Keeping it legal/smog friendly

Here is the question.
when you take an engine/harness out of a 2002 ODBII car like mine, does the engine/harness put in have to be an 2002 OBII or newer to be kept legal. Or can I just use an OBDII engine/harness from any year that uses OBDII.

Here is the scenario.

Basically I'm looking to swap the mazda 2.5KL into my 2002 Protege. Obviously the 2.5 V6 wasn't an option for the Protege. Its a direct bolt in swap no custom fab required. Is is possible to do this and still be "legal."


Also if you use a Standalone EMS do you loose the ability to use OBDII. Like plugging in the code reader to see if there are any codes? Effectively loosing its legality

If I didn't explain it well enough, just ask and I'll try again
Thanks for any help.
Mike

different states have different regulations on this. As a general rule, what you want to do falls under "kit car" regulations, and I believe most states go something like, you must use a drive train from a newer car in an older car....IE, you must upgrade, never down grade. You also must have ALL of the emissions equipment incorperated with the swap

As for harness', nothing will swap over directly. You will be taking every single little scrap of wire, modules and components from the donar car and finding a way to put it in the final product, and very well might have serious issues such as security system conflicts, chasis computers etc. It will likely be a very very large and difficult project

aftermarket standalone system's are not allowed. None of them are OBD2 compliant or meet EPA regulations

Basically, yes is your answer. Theoretically, everything has to be from a 2002 or newer car, including all the emissions equipment, but in practical use, they don't care where the wiring harness comes from as long as everything is hooked up and functioning. Most states have a certification program to get your new engine certified as a legal swap. The referree will check everything and give it a smog test to make sure its right, but many things they don't care too much about. A couple examples. In my 96 Impala (OBD2) I was planning a Viper V10 swap, so I contacted a referree and we candidly discussed what we would need to do. The two main problems were the air inlet and the cats. The stock air inlet wouldn't work, nor would any aftermarket kit, but since it has so little to do with actual emissions he said he would certify it with whatever ducting I used provided it was clean and not junked together. The Viper also uses 4 cats, but I had no room for them, so he said I could just use the SS cats, provided they passed the sniffer. The referree's job is to interpret the laws and basically most of them are pretty forgiving (even in CA) as long as the tailpipe emissions are clean.

After finding out that I couldn't make the V10 fit without firewall surgery, I decided on a 383 stroker instead. While that would have been an invisible swap and I wouldn't need a referree, I wanted to know for sure first; the block I had to build the 383 was from an OBD1 car (a 93 vette to be specific). Since the blocks are functionally identical, it wasn't an issue. They don't check date codes on the block at smog stations. They might have checked it at a referree station, but probably let it pass since there was nothing different about the blocks that would affect emissions.

That's a long winded way of saying, don't worry about wiring. Just make sure its all there and hooked up and no one will know any different.

That's a long winded way of saying, don't worry about wiring. Just make sure its all there and hooked up and no one will know any different.
considering that most of the emissions equipment has electrical componements along with the mechanical components, it will be rather hard to make it all "work" without having all the appropriate "harness'" attached

I agree though, the technical word of the law vs the reality of what they care about are two very different things. Even the most strict state will allow quite a bit of fudge on this. My post was only dealing with the letter of the law. What you can "get away with" can be huge with the right state/inspector/bribe/slight-of-hand

Bit of a crap shoot though

So basically get an OB2 donor car, swap in Harness and Engine. Make sure everything works. No Codes etc.... should be OK. All they do in my area for emissions is Plug in the OB2 scanner and check for codes.

Only major problem I see with this is the fact that the 2.5 V6 was never an option for my car. Despite that its still a direct swap.

Only major problem I see with this is the fact that the 2.5 V6 was never an option for my car. Despite that its still a direct swap.

under kit car reg's, doesn't matter. You can use any (modern) engine you want

Thanks for the help. Kind what I thought from my reading. Still helped out


Well....I guess its time to find a donor car.

Just to see what I'm talking about. If your curious.

http://www.themazdaforum.com/showthread.php?t=4835

under kit car reg's, doesn't matter. You can use any (modern) engine you want

Would I have to register as a kit car?

Would I have to register as a kit car?

if you go that direction, yes

Not trying to be a pain with the 20 questions. But you seem to know alot more on the subject then I do.

Basically swap everything from donor car into mine, Register as Kit car, Thats it? Obviously "thats it" is an understatement but you catch my drift.

Not trying to be a pain with the 20 questions. But you seem to know alot more on the subject then I do.

Basically swap everything from donor car into mine, Register as Kit car, Thats it? Obviously "thats it" is an understatement but you catch my drift.

you really should check your state's reg's on it, I'm only speaking generally and "by the book" as I understand it. Most likely, I don't live in your state, and each probably does it differently

But disclaimers aside, I believe so

We shall see. Thanks for the help.