty and taking your hard earned money.

[@LabCoatPaul]

I agree. I think emissions testing does actually have effect on reducing pollution, but the government always focuses on stealing money and making all the people make the sacrifices, while the military can just burn stuff and fill the valley with smoke without any restrictions. I had a friend who used to test emissions from big industrial smokestacks. None of them ever passed. They just pay the fine and keep polluting. It's particularly funny when the government fines itself. Yup, I'll just take that money out of one pocket and put it in the other. In Utah they stopped doing vehicle safety inspections a few years ago, so now you're fine to drive if your tires are worn out, you don't have headlights and your brakes don't work. The government taking your money isn't going to help you fix your brakes anyway.

[@PeterHernandez-lg2eh]

Emissions a big pita. Electric car sales not doing well. Wind mills contract off new jersey coaxt cancelled. Gas stoves canceled.toilet paper polluting the environment canceled

[@LabCoatPaul]

Toilet paper is a problem? hahaha don't worry about all that plastic, it's the toilet paper and gas stoves.

[@StrongerThanBigfoot]

I hate the government seriously