On Oct 10, 2006, at 12:12 PM, DocWyte wrote:
No timing belt cover?! How does that:
a: Affect emissions
b: Affect the way the car runs
c: Affect the way the car sounds
d: Affect anything about the car
Well, it would seem that as part of the Federal funding that S.J.P.D.
received
to enforce various emissions and non emissions related vehicle equipment
codes, which, by the way, don't all necessarily fall under the State
Vehicle
Code, traffic enforcement officers are sent to various classes,
seminars, etc.,
to "educate" them on how to "creatively interpret" these codes. I
say "creatively
interpret" because, in the case of my citation, try as I might to
find ANY reference
to timing belt covers within the code section I was cited under, as
well as any
referenced codes contained in that code section, I came up with
nothing. Not
even close. That said, the reasoning used by the "enforcers" to
issue this particular
citation is that there are apparently a significant number of
vehicles in the San Jose
area that have adjustable timing gears. So, the assumption is made
that because
there's no cover over the upper timing belt sprockets, that the
vehicle must have said
adjustable sprockets, and that would allow for the cam timing to be
altered from factory
settings, and this means that the tail pipe emissions MUST be
increased to the point of
being outside the legal limits for that vehicle. Now, as I
understand it, IF you have adjustable
cam gear(s), and you have indeed altered the cam timing from factory
stock, what you have
achieved is moving the usable power band either up or down the rpm
range. This, in and of
itself, should not affect the net tail pipe emissions levels, and if
you moved the timing far enough
to affect those emission levels, the car would not run, or run so
poorly as to be un-driveable.
So, the answer to the good Doctor's question is:
a: It doesn't
b: It should run BETTER
c: It doesn't
d: See "b"
And that assumes that the missing cover is indicative of having (an)
adjustable sprocket(s).
Of course without the sprockets, the answer to a-d is "It Doesn't".
Now, the real joke is, the cop didn't even check to see if I had an
adjustable cam sprocket.
He cited me strictly based on the cover being visually absent. Had
he checked, he may or may
not have been able to determine that I indeed do have an adjustable
cam sprocket, because
the sprocket I have is a Quaife vernier adjustable sprocket, that
doesn't outwardly appear to be
adjustable like the usual slotted adjuster type sprockets.
Uhm, do they just randomly pull you over and ask you to pop your
hood? What
ever happened to probable cause? lol
Probable cause in California has long been determined in the mind of
the individual law enforcement
official. In my case, I was driving down a two lane street at about
37 MPH. I saw a S.J.P.D shave top
patrol car pulled over with a customer at the curb of the oncoming
lane. Well before I was directly
across from the cop, I shifted into 5th gear, which put the revs at
about 1500 RPM. As I putted by, I
started watching my mirrors. About 30 seconds after I'd gone by him,
I see his car pull out and flip
a U turn, and head my way. I had gone through a 4 way stop sign, and
was about to disappear
around a bend in the road. As I watched my mirror, I see the cop
pull around a couple of cars on
their right, run the stop sign, and hammer it hard enough to catch me
in about 5 seconds. I'm thinking
"there's NO WAY he's after me", when the blue & reds come on, and he
follows me to the curb as I was
pulling over thinking he would just fly by on the way to a call.
WRONG! His mission from the start was
to check my car for any questionable hardware modifications, as he
claimed to have stopped me for
a loud exhaust. Now I admit my car is pretty loud under heavy
throttle, but Christ, I went by him in
5th gear at under two grand! Probable cause? Not in my book.
Unfortunately, they don't play by the
rules in my book, which is why I probably won't try to fight the
ticket, even though there's no direct
reference to the timing cover anywhere in the code sections for which
I was cited. I just know that
a judge is going to say that the timing belt cover falls into the
category "Thou shall not alter in any way
any part or system that is responsible for controlling vehicle
emissions", even though the cover is pretty
darn far removed from being part of the emissions hardware.
When it comes to emissions laws and the enforcement thereof,
California is on par with 1940 Germany
and Adolph Hitler's Fascist regime. The laws are written by a bunch
of pin headed politician bureaucrats,
when they should be written by engineers who actually know something
about motor vehicle propulsion
systems.
Sorry, I didn't intend for this to become a rant, but I have a real
sore spot where this subject is concerned.
Give me stand alone engine control systems, or give me death!
--Holland
[email protected]
