Thousands of people have modified their cars emission wise. Most remove cats, air pumps, egr, etc.

Regardless of what you may hope, emissions testing is going to get stricter and stricter. It is going to happen, and to some it already is. Some will just be a visual inspection, others may get the sniffer. Im going through this right now. Im originally from Virginia. Grew up in a small town where everyone knew everyone else. Very laid back place. Getting stuff inspected wasnt a problem. Some places would inspect a vehicle by just checking the lights. Especially if they knew you good enough. Now I live in NC. Had to go where the jobs were. Now Im looking at stricter emissions inspections.

My car is a 1988 camaro. Originally a v6 car. Now it is equipped with a 97 5.7 carbed vortec motor. I have zero emissions equipment on the car. Im wanting to change that. I must go through a visual inspection. What all do I need on my car? Im assuming cat, egr, air pump. What else?

I am emissions dumb. Ive never done anything but ripped them out. So I have a few quick questions on how they work.
1) EGR. I know some about what it does, but what does it connect to?
2) Smog pump. Does the smog pump pull air from the converter and pump it in right at the manifold?
3) Air Tubes on the manifold, what exactly are they doing? Would you really need one for each cylinder or could you get by with only one per side or just 1 with single exhaust?

Any insight? five7kid? Im trying to learn how these things work and what I can do to incorporate them into my current setup to pass a visual inspection. Thanks

 

I'll wait for kid to chime in before I take a stab at it.

 

So here is some basics that I have been reading.

1) EGR. reduces NOx emissions. Not used at idle or WOT. It introduces some of the exhaust gas back into the intake.

So I would be pulling exhaust from 1?? port somewhere in the exhaust piping, running it through the EGR valve, and back into a vac port on the intake?

 

EGR:
the EGR pulls exhaust gas from the exhaust system and injects it in controlled amounts into the combustion chamber.
the idea is that it cools the combustion chamber which reduces NOx emissions.
you want to have a vacuum line connected to the EGR so that it will know when you are at idle and WOT.
at idle, if you inject too much exhaust gas, the car will idle like crap
if you inject it at WOT performance suffers.


SMOG PUMP:
the smog pump pumps regular air from the atmosphere into the catalytic converter.
this does two things,
1) it gives the cat an oxygen rich environment to help burn any POC that havent fully combusted yet
2) it somewhat 'dilutes' the exhaust with regular air, but this effect is minimal

side effects of this are many backfires on deceleration if the car is running rich to begin with

also it takes a few HP to run off the crank, but this could be solved by using an electronic clutch (like the one on the ac compressor) if you wanted to get creative.
this would allow full emissions compliance but not cost any HP at WOT



here is a good article
it pretty much explains every sensor used in a TPI system
http://chevythunder.com/fuel%20injec....%20pg%20B.htm

 

Okay, so that makes the smog pump pretty easy to fix. Ive already got the serpentine system (pump bypassed and removed). So all I would have to do is bolt one back in and hook it up to a cat with an air tube.

So does all the air tubes on the stock manifolds go to the EGR then?

 

First realize I live in Ohio which has no visual inspection. This is just to clarify something for me.

Please explain this to me someone, I'm sure five7kid will .

-Working Emissions Equipment Installed
-Passes Sniffer and Visual = Road Worthy

-Non-Working Emissions Equipment (Still Installed Though)
-Passes Sniffer and Visual = Road Worthy

-No Emissions Equipment Installed
-Passes Sniffer, Fails Visual = Not Road Worthy

So if someone can tell me how seeing a part in the engine bay that passes the sniffer, and having one without working equipment but still passes the sniffer is any different from no equipment and still passing, I'll go right ahead and install all my emissions back on the car.

I just don't get how seeing a part makes a car pass, what is to say it isn't hollow or not working, and that is my point. So because mine passes with or without working parts but they are installed it's fine to be on the road, but remove them for better MPG and life in the suspension due to it carrying less weight blah blah blah is bad... (I've removed over 150lbs from my front end already in stuff I don't need to pass emissions, that's how much I weigh myself)

Please explain. Thank you.

 

Those are exactly my arguements against visual testing.

Stick the probe in my cars exhaust (not MINE ;P ), run the test. Clean #'s = Pass. Dirty #'s = fail.

Who cares WHY I pass or HOW I passed. That is the way it SHOULD be, but isn't.

I have EGR, but no SMOG pump. I have a cat, but a 2-way, not a 3-way. Despite my GTA being "illegal" my exhaust is CLEAN. Remarkably clean for a 170,000 mile (at this, my last, emissions test) car.

High Speed-2692rpm
HC 220-limit 4-my reading
CO% 1.20-limit 0-my reading

Idle
HC 220-limit 16-my reading
CO% 1.20-limit 0.01-my reading

 

The laws and regulations are Federal. Enforcement is local, typically the EPA determining if an area has poorer air quality than their standards, and if they do, requiring them to impose some sort of action on car owners or Federal highway funds will be withheld (blackmail, basically). California is a special case, as they are allowed to impose stricter emissions standards than the Feds do.

