Going with the flow of traffic on a small street next thing I noticed a motorcycle cop pulls behind me and flashes his lights. He told me he pulled me over because he noticed I had an exhaust system and that my front windows were tinted.

He asked me to pop open the hood and told me that my Cold Air Intake and Headers were illegal. I replied that they were not illegal and he asked for proof of evidence. I proceeded to tell him that I still have instruction manuals somewhere at home indicating that these modifications comply with the state of California.

He didn’t say anything afterwards and told me to go back inside my car. A few minutes later he came back and took pictures of the Cold Air Intake and Headers and cited me for those infractions. He didn’t say much, handed me the ticket and off I went.

So basically now I have to get my vehicle inspected at the Westminster center. My Cold Air is made by AEM and I think they comply with the state of California emission codes. I just can’t find the instruction manual right now that says that, I know I have it somewhere. As for the Headers they are made by XS Power (Engineering?) I don’t know if they are the same company or not, but some of you may know that these are the exact same ones I bought from eBay for $150 shipped from seller ssautochrome.

I know if I want to retain my modifications I have to produce evidence saying they are carbon legal in California.

1) If I can’t find my manuals, what other alternatives do I have? Could someone scan me the documents or whatnot and would that be sufficient proof?
2) If documents cannot be found, what can I do besides replacing the mods with stock components?
3) Are these Headers by XS and CAI by AEM even legal in CA?

Man I’m down on money too, this is not good. I got pulled over for my front tints before, but I just paid the fine (bail) amount. I plan on doing that again for the tints, but I’m more worried about the CAI and Headers.

Could someone please help me out with this? I need your advice, thanks a bunch.

 

I know the XS Power headers are not CARB certified, so you may have a problem with that.

 

Check the AEM site and see if your intake is carb legal. Or try to contact them so they can give you a carb sitcker to provide its legal. As for the headers the only company i think its carb legal is comptech.

 

Dang I was afraid of that. If the XS Power headers are not CARB legal man it's going to be a real pain again to take it all off and replace the stock ones. Man am I in a whirlwind of hurt right now.

I think my next car will be a plain, cheap Civic or something with no modifications. Think I'm done with the modding scene, it's just causing way too much stress and money.

 

I forgot to mention...my exhaust is made by HKS they are Super Draggers.

Don't know if this is legal or illegal but you know it's just the mufflers, not the whole system. I put back the big resonator and now the exhaust is really not loud at all. Should I worry about this?

 

For the exuast as long as it doesn't exceed 94 or 95 db then you good. If you get pulled over for exuast its a ticket now from what i have heard but you can fight it. If you get a ticket you can take your car to a db station and once you pass you will get a certificate and cops wont hassel you on that. You can only go to those stations if you get a ticket. I think Rio hondo college has one of those db stations, hope that helps.

 

fuk da police.


yea some AEM are carb.

 

I'm like 99% sure it says CARB legal right on the intake tube. I have an AEM short ram, but I'd assume it would be on a CAI too. I remember pointin it out to my dad when I put it on. Just go back and tell the cop he's a dumbass for not noticing.

 

do the xs headers say xs on them? grind them down or get them wrapped temporarily or something. i think you should be safe with the intake though: http://www.tirerack.com/intake-aem-c...r_intake.shtml as stated: C.A.R.B. exempt or pending C.A.R.B exemption (50-state legal)

and off of AEMs site:

Q: What is a C.A.R.B. E.O. number? A: AEM intake systems carry or are pending approval for a California Air Resources Board Executive Order (CARB EO) number, exempting them from the prohibitions of California Vehicle Code (CVC) 27156, which states that you cannot modify your car in the area of the emission control system. The C.A.R.B. E.O. number allows you to legally use the AEM intake system on your car.
hope this helps; good luck

 

Find the sticker on the intake. When I got mine, it was near the section where it connects to the throttle body.

 

question: are the police allowed to search under your hood w/o your consent? search and seizure laws apply here? i've never actually thought about it.

 

If you are operating your vehicle on the roadway, the Police have the right to inspect it for compliance with any of over 1000 little laws, just like the Implied Consent for DUI testing.

Thats the latest trick to crack down on sideshow cars, tickets for illegal smog altering things, there can actually be Federal issues with the smog tampering but I have not seen it go that far YET. They also have issue with tires beyond the fender and lowered cars, all things that make it no longer comply with the manufactures specs and the Fed safety testing- so they COULD decide to impound your car.

We have a problem with sideshows- a recent incident with a guy hanging out the door- crushed when not enough clearance between parked pickup truck and open door.

As a result, there is a local law that says if we have you on video tape watching or being in a show or race, and you already got a ticket for it once before- now they casually roll up Sunday morning with the tow truck and impound your ride for 30 days, about $1000 for that plus whatever tickets they slapped on you too.

They can deem your car unsafe or otherwise illegal for street use and have it towed for you, and not to your house- to theirs!

CARB stickers that came with the product should be plainly visable (CA smog rules) and any paperwork that backs up that with a CARB number is helpful
I have to bring in everything to document my edelbrocked old chevy truck!

