The engineer/engineers who pulled this off were pretty slick. I don't condone the cheat, but I am still trying to figure out how they turned on specific emmissions devises, or fooled with pulse cycles, etc.

I have a weird feeling it wasn't fool proof, and they're a bunch of VW owners who failed smog? They brought the auto back, or to a different shop and the code somehow turned on the right components, leaned out injectors, etc? The problem is the customer had to pay for this slick trick. These smog tests are not cheap in my neck of the woods. Every two years, I end up paying close to $100. They always try to nail me with the "leaky" fuel cap. I just keep a new one in the back storage area, and bring it out at the right time. I'm an ex-mechanic so my vechicle always pass the emmission test, but boy, I have had problems with the visual test.

While I'm here, some of us drive older cars, for a long time. Smog shops in California are required to have one copy of an Emissions Publication. Most use use Motor Publications. That manual is filled with errors. It's is the cheapest emmission manual on the market.

If you happen to fail a visual smog test, go to a smog shop that has access to Mitchell Emission Smog manuals(OnDemand5). I have yet to find an error in Mitchell manuals.

(The only reason so many smog shops only buy the Motor publications is because they are cheap. Any Smog technician will tell you they have found multiple errors in Motor Emission Publications. Vechicle owners don't have a clue to this problem, and are just sent home with a failed Smog test, or end up spending a day taking to CARB--just praying they will get an exemption. All of this is due to errors in Motor Emission Publications.)