First before I forget, I have an 85 lg4 firebird. non computer controlled.

I took my car to get emissions tested a long long time ago. It had really REALLY high HC, like 15 or something and it was sposed to be under 2. Turns out among other things the plug wires were shot, so I replaced those and the plugs and the car runs a lot better. What else can I do to ensure it'll pass? I've heard of putting alchohol in. what kind of alchohol, what do they mean, where do I get it? Should I retard my timing some? What kinda gas should I put in, regular or premium? anything else? Thanks a lot!

Edit: the wires i have right now i borrowed from my brother. What kind of wires would you recommend? I cant seem to find any for an 85 with a coil intergrated in the distributor. or if I were to get the kind where you put the ends on yourself, how hard is that to do? I dont want to mess up and screw up putting the ends on. thanks

 

Put a little alcohol in the gas tank. I've never tried it, because I don't have emitions tests, but it works pretty well from what I hear.

 

I dont know what you mean by alchohol though. Someone told me that heet is alchohol so i should just dump some of that in. Is that what you mean?

 

Really couldn't tell you what to use, because I have never done it. There are guys here who will know what to use though...

Any of you guys here?

 

Dang it, I failed emissions again! These are the readings i got this time, and also the old ones from a few months ago:

Emission New Reading Old Reading Standard Result
HC 14.12 24.73 2 Failed
CO 2.60 21.80 30 Passed
NOx 5.72 4.68 3 N/A
CO2 451.80 419.40 N/A Failed

Ok, so I improved the HC but it's still not looking too good. I retarded the timing a lot because I heard that helps emissions, but did I retard it too far maybe? And why is there n/a in the results for nitrous oxide emissions? And how did I fail carbon dioxide if there is no standard for it, how do i know what I'm shooting for? Could my cat be bad? how do i check?

Edit: The car does smoke a little blue smoke when first started (and occasionally when the engine is revved). I was told burning oil didnt effect emissions but I was just reading that it does. Is my car becoming a lost cause? I'm not gonna rebuild the engine, the car isn't worth it...

 

Buy a 5min motor flush or use kerosene. If you're burning oil you're going to have to do some trickery to pass. Best thing would be to make it stop burning by finding out where it's coming from. If it's piston blowby, use the THICK addative to try to create a seal. If it's coming from valve guide seals then use the stop leak. If both, use the addative that has both, aka the thick one that says stop leak. If you're burning oil, then you should switch to synthetic engine lubricants because they'll pollute less. If you're using the thick addative, use 10w-30, if not, use HD30 or 20w-50. Retarding the timing to -2* past stock is good. Use valve cover breathers instead of re-introducing oil vapors into your emissions. If you can, drop your fuel pressure a little. You want your engine to be hot so use a 190* stat. Do the test on a cool humid day. New plugs, hotter ones should burn cleaner, clean your cap and rotor. If you're using an open element air filter make sure it's new. If you've got a sealed snorkel, take your element out. If they do a dyno test, make sure your overdrive works when it's supposed to and inflate your tires to their max. If you still fail, run your tank near empty and use no more than a gallon of dry gas. I say dry gas because when you're using things in a manor in which they aren't intended, at least you know you're using something that claims to not damage your car.
I passed in NJ with a broken and clogged cat.