Ok, I passed emissions in '00, but BARELY, this year I know there is no way, as the car is no where near where it was last year after I stored it. Can you guys give me an idea of what the problem is to get these kinds of scores?

max measurment
HC 178 177
As you can see missed it by one lol

CO .91 .71
Average is .14
Real close

NO - I am no where near the max, however I am well over the average

CO2 - 11.3ppm at 15mph, 11.8 at 25mph

02 - 4.8 at 15mph, 4.4 at 25mph

I am getting headers, catback, and new high flow cat... Is this going to fix my problem? Could this be a recirculating vacuum problem, as I have a leak in the intake manifold gasket, that I am fixing in a few days.

thanks guys for any info. I need to pass california smog and don't want to give them any reason for them to tell me I need to junk my car or pay some outrageous, bogus fees.

James

 

Well I'm not a real expert on emissions equipment, but you want to make sure your EGR is working to start with.. My car has all stock emissions equipment on it (including the cat). I just had a basic emissions test done on two gasses: here is how mine did.. Hydrocarbons (HC) : 50 ppm (max 90)
Carbon Monoxide (CO): 0.005 % (Max 0.6 %)

For the HC make sure your gas cap is sealing.

Reasons for high emissions levels are:
1. Ignition system problmes possibly related to timing, spark plugs, plug wires, coil, electrical spark control, ect.
2. Idel mixture too righ, or too lean.
3. Dirty Air Filter
4. Faulty PVC Valve
5. Faulty Cat.
6. Faulty EGR Valve
7. Faulty O2 system and/or computer system
8. Carb, or fuel injection system maladjustment or malfunction
9. Faulty air injection system
10. Carbon deposits in engine
11. Worn engine..

Hope this helps..

 

Well, the ignition is new since the test. MSD 6al, MSD blaster coil 2, MSD cap and rotor, 8.8mm wires, new plugs gapped for the MSD, etc...

Timing is very strange. The car when I checked the idle recently was all the way pegged as advanced as it could go, with no detonation on 87... Is this because of the MSD you think? I reset it to 9(?) degrees advanced, didn't notice any difference on the car, weird.

Idle is all screwed The TBI is sticking, causing me to idle in drive at 1300RPM's, 2200 in park. Tried adjusting the idle screw, to no avail the throttle cable is sticking and I am removing that today actually to get it right. Hopefully that fixes the situation.

02 has been changed since last test as well.

Open Element installed so a lot of the recirculating crap is no longer there, but thank *** for the CARB sticker

My car runs VERY rich, to the point that if I turn it on in the garage it is overpowering. There is a constant smell of gasoline. The car never had that problem before I changed the fuel pump is it possible the guy gave me the TPI pump instead of the TBI and that is what is causing that? The injectors spary perfectly.

The last guy who had the car before me did so many crazy things to this car it's not even funny. I am just now starting to restor it.

Does that narrow it down?

Thanks again

James

 

EGR has no effect whatsoever on HC or CO emissions. Don't waste your time or money fiddling with it. Make sure it appears to work (lines hooked up and all that), and leave it alone beyond that. Same with the timing; put it where it belongs, leave it alone, they'll check it to make sure it's where it's supposed to be anyway. Those 2 buzzwords for the inexperienced, "EGR" and "timing", always seem to pop up in posts like this.

A new cat will probably take care of it.

A vacuum leak will help it, if anything. But it's a problem regardless, definitely fix it.

Put a new O2 sensor in it if you haven't lately.

I just moved back east here from So Cal, N SD County, an "enhanced" area for emissions stuff... what fun... I had to swap motors to get my 83 to pass.

 

Thanks RB,

I figured it was the cat giving me a problem.

I'm changing it in a week or so.

James

 

I agree cat and o2 sensor will fix most of your problems. Make sure you get smog friendly headers.

 

The EGR valve will effect the nitrogen oxide #s.
You said you thought you might have a vac leak.
That can cause your HC levels to be high. Reason being that if a cyl is running too lean, it will sometimes not ignite and the unburned mixture goes into the exhaust system.

 

It sounds to me like you have a miss of some degree. You have a high HC content accompanied by a very high 02 content in your exhaust. Getting back to basics, disconnect that MSD box and get your timing straightened out. Also when you set base timing, remember to disconnect the EST bypass wire, or else the computer will advance the timing up (maybe thats why its in the "full advance" position?). About the car running rich and the high idle, get your car ecm scanned because thats wear the problem is residing (bad sensor....). The idle should be automatically adjusted via the IAC