Failed hydrocarbons last time, tuned it up, and proceeded to fail hydrocarbons again I busted my knuckles changing plugs for nothing.....How can I lower the reading w/o changing injectors cause I sure don't want to go through that

By the way the std for HO is 1.40 and last time I had 2.09 this time I had 1.70 so it is better but not good enough.

Oh yeah, I took the chip out for the test.

 

lower fuel pressure by 1 lb. with vacuum line off. Then fill your tank with 93 octane and add (1) 12 oz. bottle of denatured alcohol to your tank. It will blow very clean. The alcohol masks the hydro carbons.

 

Thanks, Ill give it a shot.

 

Alcohol is a hydrocarbon. How is it going to "mask" them?

Since it is less dense than "normal" pump gasoline, it might leave fewer unburned. But, the O2 sensor is supposed to be compensating for that, anyway.

By the way, did you change the O2 sensor?

 

"denatured" alcohol burns clean and has worked on several friend's cars that would NEVER pass normally! Learned that trick from a guy who does emissions tests.

 

Were your friend's car fuel injected, computer feed-back systems that failed before the alcohol and passed after, with no other changes?

Alcohol is also a solvent, which can clean up deposits that are hampering a good spray pattern. But, it won't "mask" the hydrocarbons in a closed-loop system.

 

get a cheat sheet.

 

Not yet, just changed plugs,cap,and rotor.

 

Must be time for a new Catalytic Converter then............had problems with mine passing also until I replaced it...........passed on the first go around with a new cat........

 

Oh man, don't say that Gonna cost a small fortune....right about now I wish it only had one cat

 

Also check your MAF to make sure it is functioning properly

Here is a thread I posted after I passed emissions - It contains some very useful info from my experience:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=127455

 

i used to work at an emissions station for 3 years, heres the tricks that work,

1. retard timing 5-10°
2. alcohol (drygas,ect)
3. definatly change the 02 sensor

what test do they run on your car?, these will work for the asm25, the one where they drive it at 25mph on the dyno. 99% of the time it is not the catalytic converter, some people replace this and just barely pass cause its masking another problem or they still didnt pass and got very upset. also pay attention to what gear they run it in if its an asm test obviously the higher the rpms the more chance of passing, bogging it in third at 25 will hurt test results.

 

The inspection sheet says it's a IM93 type inspection. I know they run the car up to 33mph during the test. They test both HC & CO The standards for both of these are HC:1.70 and CO:20.00 My car tested 1.4HC and 11CO The cats were changed prolly 5 years ago. I guess a 02 sensor is my next try.

 

yes, fuel injected cars. one burned a quart a week and still passed with denatured alcohol.

 

I don't know if I'd want to "fake" an emissions check. the fact that something wasn't right would really bother me.

I don't have a CHiltons with me right now, but the Total Car Care version has an extensive emissions chapter that told me more than I wanted to know (and I forgot most of it). It's probably soemthing rather simple . (Sorry for the no help post too, hope you get it passed soon)

 

I'm gonna pick up a new o2 sensor and retest it monday. I have a couple o2's laying around here but don't know how to check 'em. Is there any way?

 

just buy a new O2 theyre cheap, easy to swap and extremely hard to tell if its starting to go bad. Plus it will help your performance if it is going bad because if its reading the information a little off your air to fuel ratio will be off.

Okay i just bought a 1990 camaro and i needed to pass a 2.0 hydrocarbons heres what i did and why. Keep in mind that there are only three aspects to think about air fuel and spark.

I changed plugs cap and rotor. You already did this and this will help by making sure youre getting as complete a burn as possible

VERY IMPORTANT air filter the one in the car was almost black. Buy a K&N and toss em on because if your car is not getting enough air into the system it wont be able to burn the gas properly...air filters can be huge if theyre really dirty

Fuel filter...not fun to change but makes sure your fuel is as clean as possible...not the most important factor by any means but can help a tiny bit

Run a little bit of fuel injector cleaner through your car to make sure the injectors are spraying as properly as possible

O2 SENSOR!!! i mentioned at the top if this is going bad it will send the wrong information to your car and your air to fuel ratio can be off hurting your emissions and performance.

EGR VALVE!!!! get your car to a mechanics and get them to test your egr valve. If it has gone bad it needs to be replaced because it is more then enough to double your emissions

Thats just about it i doubt youll have to replace your cats. After doing fuel filter, air filter, plugs, cap and rotor, o2 sensor and egr valve i ran my new car through an emissions test luckily my car wouldnt make it up the ramp onto the drums so they just did an idle test. I passed that with 0.00 hydro carbons...do all that and youre almost guaranteed to pass.

 

I sure hope people are still looking at this


I have not been able to pass emissions. i take the Im240 dyno test and i am expected to get to under .8 on hydro carbons which i think seems very low. it is for illinois. of what i have seen most others only need in 2 or up. Could they bee looking for the wrong emmissions.

