Information on emissions testing in SA

[thehillsarecalling]

Hi All,

In the process of strapping a turbo to my 1.6 and have a craving for legality.

So I rung Services SA (for all you interstaters, that's our version of Vicroads etc), who advised me that there are two shops in SA that you can get your car taken to, who will perform an IM240 emissions test. They are;

Bell's Auto Service in Prospect
Graham West Workshops in Park Holme

I have rung both, and they have both confirmed that they can perform the IM240 test, and issue the appropriate certification. I would recommend that YOU ring both and make your OWN assessment as to your needs, and the suitability of either supplier to meet them.

Why can they issue the certification for an IM240? Don't you have to scurry down to Regency (for you interstaters this is the main place where the SA govt performs car inspections to remove defect notices etc) and get someone there to test / certify your car? Apparently not - I heard this interesting yarn from someone;

The Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure have their own emissions testing setup, however it has been mothballed due to ongoing maintenance issues with it. Basically it kept breaking down, and someone somewhere ran out of budget to fix it (this is my guess). So the SA govt was put in a position where they enforced emissions compliance for modified vehicles, but had no way of testing / issuing compliance statements for modified vehicles.

Step in some enterprising government soul who noted the good work being done at the two aforementioned shops. A little bit of haggling (again, my guess) later, there is now an agreement whereby the SA govt will allow the two shops above to perform the IM240 test, and take their documentation as acceptable.

The upshot of this is the process of getting your car tested is much easier, and both shops are also general workshops, which means they can tune your car in the case that it isn't correctly tuned to pass emissions.

NOTE: I'm not affiliated with either of the shops, this is just my research that I am sharing.

[DanZig]

Great work, it seems like sa is pretty good for getting legal. I've spoken to service sa and they sent me the forms and essentially said the same thing to my delight. Bark who's legal here also went through the process but under the old scheme iirc.

How did each shop respond to tuning megasquirt?

I guess the only downside now is there's gonna be even faster competition!

[PL]

Interesting stuff. I spoke to a local engineer about getting my 1999 MX5 through engineering with turbo fitted and he said I'd need to do IM240 (among other things of course) but that it should be possible without too many issues. I'll be using a re-mapped factory ECU, albeit a Nissan one, so emissions shouldn't be too hard to achieve.

Anyway, I know the guys at Graeme West Workshops so thought I'd give them a call. They confirmed everything you said, although mentioned that how long this situation will survive for is anyones guess. The way things "work" at Regency, they could change their mind at any moment and a whole new set of unworkable and expensive rules could be put in place to make our lives hell. If there's one thing consistent about that place it's inconsistency! Don't get me started....

So it looks like at present there's a window of opportunity for us to get our turbo MX5's legal in SA. Best I pull my finger out and get mine working so I can take advantage of the situation before they change their minds again!

PL

PS: I did mention Megasquirt to Brett and he didn't swear. Which is a good sign. Most tuners have had their fingers burnt by early MS ECU's and aren't keen to try again. I've been helping get a tune into my mate's MS2 PNP equipped NA8 and it seems pretty good.

[bark]

I'm an avid supporter of modifying legally and that is great news. Thanks for sharing!

[DanZig]

Bit of an update and it seems things have changed quite a bit (sorry about my scanner, it's on it's last legs):




This is the letter I received re my application for modification. I'm still digesting most of it, specifically where the ADR 37/00 differs from IM240.

[PL]

Hmmm. Actually not too bad - no mention of having to go through an engineer (handling tests, braking tests, chassis torsional rigidity, etc. etc). Win!

So it's just a matter of having an inspection to check the numbers, passing a noise test and then (gulp) some sort of emissions test that appears to smell of IM240.

I suspect that as long as you have a new cat fitted, EGR is working properly and you've got a decent tune in your ECU then you'd be sweet (assuming stock cams and you haven't gone too mad on injector size). But once you enter Regency world all bets are off...

I'll check up on the emissions thing and see if I can get more info.

PL

[PL]

OK. I have more info. Just spoke to S* at <insert name of local workshop that does this stuff here>.

The news is indeed good. As I suspected, you just gotta make sure it's basically roadworthy and stuff. Plus IM240.

IM240 isn't the end of the world. S* didn't even think EGR would be needed. But said a new cat would. Meow! He gave me some examples of cars that they've got through and it all sounds quite doable. Running it on E85 will make everything a lot easier, but not mandatory. I'd go flex-fuel and fill it with a gutfull of E85 if it was me. No point making things harder than they need be hey!

That ADR specifies a heap of stuff but what parts are relevant comes down to the year of your car. So if yours is an NA then it'd probably be easier to get through than my NB. Depends when the emissions regs changed. So yes, you gotta do IM240 but what emissions numbers you gotta pass are dependent on what year your car is. Earlier = easier.

So that's pretty good news I reckon. It'll still cost money but bottom line is that you can have a legal MX-5 turbo in SA WITHOUT having to go through the whole expensive engineering process. Go SA!!

Get in before they change the rules again I say!!

PL

[DanZig]

Thanks for the info, that's indeed good news. I was getting a little scared.

Mine is a 90 NA6, has a new cat and I'd happily chuck it on E85, planned on doing so anyway. If you don't mind PMing some details on who'd be good to talking about getting the ball rolling it'd be great!

[thehillsarecalling]

Couple of extra tid bits that I picked up along the way:

1) When you get your new cat (meow) installed, get it installed as close to the engine (rather than the tailpipe) as possible. These things need to be hot to function, and by the time the exhaust gasses have gotten 3/4 down the exhaust pipe, they won't heat the cat as well...(and chilly cats are grumpy cats).

2) Getting emissions passed on e85 is easy, even to the point of running large-ish injectors can still be worked around. Ask NitroDann.

3) Make sure you haven't disconnected / removed your charcoal canister. That will make Mr Regency sad.


I also heard someone say (in SA this is) that technically once IM240 is passed, the computer has to be locked, even if it is aftermarket, to prevent the maps being fiddled with. Now having built and played around with a MS2, I have got no idea how this is supposed to be achieved, because AFAIK locking them with a password & encryption isn't a supported feature, and even if you do, it would be easily worked around with a firmware reflash and a power tune.

Keen to hear if anyone else has heard similar or if it's just bogus...

[speed]

Nsw engineer also said needs to be locked but I've only spoken to one so far.


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[bark]

Hi All, when I did mine Regency initially stated that the ECU had to be sealed (i.e. no tampering), I discussed this with them and had that clause removed as its required for maintenance of the vehicle as per any existing current road vehicle - which they agreed.

[speed]

Nice one. Makes sense


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