Ive had 3 cops pull me over in 2 weeks. 2 cops in the same day, on the same street, within an hour. when i pulled over, all 3 cops asked me to pop my hood. thats the first thing they said. the exterior of my s14 is just body kit (not too wild) and 18" rims. i do have an s14 sr20det. 3 cops said something about my air filter, bov, and exhaust but all let me go. anywho, my question is:

CAN COPS PULL YOU OVER AND SEARCH UNDER THE HOOD.
COULD SOMEONE GIVE THE PARAMETERS ON WHEN THEY CAN SEARCH, HOW THEY CAN SEARCH, IF YOU HAVE AN AFTERMARKET EXAUST CAN THEY SEARCH. BLAH BLAH. i WANT TO KNOW THE LEGALITIES PLEASE. THANKS.

 

From what I understand, yes because they must ensure that all your mods are legal in accordance with emission laws. Don't know parameters though.

 

They can search any time the have "probable cause" or your permission, funny thing is if you DONT give them permission, then they have probable cause....

SO they can check at any time.

 

That is not true. I've been asked to pop my hood after the cop looked at my exhaust and I proved to him that it was legal. I told him no I was not going to pop my hood as im in a hurry and there is nothing to see under the hood. As long as you cover your interior gauges he has no probable cause.

 

What do you mean cover your gages, like any additional ones you install?

 

So, if you have aftermarket guages, then they can pop your hood?
If you have aftermarket exaust, they say its loud, you say "wheres the db meter." can they still pop it? ive got an air/fuel gauge, boost gauge, mounted on my driver door frame. Ive also got a cracked windshield, but every time a cop pulls me over, first thing out of their mouth "lets see whats under the hood"

 

oh, and does your exaust have to have a carb sticker? if so, where would it be located?

 

not sure about the carb sticker on exaust, i think as long as its under the 95db. how did you get away 3 times with an SR?!?!?

 

Legal or not, I would not pop my hood for them. I would have it on the record that it is against my will until they show me a warrant or they pop the hood themselves. Yes, they will give you a harder time and harrass you more, probably. The worse they can do is impound your car and have it towed to the CARB (California air something board) station to have it inspected. Which they would do anyway if you pop the hood for them. It just buys you a little more time and you might have the illegal search angle to play with.

Either way you look at it they can take your car if they really want to. It is the risk we take when we decide to go ahead with our swaps or modifications.

 

i got pulled over like 3 times in a couple weeks. all popped my hood and all said **** about my intake but thats it. they let me go. 1 guy said something about my bov. if i fix my windshield, put stock exhaust back on, they cant pull me over..they have no reason right?? and if they do pull me over and try to pop the hood, thats got to be an illegal search. right?

 

Most of the time they really don't know what is legal or not as far as CARB legal products. They can hear your BOV and that would be enough reason to pull you over. They have loop holes to go around that illegal search stuff. But if it had to get ugly there are other ways to get back at them with a lawyer. Such as "illegal search" or "profiling".

Either way you can get pulled over for BS reasons. Definitly fix your windshield and keep a low profile for awhile. And drive around that neighborhood where you got pulled over. BTW, where in OC CA. is it where they are so interested in your car?

 

all 3 times i got pulled over was in Huntington Beach, CA. Its a huge city and lots of different cops. im scared to roll through there. should i take off the bov? i also have an s15 front end conversion with carbon fiber hood. its not very low pro..but thats my opinion

 

I know where HB is. Taking off your BOV would probably make just a small difference. Drive slow and shift softly. Since you have the s15 conversion look at your headlight. If it has a "DOT" stamp on it your okay. If not, then they can ding you for that one too. If you're not doing anything wrong, they can pull you over for probable cause. From what I've read and I am not a lawyer, pulling you over and asking you questions is not the same as detaining you. They can ask you all the questions they want and it is up to you to answer but you don't need to answer them. But if they even raise their voice and hint some authority then that might be considered by the courts a violation of the 4th Amendment. If you are confused simply say am I being detained or am I free to go? Now keep in mind that they can do anything they want such as impounding your vehicle and have it taken to the CARB for inspections. Then you will need a lawyer to interpret if your car was taken without violating your rights.

If you're so paranoid then it is not worth the risk. Buy another car and keep your 240 as a track car. That is what I intend to do when I have to smog my car later. I too am taking the risk by driving my car around. I am also prepared to loose my car. BTW, the fine for someone who tampers with the cat convertor is $1500 in Cali. They can also tack on more fines if you also tamper with other smog devices. OUCH.

 

http://www.chp.ca.gov/html/streetlegal.html
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=159549

Here's a couple of places I visited since your question sparked some interest. There's more out there and none is good news for our hobby.

 

if your intake has a carb sticker on it then you're fine. if not it's either way depending on a judge. tell him you have a stock cat that's rusted through.