My emissions is off the hook!!

[HyperTek]

Ok just got my smog check.. failed.. WHen I first got the car I failed, then put a new cat, and it passed.. year later I thought I had to do another smog for every registration (hey i didnt know then) and I tryied smoging and it failed... come to now, I tried agan and today I failed...

Every emission test result seems to pass except teh NO (PPM) reading...
Cali requirement max is 799 @15mph, my car - 3110
Cali requirement max is 738 @25mph, my car - 2800

ANyone know what NO is?? Maybe I need to slap a new cat and do that for test? then just take it out after and save it for every registration? dude this bites...

[nismo skyline]

just pay the guy to make it pass. i have a used stock cat if u need it

[HyperTek]

i got a apexi safc... think i can use that to cheat the car?? like make it run lean?? haha i dunno..

thanks for the offer man. I may take you up on that. I shouldnt be driving the car right now. but luckily I live close to work. Im jus gonna chill today and clear my head. all this crap that needs to be repaired on my car kinda sucks, id hate to scrap it, but startin on a fresh chassis is sounding kinda tempting.

[Var]

check your timing..dual cams have a high NO problem. Retard the timing to 16 or 17 btdc. Also check to see if your egr is blocked up. Run some seafoam through your engine(carbon buildup on valves=higher compression=running hotter=NOx.) Change your 02 sensor, it wont cost more than 25 bucks. Run higher octane gas and try again.

[HyperTek]

ill try that.. where the hell is the egr on teh ka?? lol. I jus put a new 02, so ill try retarding the timing, and running seafoam (hopefully it wont blow my ka cuz it does have 160k miles) , maybe if i just put a little bit and not the whole amount that people usually run huh?.

oh yah I planned ahead and ran Chevron 91 octane. I just put a full tank before the check as a mater of fact, I guess ill have to kill this gas off before running seafoam or just put it in full tank?

Ill go ahead and get a new fuel cap, doesnt hurt, and it carries over for the sr swap anyways..

[HyperTek]

Sideviewcivic suggested to me that NOx is usually meaning teh cat is gone... is this true?

[Var]

yeah..the NOx numbers are high..i didnt notice when i first posted. 3000 is pretty high for nox. so your cat may be bad but it went out for a reason. Either you had fuel control problems on your car or it was a shitty cat. A rich running car will destroy a cat fast..but a lean running car usually wont.

[poserassroy]

that parts per million shit gets ya :\

[thx247]

I had high NOx problems....There is a vac line near the EGR on the intake side that takes a dump after awhile. Check it out...its right next to the EGR pipe on the intake side of the motor. Short rubber piece...2 inches.

[thx247]

The cat is supposed to help reduce NOx emissions, but if NOx is forming then the engine is running too hot period. In my limited experince a new cat will not fix the problem. I just did this maybe...3 months ago. A new cat made no difference in my NOx emissions.

[sr240mike]

high nox is a failing egr or lean running condition. Check those and do all the stuff westborough said. You can do the 02 sensor diagnostic from the ecu.

[nightwalker]

:yum: :yum:

[SauN]

I had high NOx problems....There is a vac line near the EGR on the intake side that takes a dump after awhile. Check it out...its right next to the EGR pipe on the intake side of the motor. Short rubber piece...2 inches.


yea, i had the same problem. Vac. line to the EGR was broken and was leaking pretty bad. High NOX can result from many things, most likely a vacuum leak somewhere. It's a pain in the ass to find because you need to follow all the lines and make sure they are all ok. iirc, high nox usually means your running lean

[NotDave]

high nox is a failing egr or lean running condition. Check those and do all the stuff westborough said. You can do the 02 sensor diagnostic from the ecu.

bingo. i had the same problem. make sure you are using chevron premium 91 and maybe even an octane booster to help it run a little richer. check the cat again and see if its still in good shape. check your air filter. check all the hoses connecting to the egr valve and egr controller next to it.

mine falied the first time when i used 91 from ampm. go figure :hyper:

[Var]

Yeah a vaccum leak will do it too. Not only is the EGR not working which raises NOx, but the vacuum leak lets in un-metered air into the system which makes it run lean. Double the effect

[thx247]

bingo. i had the same problem. make sure you are using chevron premium 91 and maybe even an octane booster to help it run a little richer. check the cat again and see if its still in good shape. check your air filter. check all the hoses connecting to the egr valve and egr controller next to it.

mine falied the first time when i used 91 from ampm. go figure :hyper:
Octane doesn't actually make the car run richer, richer would be more fuel in the engine. Octane is a combustion inhibitor which is put there reduce/stop pre-ignition. I think any impact it has on exhaust temps is purely coincidental.

