Before I installed any of the fueling mods I'd acquired, I first needed to pass inspection in North Carolina. I passed last year as a FBO twin turbo car running catless downpipes and resonators in place of my secondary cats by flashing to MHD stock map 0, turning the JB4 to map 0, and getting inspected in the small window in between achieving readiness and throwing a code for not having cats installed.
In 2018 however, I had transitioned to a single turbo setup and still had no cats. For weeks I struggled to get readiness. I flashed the MHD stock 0 map (
not enjoyable on a single turbo car), turned the JB4 to map 0, disabled auto clear mode, and monitored readiness with the MHD app. For weeks I couldn't achieve any type of readiness no matter which map I was running. Through research,
mostly reading v8bait's posts, and
watching Budget Bimmer's video on the topic, I discovered that as long as your state allows 1
not ready, like North Carolina, that passing inspection should not be a problem. More than 1 not ready, or an illuminated check engine light on the dash, and it's a fail.
Using TunerPro software + the Budget Bimmers video as instructions, I activated EVAP and deactivated the secondary cat codes within the BMS BEF I was using, made sure not to touch anything else, saved the tune, and flashed it to the car. This theoretically would allow me to keep the car in map 2 at 17psi on my preferred BMS pump gas single turbo THR tune, and still be able to pass smog testing. Unfortunately I was still having issues achieving any type of readiness across the board.
Just as I was really starting to get frustrated, I remembered I had unplugged the rear o2 sensor connections within the JB4 harness when I was working out o2 sensor gremlins months back. I went back inside the ECU box, reconnected these. I had essentially already coded them out using TunerPro, so they wouldn't cause a CEL, but now they could achieve readiness. Sure enough, a few drive cycles, and we were showing readiness everywhere except catalyst. Knowing I could still pass with that one not ready, as long as it wasn't a fail, I headed to the small gas station down the street that I've been going to for the past few years, and it was quickly pulled into one of the bays for inspection.
10 minutes later and I was ready to go until summer 2019 with passing colors. It's nice to know that I won't have any problems in the future running single turbo, with 0 cats installed, and running a JB4 + BMS BEF combo.
Fueling mods and more boost are scheduled for early August, but until then, I'll continue to beat on her daily.