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Ricardo Lpez
Owens
Research Paper Draft 3
October 10, 2013
Illegal Parts in ars
!here are fi"e #ain reasons that $o%r car co%ld illegall$ be #is%sed and it co%ld
potentiall$ get $o% p%lled and tic&eted or cited' Reason n%#ber one wo%ld be so%nd and
noise #odifications, which wo%ld incl%de car stereo too' (o#e laws prohibit e)cessi"el$
nois$ e)ha%st s$ste#s and #%fflers e"en if the$ are legal in all states' *eca%se what #ost
+ighwa$ Patrols point o%t is the s#og not the noise co#ing o%t of the car' (econd reason
wo%ld be fra#e and s%spension #odifications' (o#e states ha"e a li#it of to how low
$o%r car can be off the gro%nd' In alifornia the$ state that $o% ha"e to be within fi"e
inches or higher off the gro%nd to legall$ be low, that wo%ld be twent$ two inches fro#
headlight to the gro%nd' *%t raised cars and tr%c&s can also ha"e their li#its' ,n$ t$pe of
air or h$dra%lic s%spensions that #a&e $o%r car %nsafe can be illegal' !hird reason wo%ld
be engine perfor#ance' !he onl$ reason wh$ it co%ld be illegal is if it affects $o%r cars
s#og and or clean-air standards' *%t the$ #a$ also affect $o%r cars noise' .o%rth Reason
wo%ld be after-#ar&et lighting #odifications' +eadlights and tail lights ha"e a certain
le"el of intensit$ the$ sho%ld ha"e' /enon or high intensit$ 0bl%e1 headlights #a$ be
illegal if the$ were not factor$ installed' ,lso, the neon %nder glow lights is illegal
beca%se of the light the$ gi"e o%t' .ifth and final reason wo%ld be tinted windows'
!inting $o%r windows #a$ be allowed in so#e cars, b%t the onl$ proble# $o% can r%n
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into wo%ld be if $o% tinted $o%r windshields' *%t window tinting has a certain percent of
window tinting $o% wo%ld 2%st ha"e to chec& 3indow Laws for tinting specifications'
If $o% were to get p%lled o"er for an$ of these #odifications the good thing is that
$o%r tic&et can be dis#issed if $o% correct $o%r "iolation in a certain ti#e' It wo%ld be a
good idea if $o% were to contact a traffic law attorne$ to get better ad"ice on what4s the
best thing to do in this t$pe of cases'
In #an$ cases e"en the inta&e can beco#e a proble# when installing it if the$
don4t ha"e the ,R* stic&er' !he alifornia ,ir (o%rces *oard 5,R*6 are the ones to
inspect the car inta&e to #a&e s%re it #eets reg%lator$ re7%ire#ents' If $o%r part is
accepted b$ the board, $o%r car will recei"e an 8)ec%ti"e Order 58O6 n%#ber' 8O
n%#ber will infor# a s#og chec&er that the inta&e is not in "iolation of state e#issions
standards' 3hen a new $ear of the "ehicle is released $o% ha"e to res%b#it to ,R*'
!his process can ta&e %p to ten #onths and no g%arantee that the inta&e s$ste# will pass
standards' (tates that ha"e adopted alifornia e#ission standards incl%de9 ,rizona,
alifornia, onnectic%t, District of ol%#bia, :aine, :ar$land, :assach%setts, ;ew
<erse$, ;ew :e)ico, ;ew =or&, Oregon, Penns$l"ania, Rhode Island, >er#ont, and
3ashington'
,nother Proble# that is iss%ed b$ ,R* is the after#ar&et catal$tic con"erter' ,
catal$tic con"erter is a de"ice that %ses a catal$st to con"ert three har#f%l co#po%nds in
a car e)ha%st into har#less co#po%nds' !he three har#f%l co#po%nds are +$drocarbons,
arbon :ono)ide, and ;itrogen O)ide' +$drocarbons are for# b$ %nb%rned gasoline,
arbon :ono)ide is for#ed b$ the co#b%stion of gasoline, and ;itrogen O)ide is
created when the heat in the engine forces nitrogen in the air to co#bine with o)$gen'
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arbon :ono)ide can be "er$ deadl$ to an$ air-breathing ani#al, it4s li&e poison'
;itrogen o)ides lead to s#og and acid rain, and h$drocarbons prod%ce s#og' !he
catal$tic con"erter pla$s a big role beca%se it #a&es a big difference in these three
har#f%l co#po%nds' .or e)a#ple, catal$tic con"erter con"erts arbon :ono)ide to
arbon Dio)ide, it also con"erts +$drocarbons into arbon Dio)ide and water, and
finall$ it con"erts the ;itrogen O)ides bac& into ;itrogen and O)$gen' !hese processes
are d%e to the atal$st 5in the for# of platin%# and palladi%#6 being coated on a
hone$co#b or cera#ic beads that are ho%sed in a #%ffler-li&e pac&age that4s attached to
the e)ha%st pipe'
Illegal engine swap is another proble# that can #a&e $o%r car r%n illegall$ in
alifornia, b%t this proble# can be a"oided with fo%r si#ple steps' .irst, $o% want to
#a&e s%re that the new engine $o% are tr$ing to p%t in $o%r car is the sa#e $ear or newer'
(econd, the engine can be larger then the original b%t it can4t be fro# a hea"$-d%t$
"ehicle, %nless $o%r car was alread$ e7%ipped with one' !hird, the engine and chassis
#%st ha"e all of their original e#issions co#ponents in place and f%nctioning properl$'
+owe"er, #i)ing and #atching e#issions parts fro# different "ehicles are generall$ not
allowed' ,s s%ch it?s %p to the referee to decide what needs to be there' , 7%ic& wa$ to
see what $o% need there is to loo& at the stic&er %nder the hood' It will list all the
e#issions e7%ip#ent that ca#e on the car'