I have failed CA emissions twice so far, the second time was alittle better than the first. I only fail at idle (HC about 180, max 120, and CO is about 1.5% with the max being 1%) and i figure that i am running rich as a result of my reduced back pressure. DO you think swapping to 4.3 L injectors help because i can get a set off ebay for only 45 bucks. Also, my catco converter is about 6 months old, could it have already gone bad as a result of running rich and should i also replace it just to be safe. THANK YOU FOR THE HELP.
It has a full tune up and the mods are in my sig.

 

also, what about 2.8-3.1 fuel injectors?

 

If you are trying to lean it out as a temporary measure to get through inspection just remove your injector pod and take the fuel pressure spring out of the regulator and twisty tie a coil shut on it and reinsert it. That will drop about 4 psi of your fuel pressure and lean it out to about the same level as 4.3 injectors would.

 

when i was failing emissions with high HC and CO it ended up being my cat; but i see that you replaced yours a few months ago. yes, it could have gone bad already but probably hasn't. if your cat is burning up, it will smell like rotton eggs from the tail pipe. if you ran like that for a while, your cat would be shot. you should list all of your mods (or lack of) to help us figure out what is going on. what do you mean by reduced back pressure?

going to smaller injectors is a bad idea. you will probably still run rich and limit your engine's rpm potential. most of us are not familiar with CA emissions, so a little more info would help. does CA only do idle tests, or is there some other test that they did? and if so, how did your car perform? if it only fails at idle, my first guess would be dirty injectors or a bad/unadjusted fuel pressure regulator.
i'll mail you a text file i put together of some possible causes for failing emissions.
jess

 

sorry, i thought i already posted my sig. I have already made my fuel pressure regulator functional and it is turned as low as it can go, and yes , the injectors would only be a one day deal.
CA also tests at 2500 RPMs and I passed really easily.

 

I helped vjo90RS8 with all his mods, I did most of the work , just kidding. His mods are Edelbrock TES headers, Hooker 3 inch catback, K & N open air element, and deleted AC. I was there when they did the smog test. They would check the emissions at idle then the guy would rev the engine to about 3-4K rpm's then check again on the computer. He said, "Your car has a very high flow exhaust because of the 3 inch catback, you need to add some backpressure to keep emissions down." He also said to swap out the injectors for some smaller ones. Also, the cat he has is about 4-5 inches shorter than the stock replacement. Could that also be a factor? Sould he go to another place to get it smogged?

 

you can check your cat by taking the temperature before and after the cat. the temp after should be 10% higher. you can take the temp with a heat gun or someone suggested a meat thermometer. the length of the cat should not be an issue. as far as back pressure, that really shouldn't be an issue, but you can always stick a restrictior plate fabbed out of sheet metel right after the cat if you think it would help. how is your ingition? is it missing at idle? is your timing set to zero? did you check your pvc valve?

it might also be better to go to another tester for a second opinion. if your cat checks out, then address the high HC, unburnt fuel, and the CO will take care of itself.
jess

 

The car runs great, i just installed new 8mm plug wires, MSD coil, cap rotor, and Bosch plat. plugs within the last 3 months. And the PVC valve is pretty new. I have gone to the same place twice, the guy is pretty cool, he just hooked my car up to the machine the second time for free just to see if i would pass. After replacing all my ignition stuff and turning the fuel pressure down, my HCs reduced my about 50 and CO by about a .5%
so i just thought that maybe the injectors would help lower down even more. After i get this all taken care of , i have about a year and a half to learn EPROM burning, but right now i will do anything, cheat, knock off a smog guy and run my own test, im pretty desperate right now, today my second temp registration card expires. Ill try to test the cat though, im at college right now and tools and equipment are limited, maybe ill just go somewhere real fast and have them check out the cat temps. Thanks for the response, anyone else?

 

i guess ill just tie 2 of the spring coils together to lower the fuel pressure, that sounds like a pretty good idea. I just want to get this over with so i can start spending my money on my suspension and rear end.