1976 Cherokee Chief Smog
 

Anyone have experience smogging these in California?

Mine still has the EGR and Air injection system but no place for a catalytic converter so either someone replaced the entire system and didn't use a cat or it didn't come from the factory with one. The smog records only go back so far as 1999.

So question is, will I have to add a cat? I've read some people have stickers that say "non-catalyst vehicle" and that gets them through smog but I'm not sure how reliable that info is.

To the best of my knowledge all post-'75 vehicles need a cat for smog. You say you have smog records:does that mean that it's been through a CA smog already? If so then I guess you're ok. This is a question I'd only trust to a reputable smog station or mechanic. Wherabouts in CA are you? If you're the LA region I can Recommend a good smog station who'd advise you honestly.

It has an interesting smog history. It failed a couple times then passed a couple hours later. The records only go back so far as 1999 though.

I'm not sure if someone was fudging numbers to make it pass or what.

But it never had a cat to my knowledge which makes me think it came from out of state.

And I'm in San Diego area.

Since this is a 1976 Jeep it has a gross vehicle weight of over 6150 lbs and needs no converter. Converters didn't have to be on Cherokees because they were over the 6,000lb weight limit set by the California air quality people. All that was required was the air pump and the egr valve and tubing.

For what it's worth, I was in school to get my CA smog license in 76, and don't recall any mention of cat's. "Air injection" , a pump blowing air in, right past the exhaust port was used to give remaining the HC's a chance to burn. License expired in 81.

In any case, pick a smog shop you think is illigament, and get their feedback. They can point out what they will need to sign.

Also, don't hang around. Drop it and go away, sometimes they do better with no one there. :1eye:

So far as I know, weather you are in a smog control district or not you always need to smog once to register in CA. Non control district, you are good forever, control district, I think it's every two years you need to re-smog.

It gets tricky there in those years. If the Teck can see the stuff that's suppose to be there, that's helpful. (pvc stuff, air pump and all that, gulp and egr lines on) ect....

Make sure your dizy cap is clean, inside and out. (I do that, the rotor and wires right in the sink with Dawn dish soap). Clean and gap plugs. Myself, I'd fill up with Chevron premium with that Techron stuff a tank before going in. Don't add any of that other crap.

Oh...and make sure the choke is opening OK, and no harm in taking it in after a good run.

I do have a 76 Waggie up in my orchard, could check for a cat....

I had never heard that before. That's helpful.

Thank you for all the advice. Once I have it up and running I'll swing by a smog shop to talk to them about it.
Seems all the smog equipment is there and I'll just have to make sure it's functioning properly. EGR, Air injection, and PCV are all intact and present.

So just an update. I need to replace all the vacuum lines since some involving the emissions system are gone. The air injection diverter valve is also giving me the runaround. It's the valve that receives from the air pump and goes out to each of the air injection rails. The inlet valve is broken off. Cannot seem to find a replacement anywhere.

I saw on another thread that if I add a catalytic converter, I can do away with the air injection system. Is that something only a smog shop could answer?

That's not the case, at least for 49-state cars, not sure about California. I've seen cars as late as 1980 that came from the factory with no catalytic converter.

Actually I have a 1975 AMC shop manual since I used to own a '75 Hornet (which came with no catalyst from the factory). Jeeps fall into a different category of vehicle, of course. For reference I checked the manual and it says this about catalytic converters for 1975 AMC passenger cars:

"Catalytic converters are used on all California cars, nationwide cars equipped with V8 engines, and nationwide 10-80 series cars (Matador) equipped with six-cylinder engines and manual transmissions. Remaining six-cylinder cars do not require a converter. California six-cylinder cars use one converter while California V8 cars use two converters."

As has been pointed out, the Jeep is probably exempt in any event due to gross vehicle weight, as well as being classified as a truck or multipurpose vehicle.

My understanding is that California is exceedingly anal-retentive about this stuff, you should definitely check with a smog shop. Engines with catalytic converters may also require changes to ignition and/or carburetion to keep the converter happy.

You might want to check with AMC sources for some of the smog stuff, much of it is probably the same as was used on the cars. The AMC Forum would be a good place to start:

http://theamcforum.com/forum/

Is this it?

http://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=45956

Or this?

https://www.amazon.com/Motorcraft-CX.../dp/B000C5DI9S

A search of the FSJ boards indicated that both of those have been used as substitutes, but I can't vouch for them. With any FSJ-related questions, you will likely get better answers if you post on one of the FSJ message boards. Or search them, because it's likely someone else has already been through your issue.

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/

http://www.fsjnetwork.com/forum/index.php

Also, unlike the bizarre XJ groups on Facebook, the FSJ Facebook groups are full of knowledgeable people ready to help:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/44932762557/

That is correct as mine did not come from the factory with one. I was just wondering if adding a cat would allow me to remove the air injection stuff since I'm having such a hard time finding one little part.

Neither of those is it. I can't track down a picture right now but it looks like a small metal canister with outlets coming out both sides and an inlet on a third side.

One of the FSJ sites still hasn't activated my account and the other site has shown zero luck. I also tried on the FSJ Facebook page and no luck.

I'll try the AMC one and see what I can find.

I've seen pics of that. Based on what I was reading, that was the early design, and they went to the Motorcraft design that does basically the same thing in the later years. If it functions the same way and is an acceptable substitute for California, does it really matter whether it looks the same?

Also, although I know very little about California rules, there was a thread on IFSJA.org where someone said that if that part is required for smog and is still made, you can go to a smog referee, and they're supposed to be able to provide you with a supplier for the part.

A more effective way to search those sites even before your membership is active is to use Google and the "site:" tag, like so:

site:ifsja.org diverter valve

That uses Google's search engine but restricts the results to just that domain name. It's much, much better than the terrible search built into the message board software. Works great on this site also.

My concern about the alternatives I've seen is that they have electrical connectors where mine is vacuum operated. Idk what the electrical connectors would go to.

I'll ask my smog shop if they can provide me with a supplier for the part.