I have replaced both of my cats and have headers i have a new o2 sensor but i have not installed it yet it is soo hard to get to on the slp shorties that i have. i tried running on primiup fuel 93 octane, octane buster and two bottles of "heat" basically alchahol i think. still no pass about a 1.27on the hc's.

What can be wrong or is it the emmisions place that is looking for the wrong standard i have allredy tacken one of the additionsl tests so i need a reciept to prove i have done something for a nother test.

Please help me out guys.

350 TPI Duall cat
Slp shorites with air ports
Dual maganflow high flow 2.5" cats
maganflow catback
new ngk plugs and msd wires

help me pass please!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

your help is greatly apriciated
thanks,
Eli Jacobson
Raptere

 

ditto on checking what gear they run it in. this place in my area failed me 4x and took a bunch of money each time. i finally took it somewhere else. they ran it in 2nd gear and it blew super clean. come to find out, this other place was running it in OD.

 

Use a system cleaner (I used 104 emmisions), change your O2 sensor, retard the timing(I went down to 0*), Use a stock thermostat(195*)and get the engine hot before you go in. This worked for my IROC and it has an off road only chip and off road only intake(Holley stealth ram). Be aware you are under a lot of audio and video cameras, be carefull what you say.

 

.8 thats nuts. A 2002 model year car in colorado has a limit of 1.2 and my 84 gets a limit of 4.0 on hc. How much did changing the 02 sensor help? Did you try the alcohol? What temp is the car at when they run it (the hotter the better)? Do you have a lower temp thermostat? Also try replacing your ect (i think thats what its called). Thats the sensor that richens your car when its cold, but some go bad and always cause the car to run rich. WHats your mpg?

 

"Emissions" whats that? I'm glad i live out here in Detroit.

 

dude....DUDE i cant believe you would go out and replace the cats and not the o2 sensor?!? theres no way that was easier. Do the sensor, take it back and id be willing to make a bet with you that you pass.

also what are you using to get at the sensor? You know you need a special socket to get at it right.

 

hey guys


Have you tried turned down the fuel pressure to about 40?
give it only enuff FP to run and thats all it will help some.

I'm glad i live here in NC! the only Emissions test they have here is the OBDII scan registery. they hook up to the to see if the facotry perform certain tests and that no codes are present in the system. if no codes present it passes


all other cars and trucks from 96 below gets a safety check (lights,and if a cat is present all emisions stuff is there and working) but no sniffer test.

they used to do that in the county next to me but the whole state uses the OBDII scan registery now

 

thanks a lot for replying this helps me a lot

for the cats one of them was alredy blown so i needed new ones any way got them both off ebay for 80 dollars.

and i didnt ever hear about that that you are supposed to dirve it in drive insted of over dirive. i have the b&m mega shifter so that will be dirving it in third insted of dirve rite.

I have tired running this stuff called heat which is basically alchahol, and i ran octane buster with it. i also ran a tank of "guarenteed to pass' emmisions cleaning stuff.

about the o2 sensor i got a new one but hanent installed it yet and where do you get the special tool for it , It is still hard to get to with that tool though, and i have been delaying on installing it because i have heard installing a three or four wire heated o2 sensor can help emmissions too is this true/ pointfull to try, or should i just try the replacemnet single wire one?

And yes, .8 on hc's i thought that sounds unreasonably low but does any one else know if that sounds really low to them and if it is what do you guys think i would do about finding out what my expected numbers should actually be.

Again thanks a lot guys if some of this stuff works it could save me a lot of time and grief,

Eli Jacobson
Raptere

 

Time *before* last, my 88 IROC LB9 barely passed the test, but it did just squeak by. Last time, I dumped a bunch of denatured alcohol from the hardware store in the tank before going down to the test station, and it passed by a huge margin.

Make sure all your stuff is working right and the engine is in good tune. Run some cleaner thru the injectors about a week before. Make sure the cats and O2 sensor are in good shape. Dump in the alky and drive for about 10 miles, then take it in for the test. You'll pass.

 

what level did you pass at?

 

I passed at about 1/2 the max allowable. The alky cleaned it up a lot.

Oh yeah, be running good gas when you go in for the test.

 

No idea where to get the special tool its basically a long socket with a slit cut down the side, my friend happened to have one. As far as it being a tough job once you get the car up in the air (you have to do it from below the car) it should take less then 5 minutes. As far as the heated sensor i believe the point is your car doesnt use the O2 sensor when it first starts up it waits for it to get warm. I believe the heated one lets it come on earlier. Regardless when your doing the test your car should either be in open loop or closed loop i always forget but which ever its supposed to be in when everythings warm and running normal. Id just swap in the new normal O2 sensor id be willing to bet that with that one thing you pass the test