§1066.810 Vehicle preparation.

(a) Include additional fittings and adapters as required to accommodate a fuel drain at the lowest point possible in the tank(s) as installed on the vehicle.

(b) For preconditioning that involves loading an evaporative emission canister with butane, provide valving or other means to allow for purging and loading the canister.

(c) For vehicles to be tested for running loss emissions (40 CFR 86.134), prepare the fuel tank for measuring temperature and pressure as specified in 40 CFR 86.107-98(e) and (f) and 40 CFR 86.134. Vapor temperature measurement is optional during the running loss test.

(d) For vehicles to be tested for running loss emissions, prepare the exhaust system by sealing or plugging all detectable sources of exhaust gas leaks. Inspect or test the exhaust system to ensure that there are no leaks that would cause exhaust hydrocarbon emissions to be detected as running losses.

(e) The following provisions apply for preconditioning steps to reduce nonfuel emissions to normal vehicle background levels for vehicles subject to Tier 3 evaporative emission standards under 40 CFR 86.1813:

(1) You must notify us in advance if you plan to perform such preconditioning. This notice must include a detailed description of the intended procedures and any measurements or thresholds for determining when stabilization is complete. You need not repeat this notification for additional vehicle testing in the same or later model years as long as your preconditioning practice conforms to these procedures.

(2) You may precondition a vehicle as described in paragraph (e)(1) of this section only within 12 months after the vehicle's original date of manufacture, except that you may ask us to approve further preconditioning steps for any testing to address identifiable sources of nonfuel emissions beyond what would generally occur with an appropriately aged in-use vehicle. For example, you may clean up fluid leaks and you may perform further off-vehicle preconditioning for tires or other replacement parts that are less than 12 months old. You may also replace the spare tire with an aged spare tire, and you may replace the windshield washer fluid with water.