15 April 2011; South King County WA --
About a month ago, Grumpy received a card from DOL that the license tabs on his trusty Red Rocket would expire --
Alas, it suddenly dawned on Grumpy this past weekend that maybe he better get into gear; now where did I put that card??
Well, nowadays you don't need a card or Registration; you just log onto the DOL website (WA State Licensing: Renew your vehicle tabs ) and type in the last four digits of the vehicle Identification Number, and voila! out pops the information on your automobile! Except my automobile, the Red Rocket, was due for a pollution check!
On Friday, with the Grand Mother and Darrell in the car, we stopped by the local inspection station for a quick check. (Thank goodness, Grumpy had just changed the oil -- that usually makes a car burn cleaner for a few hundred miles, doesn't it?)
As I drove into the slot for inspection I was told to "put it in Park, and turn off the engine". Doing as I was instructed, I was about to get out to allow the operator to run the engine for the pollution check, when he motioned me to sit still; he connected a computer cable to something under the dash and then went back to his computer. After a few seconds he instructed me to start the car and let it idle for a few more seconds. He then extracted a printed Report sheet from his printer, handing it to me, with "your car passed!" And not more than a total of two minutes had passed.
No probe up the tail pipe, no running the front drive wheels on a dynamometer, no operations at 2500 RPM!! Just a readout from the vehicle's computer!! I was impressed. However, as I perused the Report sheet, I see no CO2/CO readings, no Unburned HC reading, no particulate readings -- none of the old familiar readouts. Instead, this check apparently determines that the engine system (including the Engine Control System) is functioning as designed; what a concept!! [It's very similar in ability to the EPCS that my colleague in Propulsion and I conjured up that eventually was certified on the 757 airplane!]
