Hey all, just got my car back from inspection. For reference, its a 1983 Camaro Z28. Unfortunately, and as I predicted, it failed, but for emissions and not safety. Brakes and others surprisingly passed. The Carbon Monoxide levels, on the other hand, were way above the limit. NJ seems to have a very strict emissions test though. Really wished it wasnt so I could atleast enjoy the car.

So anyways, I'll get down to the numbers. The HC and CO2 levels were within limits, Carbon Monoxide was at 3.1%, while the maximum is 1.2%. This was the idle test. However, on high idle (I believe 2500rpm, I didnt take the car to it so I dont have much to go on), it passed albeit just barely. It hit 1.18% for the CO on high idle.

So I dont know much about cars, so I turned to you guys. Someone here may have had the same issue here, right? So heres what I do know.

I've only bought the car a week ago, so a lot of maintenance hasnt been done yet. The engine oil is pretty dirty, very dark colored with a small hint of gasoline. I definitely plan on changing it, so that should help.

My gas mileage is very very poor. I'd say maybe 5-6 city, highway is more like 15ish though. That leads me to think it could be an O2 sensor. Sounds like the car is running rich if my mileage is so bad. Correct me if Im wrong though.

Also my check engine light goes on very rarely. It really happened the first few days I got it. Maybe went on 3 times throughout the first 5 days. It would come on, then go off maybe after 2 minutes. It hasn't happened lately though. I was thinking about heading down to a local auto parts store, and getting that scanned. They do it for free but since it hasnt happened lately, its probably cleared by now. Is that related to the O2 sensor?

The car also does take a bit to start up. When you turn the key, it cranks for like 3-4 seconds before it fires up. When it does fire up, it fires loud. It idles at about 600-700 so I dont know if its related. Just thought I'd throw it in there.

Being 18 years old though, I dont have a lot of money to be putting into it. Should have known that before I bought a camaro, but too late for now. A lot of shops around here are asking $70 dollars just for a diagnosis, then I have to pay more for repairs. Atleast if I can figure out whats wrong, I can avoid that fee.

The car seemed to be taken decent care of by the previous owner, so I doubt its anything super expensive. Anybody got an idea? I realize it could be a host of things, but your lists will be a lot narrower than mine.

 

Your car is running too rich. Do tune up, specially ignition like spark plugs, wires, cap, rotor and make sure the firing order is correct. Just with a good tune up it will help with the emissions but if you want to make sure it passes put a new catalytic converter and make sure car is in operating temp before test.

Down here in TX, if car is 85 and below we do safety only test. 1995 and below we do Acceleration Simulation Mode (ASM) test on a dyno but in NJ there doing the Two Speed Idle test in all 95 and below cars, but is only for cars weighting over 8600lb or duallys in TX. I guess every state is different, but good luck.

 

Alright, gotcha. I'll get the tune up done then. Thanks a lot man. How about the O2 sensor though, does that seem ok? I know you dont have a lot to go on though, is there anyway to test if it actually works or works well?

 

You may find more detailed help in the carb forum, or did you upgrade to TBI?

I check the 02 sensor activity by dataloggin.

 

That was the way I bought it. It seems all original on the car atleast. I'm not the most knowledgable about the car but from googling, Crossfire Fuel Injection seems to be TBI. Am I correct on that?

Anyways a quick update. I tried to replicate that check engine light I got from the first few days I owned the car. Took it for a short 4 miles drive like the first day I bought it, and put it on park. Bam, the CEL came back on after about a minute in idle. So atleast now I can have something else to work on, other than having a full tune up on the car. I'll have it scanned at my local autozone.

I'm kind of hoping its the O2 sensor at this point though. Being 18 I don't have a lot of money, and the O2 sensor is pretty damn easy to get to. Fingers crossed.

 

Yes

 

Don't even try vato zone..they only have OBD 2 scanner 1996+ but try this https://www.thirdgen.org/service-eng...ht-error-codes

 

Alright, thanks a lot man. You've been a massive help. Now to see where it goes from here.

 

Ok so another update. Pulled the code off using a paper clip and the jumping method. Came out to Code 44, oxygen sensor lean. Drove it around a bit, then idled, let it recode. Came out to the same code, so its O2 sensor related. Let the car cool off for a few hours.

Went back outside and thought about it for a bit. If its lean the engine might be missing. So I started it up, the idling was a bit rough. It hovered between 1000-1100, kept going back and forth. I could feel it's idle speed fluctuating rapidly though. After a few minutes its dropped down to about 600ish, as per normal. Felt pretty stable there.

Took it for another drive and watched for anything that seemed out of the norm. Stopped and took off a few times. The engine hesitates a tiny bit under 1k RPMs. Since it idles at about 600 I tested it quite a few times. Above 1k RPMs though, it drives perfectly normal. When I floor it theres about half a second delay before I feel the power though, but that's normal right?

Thats about all I've got right now. I'm gonna have to test for vacuum leaks later on. Godamn, have to work on it during memorial day weekend when I could be out driving...

 

Fuel pressure good?

 

Hmm, didnt even think of that. I just went through the documents I got with the car, it contained some previous maintenance history. Doesn't say anything about a fuel pump/filter though. Is it a good idea to replace the fuel filter before checking pressure? I'm assuming yes but just to make sure. I gotta get my hands on the pressure tool too though, that might take me a few days. Thanks for that though, I probably would never have checked the fuel system.

EDIT: Went outside and revved up the engine for fun before I went out. First time I did that. I could actually hear the car backfiring lightly. Ugh, everytime I try to see whats wrong, I keep finding new issues with it.

 

I also live in jersey and my 91 firebird will not pass due to co% its 1.72 and should be 1.20. had fuel injection serviced and the levels went up. any suggestions?

 

I'd replace the o2 and do a tune up, especially with that gas mileage, and that half second of hesitation is normal with a stock air cleaner

 

hey fellow NJ INSPECTION failers, heres how i passed i have an 88 formula tbi auto stock execpt for hooker muffler and 102k miles . my first try at dmv was terrible HC ppm was 1023 they allow 220...CO% was 9.88 they allow 1.20 @ idle...@ high rpm the HC ppm was 918 and CO% 11.46 with the same allowances from idle, so i replaced the air and fuel filter replaced all vaccum lines soft and hard and replaced the T and Y connectors set timing to 0 degrees and TPS to .57 and cleaned the tbi unit and iac valve then returned to dmv HC PPM was down to 339 and CO% was .33 @ idle now at high idle i was at 42!!! HC ppm's and CO% was .16 so i tried retarding the timing more it was a little better but nothing to talk about so at this point i was disgusted i only failed by 119 points on the HC'S at idle so all the what if's were going through my head but i resisted temptation and waisting money on cats or tbi gasket rebuilds and valve jobs, i had half of a tank of exxons finest 87 octane and added 3 tall bottles of 70% rubbing alcahol from wallgreens set timing to 0 degrees and reset the tps to .57 and drove it hard for 15 miles to dmv and i passed i dont have any specs on what my emmisions were they only give you a sticker but hey ill take it, hope this helps!