You may not know all the benefits of OBD2 complaint vehicles and what that
"maintenance indicator light" is there for.  New York is similar in that the
on board diagnostics is used as the emissions system test for 1996 and later
vehicles. We have also adopted the CARB standards for new vehicles and
maintaining older ones. This includes OEM or CARB approved catalyst
replacements with records for same having to be maintained for three years.
If the light is on, get it fixed before the emissions test. Also, don't try
resetting the light by disconnecting the battery. That will also reset the
"readiness" indicators also failing the test. After a battery reset the car
has to be driven through its paces to test all the systems. These vehicles
will even know if there is a fuel vapor leak such as a bad tank cap.

As for engine conversions being cleaner, miss-applied clean engines from
modern cars can become pollution monsters, especially when it comes to NOx
production. Back when we had dyno testing even oversized tires or gearing
changes would push a vanagon beyond the system's ability to control NOx. For
the vanagon most conversions do not address the fuel tank vapor recovery
system and provide a means to properly operate the valve. From what I have
seen from the dyno testing days with the inline conversions I can guess why
VW did not go that way. They probably could not get compliance for them.
The Waterboxer has a number of design features that help to reduce NOx
production and that also help to reduce pre-ignition. The later in line
engine relied on controls to help with the pre-ignition but in their normal
applications do not spend long periods at high load to travel normal highway
speeds. Temperature and pressure in the combustion chamber is the main
source of NOx. VW kept the Waterboxer geared to spin the engine fast along
with the short stroke and low compression to reduce the pressures.

Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Sunday, March 2, 2014 11:12 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Oil pressure warnings, WAS: Mann Oil Filter and lifters

That is silly.  What, Ontario is worried about? light-pollution?  It amazes
me how laws can be enforced that so miss the purpose they were intended to
accomplish.  The California air resources dudes....they won't test or even
allow engine swaps that are very much cleaner running... Forget the fact
that there is less air pollution from the swap than from a 100% perfect
original motor....if it's not on Their List....they won't have it.  Forget
making the air cleaner.... The Rules.....that seems to be the most important
thing many times.