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During the past few months I have fielded many
questions from our customers regarding emissions testing. I have
decided to make this month's article on the latest developments.
The "Ontario Drive Clean Program" phase two will
start January 1, 2001 (testing will actually begin unofficially
October 1 to allow vehicles that need tested in January to
get a head start). Testing began April 1, 1999 in the
Hamilton Wentworth, and Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Testing of
Heavy Truck vehicles (vehicles with a GVW rating of 4500 kg and
over) began September 1999. The boundaries for the
Phase II area are not clearly spelled out at this time, but I do
know that 13 major urban centers are named and counties along
the 401 corridor to Windsor are in it. The urban centers
include: Barrie, Guelph, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge,
Brantford, London, Stratford, Chatham, and Windsor & the
areas of Center Wellington & Maplelton are
definitely included.
All cars and light trucks 20 years old and newer will need
testing every two years, and you will receive mailed
notice 90 days prior to your vehicle license renewal. You
must then arrange for an emissions test at a "Drive Clean
Test Facility". Here, your vehicle will be run on a
dynamometer (a machine that's like a treadmill for your car) and
exhaust readings are sampled from the tail pipe determining a
pass or fail. Test results will be compared to standards
for the specific model year with allowances for vehicle
deterioration. If your car passes you receive a form
saying so and now you can renew your license sticker. If
it fails you must carry out repairs necessary to bring it up to
standards and perform a retest to see that it now passes and you
can renew your license. There will be a reprieve for the first
test if your vehicle should fail. You will only have to
make $200 worth of repairs at an approved "Drive Clean
Repair Facility" then do a retest. If it fails
again you will be given a "Conditional Pass
Certificate" provided you have a receipt for the repairs
done by the approved repair facility. However the next
time the vehicle is tested this no longer applies, so it will be
branded that it failed & nobody would want to buy it.
The cost is $29.95 plus taxes for the first test, $15 for
the retest (you can retest two times for $15 each test).
If it fails three times you start over at $29.95 again.
The "Drive Clean Program" collects $10 from the first
test for administration charges but nothing on a retest. A
new car does not need to be tested the first four years unless
it changes ownership . After four years, testing is every
two years. Before a vehicle can be tested it must pass a
mini safety check which consists of checking the steering (front
wheel drives), tires, exhaust, and emissions components.
There must also be no fluid leaks. All of these items will
affect the safe operation of the testing dynamometer and the
operator during the test. Any visible smoke out the
tailpipe of more than 15 seconds in a 5 minute interval will be
a fail as the smoke can damage the test equipment.
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