Modifiers beware- you may have to put everything back to stock every 2 years (Ca smog test) thats just part of the game!

 

If you get real sick of it...I'd be happy to buy the mufflers and headers.....

 

lol..instead of offering your P.D. wisdom you are trying to take his parts. I thought you wanted to get rid of the car?? I know before you say it CT laws are different than CA laws

 

You could always move to a non-communist state.

 

I feel for you. When I lived in SoCal, I got pulled over many times for tinted windows. My brother-in-law was an LAPD cop and would sign off on the tickets. Apparently for possible emissions violations you're required to go to Westminster.

The AEM CAIs are smog exempt, except the V2 (which you don't have as you have a TL-S). The descriptions for the two intakes listed for the TL-S on AEM's website both state:

Emissions Compliance - 50 State Legal


I got a CARB sticker with my DC Sports headers, so those are CARB exempt too.

BTW, did you also get a fixit ticket for the tinted windows too?

 

Gosh, this brings me back to the days I had my Hatch... Can't fight with these fools, they'll get you one way or another...Good Luck with everything

 

:communist HAHAHA classic!

 

first off you did not need to open your hood for the trooper!!! 2nd did he take a photo of your engine by cell phone or he actually had a camera on him?

 

Yeah I guess you could refuse to open your hood and take a ride in the back of his car. Just seeing the aftermarket exhaust is probable cause to inspect the vehicle.

 

xgoogol (For those who arent familiar ..Definition:a number that is equal to 1 followed by 100 zeros and expressed as 10100.)

 

I don't think the cop issued a fix it ticket for the tinted front windows. I have one pink carbon copy ticket and all it says on it is "27156(b) Modified Emissions State Referee Cert. Req'd."

But I believe when I have my car inspected, the person will check for every detail that is state-illegal in California, including my front tints and cleared headlights, among others.

 

It wasn't a camera phone, he actually had a small digital camera with him and snapped two pictures of the instake and the headers.

 

I drive a 2003 TL-S, maybe the model I got AEM changed some things? I bought it in blue and it came with a sticker that you could put on it or not. I chose to put on that sticker in the exact same location where you have it in your pic and all it says is "AEM Performance Intake Technology."

But I will use Malayalee King's idea and print off AEM and TireRack saying the intake is carb certified.

So I think we can all agree that the AEM intake is legal, but as for the XS Headers am I screwed?

 

Well. Call me a kneiving tl driving fiend... but if you had that hard a time figuring out they were xs headers, then its probably not on the picture. They COULD be comptech headers, and its easy to waltz over to comptech.com and print off how your comptech headers are CARB legal. I know my comptech's are pretty hard to see. You dig?!

 

Dude Cali laws must suckass!!! Now don't get me wrong I've had cops pull me over for some b.s., but headers and intake? That's ridiculous!!! Funniest thing that ever happened when I was pulled over in my old Eclipse, the cop pulled me over and said i was "reving my engine", I told him I wasn't and he said "you have loud exhaust on your car, and if you put loud exhaust on your car, you run the risk of having loud exhaust", before I busted in tears laughing at how retarted the cop just sounded I asked him to say it again. What a moron! Anyway, he didn't give me a ticket, so I was thankful, but it was a funny situation

 

LMFAO!!!

 

Sorry Lodoss2

Your ticket means the EMISSIONS State Referee must do the SMOG inspection.
That is ALL they do- SMOG Checks on modified cars- you pass or you dont- their choice
Have all the paperwork from the maker that says CARB approved and you're ok

Cmon Its California You have to figure there are different departments for everything
If its not written as a seperate offense then you were not cited for tints

 

I took criminal procedure last semester in law school and I can help you answer this question here.

Search and seizure laws do apply somewhat here, but generally with traffic stops, they are considered "Terry Stops." "Terry Stops" are essentially any stopping of persons by the police: hence when a police officer stops you on the street, to ask questions it is a "Terry Stop." Being in an automobile makes it no different, he's essentially stopping you.

From the stopped persons perspective, and the perspective a jury will take in determing whether or not a "Terry Stop" occurred, is "Would a reasonable person in the suspects shoe have felt free to terminate the encounter?" Thus a person walking on the street, when stopped by the police is technically allowed to just walk away from the police. Of course in real life no one does this, but you are allowed to do so and not answer any of his questions. The minute he stops you by physical force, or through a showing of his authority, it is now a "Seizure." For a "Seizure" the police must have "Probable cause" i.e. they have to pretty much be positive that you are engaged in criminal activity and this is usually only justified through a warrant. There are ways the police can "seize" without a warrant, but eh.. that's not at issue here.

Sadly for automobiles, the "reasonable person feeling free to terminate the encounter" does not apply because you cannot just terminate the encounter once a police officer stops you. Case law has pretty much stated that traffic stops are just "Terry Stops" regardless of feeling free to terminate the encounter or not.

Now, for a "Terry Stop" to be justified, the police need to have a "reasonable suspicion that the suspect is engaged in illegal activity." This "Reasonable suspicion" standard makes it so that police can't just hassle anyone they see on the street. This "reasonable suspicion" must be based upon "Observable and articulable facts;" however most police officers can lie there way through this and say pretty much anything. Note: "Reasonable suspicion" is a much lower standard than "Probable cause," hence Terry Stops allow for a broader range of stops than seizures.