Now, understand that OEM's need to "certify" their vehicles through very rigorous testing, including putting miles on the vehicle. Once that is done, the equipment used to accomplish the task is published.

The rigor of testing and/or inspection required for an area is determined by how much of an air quality problem they have. In the Denver metro area, for instance, they do an equipment inspection to verify everything that was installed for the certification is still installed on the car, a dyno simulation while monitoring exhaust gases, and a gas cap pressure test. Fail any one of these, and you'll be sent away to fix whatever is wrong, then come back and go through the whole process again (I failed the gas cap test once, which is the last thing they do, had to go get a new gas cap and go through the whole thing again). Other areas that get a more thorough wind flush, or don't have as high a vehicle concentration, may only need to verify you have a cat on the car to keep getting their Federal highway funds.

It is possible to have something installed and inoperative and still pass the test. For instance, a ZZ4 will pass the carb'd NOx standards without an EGR valve, but since the carb'd cars always had an EGR valve installed from the factory, you need to have one on your ZZ4 (unless you have one of the no-longer-available kits from the factory, the later ones of which did not include the EGR valve). The point being that the factory used certain equipment to make sure the certification vehicle passes the most rigorous test, and that's what you need on your vehicle to be legal to Federal standards (except in California, which is a special case as noted above).

Also, you can swap in another engine/system from a passenger car of the same model year or later than your chassis if all of the equipment used on the donor vehicle to certify it are brought over as well. You can use aftermarket equipment that is certified by the manufacturer to meet the requirements for the vehicle.

However...

You cannot use engines, systems, or parts that were certified for trucks and not passenger cars. Therefore, Vortec heads are not legal in passenger cars, even if you add EGR externally.

In the case of the OP's '88, the only carb that is legal is a G-body L69 system, which was a 305. The factory did not offer a 350 carb in '88. So, only EFI will be legal on a 350.

 

3rdgenmaro: I would take the car in for inspection before going through all the hassle of installing emmissions equipment. My 88 GTA passes inspection every year with headers (no AIR tubes), air pump removed, EGR not hooked up (solenoid was missing when I got it), and they never even looked under my car to see if I had a cat.

Unless you just want those things I would not waste the time and money. I suppose some shops are stricter than others but you can definately find a shop to pass you on visual.

 

Thanks five7kid. So basically there is no true answer to my comment/question.

@ Stephen: Which brings me to...how can I find the numbers for our cars and their motors and what they need to run number wise to pass?

Like the numbers they give you on your sheet, and do these vary depending on state and such?

I was told (by the lady at the test station) that all vehicles have to pass the same exact sniffer test. 4-Cylinder, V6, V8, V10, Truck, Van, Jeep, Car, SUV, T-Rex, Bikes, all tested needing to pass the same numbers.

 

That is my plan, I just wanted to try and think ahead. Im going to have to talk to some people and find an inspection place close by.

I only have to go through a visual, thats why I asked what I did. Im still curious what the 8 air tubes originally do.

 

They add extra oxygen to the exhaust gases to help oxidize any unburnt fuel before it makes its way out of the exhaust system and into the atmosphere. Used primarily when the engine hasn't warmed up and the catalytic converter isn't up to full efficiency yet.

 

I got those #s off my test results sheet. She couldn't/wouldn't tell you what the #s are, that you need to pass? Any station SHOULD be able to tell you.

 

I dont know about other states, but where you guys were saying about passing versus failing and the visual check. Im a emissions inspector in Pennsylvania and as long as it passes the obd test or the sniffer test(which is rarely used) then no visual test is required for the state inspection. So in theory if you remove the cats and put cheaters on, then it has to pass because the system sees it as fully functional. Thank god many counties in Pa dont have emissions. Which i live in one

 

The AIR tubes send air to either the exhaust manifolds or the catalytic converter. It will bounce the direction back and forth seemingly random. If it went only to the cat, the cat would get too hot (too much stuff burning).

I have no idea how they do a visual check for the EGR valve on my SuperRam.

 

thanks. that makes sense

 

you mean the smog pump sends air to the air tubes or the cat...
there is a air distribution block that decided where the air goes

 

The ECM decides where it goes. The valve does the routing based on the ECM commands.

My response above was in answer to the "8 tubes" part, meaning to the manifolds. There is a tube that goes to the cat, which is where the air is typically routed when the engine is warmed up. It is directed to the manifolds when the engine isn't warmed up, and in certain deceleration conditions where the factory has identified the extra air at the manifolds is more effective than it is going to the cat.

 

So, in theory, isn't the AIR system kinda pointless if you have upgraded your car with modern, lean burning, multiport fuel injection and a good 3 way cat?

 

Well i dont know about NC but i know in the state of Washington they can only make you spend 150$ and then they must pass your car. plus imo i wouldn't spend all that money when you are only 2 years off not having any emissions at all. but hey that's just me.