Well I am getting ready to buy a new truck, and I was almost set to get it untill he told me it was a California truck. Its a 2007 Chevy Suburban (5.3) Z71.

I don't have the slightest clue on what the emissions controls are on a california.

I also don't know if it will vary much from chevy to ford.

I really would like to get it, but presently I am scared to.

Can someone please tell me the Pro's and Con's of the California emissions.

Do you think that I will have more or less HP?
Does it make a differance in the MPG's of the truck?

Thank you for your help in resolving my problem!!

 

they have different cats. california vehicles almost always have smog pumps. they sometimes have a couple less hp than federal emmisions vehicles, nothing major.

the good things- lower emmisions and thats about it.
the bad things- cant touch the emmisions parts without throwing a cel.

 

Hey, we're not in Kansas anymore Toto! Sorry, couldn't resist. Don't you only have to meet the smog standards in Kansas if that's where the truck is? And if Kansas has smog standards. Do they? Cal. has probably the toughest smog standards in the U.S. That means that if you're in Kansas it should be a piece of cake passing them. Besides that, I think most of the states use Cal. standards anymore anyway. You shouldn't ever have any trouble when you buy your new vehicle in, say Maine and then move to Cal. Maine may not have as tough a standards as Cal. but the car is built to standards that will pretty much pass in any state you take it to. It would be a nightmare for the manufacturer to make their vehicles to 50 different standards, and then you could never take it with you when you moved. Maybe that way once, but I don't think anymore. If it meets Cal. standards it should fly anywhere. And by the way, they haven't put smog pumps on vehicles for at least 20 years I don't think. Maybe a little less or more, but it's been a long time! Maybe a smog tech will pipe in with any corrections to what I've said, But this is where I live, so I think it's fairly accurate.

There are times when they will need to know that it is a Cal. car when you buy parts. Some of the sensors may be faintly different, but I think most of the time even if you tested them, you'd be hard pressed to find a difference... only the parts book knows for sure- I certainly wouldn't be afraid of it. I'd be more concerned that it is now controlled by Government Motors than I would be about the smog.

 

HAHA! As far as i know, there is NO emissions standerads in Kansas.
I hope that its not going to be a big problem. Because I got it.

I go to pick it up at 5 today from the dealership.

 

If there were, it would have passed all of them with flying colors! Can't imagine how there'd be a problem there.

 

Nearly all cars and trucks sold in the united states are built to pass California emissions. A truck sold new in California is no different then one sold in Kansas really.

 

Not true, the emissions are different. They have harsh standards there.

 

California may be the first state to enact tougher standards but car manufactures build cars to pass in all states rather then just 1. My kids Dodge passes in San Diego every year that I bought for him here in Utah no problem. California was the first state to require catalytic converters and smog pumps in 75 but the rest of the country was right behind them in 76. They may be stricter about not passing poorly running cars but my experiance has been the cars sold there are pretty much the same as the ones sold everywhere else. Actually if you buy a car that passes the emissions test there you know your getting a car that runs right. I wouldn't even worry about the emissions difference. its small.

 

This is a Ford forum and I'm bias. Purchasing a Chevy is the con. This belongs in GD if anywhere at all on this site.

 

I agree 100%!!

You bought a WHAT?

Phil

 

Correct. I doubt Ford has made multiple state models for years. It is easier and more cost effective for them to just make them all to the strictest standard.

 

Just spent a couple of months researching this prior to purchasing a 07 F150 Heavy Half last month in Calif. Everything I got from every place (Including Ford) on the difference between the 49 states emissions and Calif emissions vehicles is the cat on the truck is different between Calif and everywhere else. I asked about things like timing, computer code etc and was told it was the same. Obviously this only applies to Fords and if what I got for responses is accurate then it's true. Chevy's could be different so you'd need to check that one out yourself.

I can't say I've seen any difference between this one and others I've looked at in appearance or drive quality when I checked them out. Mileage seems to be about the same for this vs the other ones I looked at also. If it's a little cleaner in the tailpipe, then that's a plus to me.

Paul

PS there is no air pump on mine that I've seen so far.

 

There are at least 12 other states that adopted CA's standards.
Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona (also parts of New Mexico).
I bought my truck in New Hampshire and it meets CA standards. I guess that makes sense since 5 of the 6 New England states follow CA standards.

 

I think you're right Norm. There was a time, early on in this smog game where they didn't equip them quite the same for states that didn't have the standards, but you can imagine the nightmare that would be for a manufacturer that was say shipping to 20 different states from 1 plant and they had to know when that car came down the line what state it was going to to know what went on it. Cal. had the strictest standards, so just make 'em to those standards. There are quite a few parts on quite a few cars that list Cal. separately, but my experience is that even though they list separately, often when they bring the part out, it's the same as non-Cal.

 

Passing a test doesn't necessairly mean same equipment. Cali trucks are different equipment wise. Look on the window sticker, it list "California Emissions". The funny part is, these Cali vehicles are starting to show up in all the states that border Cali. One state (I forgot which one) I checked on, every truck on the lot was a Cali truck. Others were mixed. This will probably more and more become less of an issue, but today according to the sticker, Ford still builds two trucks.