Now that we have this background, lets look at Lodoss' situation. He was pulled over and the police officer said that he noticed that he had an exhaust system. At this moment the police officer had "reasonable suspicion" that the exhaust system was illegal, which justified him pulling over Lodoss. Thus pulling over Lodoss was ok on the police officer's part.

Now, I don't know the facts since Lodoss didn't say much, but I'm certain the events went something like this (or should have gone like this). Before the police officer asked Lodoss to open the hood, he SHOULD have asked questions. Questions like "Have you done anything to your intake system? Have you modified the engine in anyway?" etc. At this point, Lodoss could have said no. Why? Because for a "Search/Seizure" the police must have Probable Cause. If you tell him that you haven't modified the engine compartment, then he has essentially nothing to prove that you're doing anything illegal.

HOWEVER, the fact that Lodoss had an exhaust system may have been enough to give the police officer probable cause... and usually a person who modifies their exhaust will modify their intake, so I guess it's a lost cause either way. But potentially if you said no, you could argue in court that the police officer didn't have probable cause

Let's assume Lodoss is an outstanding honest person and he decided to tell the truth, at this point the police will now have probable cause. Once the police have probable cause, they can search the automobile. (Although case law has only stated that the police can search the compartment areas of the cars... engines is a different story I guess, but certainly if the suspect admits to it, then I'm sure it'll be justified).

Pretty much the crucial factor here was the fact that Lodoss got pulled over for the exhaust system. The exhaust system definitely gave the police "Reasonable suspicion" to allow him to stop the car. It's questionable as to whether enough the exhaust alone would give the police "PRobable cause" to search the car... this could be argued out in court by showing statistics of cars with exhaust systems with modified intakes.. but I'm sure here in Orange County (Where Lodoss got pulled over, and where I live) the conservative judges will probably believe the police officer telling him that in his experience that modified exhaust is a sign of a modified engine.

If Lodoss did not have the exhaust and were obeying the traffic laws, then the police couldn't have pulled him over. Why? No reasonable suspicion. Remember, without reasonable suspicion the police cannot perform a "Terry STop." Police can't tell that you have headers/intake under the hood by merely looking at you, hence having those mods will not give reasonable suspicion. And if pulled over for a traffic infraction and not for an exhaust, they do not have any reasonable suspicion that you modified your car: they only have reasonable suspicion that you're breaking the traffic law and thats it.

Lesson of the day? Don't have an obnoxiously loud exhaust system.

And Lodoss, I'm sorry that cop was a dick to you. I got pulled over for speeding in Irvine (Going 58 in a 50) and he said he noticed my exhaust system. He then asked me if I modified my intake or engine, and I said no. After that he just wrote me a ticket for speeding and left. I guess some cops are really dickish and like to write up fix it tickets here in the O.C.

IF you guys wanna read some cases, on "Terry Stops" and "Searches" of automobiles, read the following:

Terry v. Ohio
U.S. v Carroll
U.S. v Acevedo

 

huh?

 

hahahaha. thats "felony evasion"


sadly.... i know =[

 

Phew! I hope you are right about this.

 

You are right, BraveDemon.

I didn't want to get into too much detail, but the officer did ask me if I had done any modifications under the hood. I didn't want to lie to the officer as that might get me into more trouble so I popped open the hood and the rest, as they say, was history.

 

it's alright man. Nothing wrong with being an upstanding citizen and telling the truth. If you want a decent price at getting your headers put back on, contact Heeltoe Automotive. You'll have to drive out to Mission Viejo, but Marcus' rates for Headers are pretty cheap.

Good luck bro.

 

Lodoss22: Sorry about the ticket. Your CAI should be fine if AEM has CARB exempt sticker, but your header is the problem.
Let me share my little encounter with the cop in similar situation: I also got pull over last year after a big car meet around 11:00PM in Westminster city. The cop asked me if I know the reason he pulled me over, and of course I said no. He said the reason because a) I just left from the car meet, b) has modified exhaust, c) has stickers around the car. After usual stuffs about licences, registration, etc, he asked me to open the hood for him to check. I asked him politely that why he want to see the engine, and he replied that he suspect I modified engine illegally based on 3 reasons above. What I have at that time is DC sport header, pulley, and Comptech Icebox (with CARB exempt sticker). He just look around engine compartment with flashlight and just let me go. Maybe I got lucky because DC header looks like stock (non-shinny stainless steel) and with CARB exempt sticker from the Icebox. Maybe in your case, if you have CARB sticker on your CAI, he might let you go free. Anyway, keep us update on how it turns out.

 

It's not that hard to install the headers. A couple of my friends and I actually did the whole installation ourselves. You just need proper tools, patience (a lot of it), and a 5 hour window block (which I must add that none of us really had) to successfully install the headers. After everything was done with most of us came out bloodied and cut up because there is very little room to operate with.

Thanks for looking out though guys. I will let you guys know how my inspection turn out as I have an appointment Friday to have my vehicle checked.