Help! Failed CA smog (NOx)
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 43,187
Likes: 42
From: Littleton, CO USA
Car: 82 Berlinetta/57 Bel Air
Engine: L92/LQ4 (both w/4" stroke)
Transmission: 4L80E/4L80E
Axle/Gears: 12B-3.73/9"-3.89
Occasionally an EGR valve will quit working, but even more often the exhaust passage to or from the valve are plugged up. If that's the case, neither Seafoam nor Guaranteed to Pass is going to help you here - it's too late for that.
An easy way to check is to have the engine running and put a vacuum pump directly on the valve (disconnect the hose that goes to the solenoid valve). Pull a vacuum on the valve with the pump - if the engine dies, the system is working and the problem is elsewhere. If the engine doesn't die, check the diaphragm for movement by poking your finger in the bottom of the valve - if it moves when you pull the vacuum but the engine doesn't die, the valve is fine and the passages are clogged. (By the way, CA used to test the function of the EGR valve by this very method.)
Another possibility is a too-lean mixture, but based on your HC #'s, that doesn't appear to be the case.
An easy way to check is to have the engine running and put a vacuum pump directly on the valve (disconnect the hose that goes to the solenoid valve). Pull a vacuum on the valve with the pump - if the engine dies, the system is working and the problem is elsewhere. If the engine doesn't die, check the diaphragm for movement by poking your finger in the bottom of the valve - if it moves when you pull the vacuum but the engine doesn't die, the valve is fine and the passages are clogged. (By the way, CA used to test the function of the EGR valve by this very method.)
Another possibility is a too-lean mixture, but based on your HC #'s, that doesn't appear to be the case.
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