[HyperTek]

ok so I got off my lazy butt and bought a new cat, ran some injector cleaner and took it out for a nice long drive today. And Ill install teh cat tomarrow morning... Any thoughts on what gas I should fill up? When I first took the smog check as stated above, i was running 91 chevron... So should I try setting the timing to 16 -17btdc??

I know I went thru this like 2 years ago... i slapped a new cat for that and passed (since I needed to smog the car when i was transfering the registration to California from Kansas)... maybe my car did kill the cat from fuel problems, but hopefully this might be enough just to pass the test, then Ill take teh cat off and run my old one to conserve it...

[HyperTek]

my question was, if its determined that high Nox is from running lean, I ran 91 chevron on that, and higher quality fuel has a higher resistence to burn, that maybe if I ran some cheapo 87, it might not run lean since the fuel would diffenently get burned??

[Var]

Higher octane is better for passing smog. Run chevron 91. It's the cleanest burning stuff out there

Lower octane has less resistance to pre-ignition. Lower octane runs hotter especially in an engine that's prone to pinging like the DOHC KA. SOHC KA does a lot better in smog.

[atom]

ok so I got off my lazy butt and bought a new cat, ran some injector cleaner and took it out for a nice long drive today. And Ill install teh cat tomarrow morning... Any thoughts on what gas I should fill up? When I first took the smog check as stated above, i was running 91 chevron... So should I try setting the timing to 16 -17btdc??

I know I went thru this like 2 years ago... i slapped a new cat for that and passed (since I needed to smog the car when i was transfering the registration to California from Kansas)... maybe my car did kill the cat from fuel problems, but hopefully this might be enough just to pass the test, then Ill take teh cat off and run my old one to conserve it...

No offense, but why don't you just fix the problem that's killing your cat in the first place? Changing gas or timing are just mickey mouse ways to try and pass. Fix it right the first time and then you won't have so many headaches the next time you need to get smogged.

[Annoying Eric]

HAHA gay cali laws.. i did my inspection with a ford focus on the rollers, and it also helps that i have my inspectors license... :fawk:

[HyperTek]

becuase ill be replacing teh KA with my long awaited SR soon... and dont really care much for this KA

[Pacman]

Hey, how much was that cat? I bought a car that had NOx in the 2000's, the EGR tube was deteriorated, and the car was running rich, could the cat be bad (the honeycomb is still in there)?

[HyperTek]

cat is like 100 at kragen... Just noticed some of the hoses around teh EGR valve area are also deteriorated, so Im gonna replace those... Just wondering, is all this equipment pretty durable? If I replace the hoses, would I have to be worried if that stuff is still functioning and need replacing or do they last pretty long? I did notice the hose going to teh EGR didnt feel like it was sucking so Im gonna replace some hoses.

[Var]

cat is like 100 at kragen... Just noticed some of the hoses around teh EGR valve area are also deteriorated, so Im gonna replace those... Just wondering, is all this equipment pretty durable? If I replace the hoses, would I have to be worried if that stuff is still functioning and need replacing or do they last pretty long? I did notice the hose going to teh EGR didnt feel like it was sucking so Im gonna replace some hoses.


You vacuum tranducer could be the culprit. Also could be clogged EGR tubes which means there's more carbon in the engine also. Decarbonize. Make sure entire EGR system is functioning. Replace cat if necessary

[holisticbeatz]

Austin, is your car a test-only? If not, give me a call. I know someone you don't. *wink wink* I have nothing else to say. End post.

[HyperTek]

yah my car is up for "test only".. .yah i know someone out here too, but he couldnt do it cuz mine is "test only"

[HyperTek]

so I put in new cat, replaced a few vacum hoses, set timing to 17btdc, and ran 91 octane chevron gas...

Problem is still NO (RPM)
Cali requirement max is 799 @15mph, my car - 1396 FAIL
Cali requirement max is 738 @25mph, my car - 162 PASS

Im really close to getting this thing to pass... I did notice the hose going to teh EGR doesnt feel like its sucking, could this be it? Any other suggestions? I mean its alot better then it was before.... I have 30days to retest at the same shop for $20....

[HyperTek]

I guess Ill try some seafoam... will that kill my cat? or should i just slap the old one on for it...

[idlafie]

so I put in new cat, replaced a few vacum hoses, set timing to 17btdc, and ran 91 octane chevron gas...

Problem is still NO (RPM)
Cali requirement max is 799 @15mph, my car - 1396 FAIL
Cali requirement max is 738 @25mph, my car - 162 PASS

Im really close to getting this thing to pass... I did notice the hose going to teh EGR doesnt feel like its sucking, could this be it? Any other suggestions? I mean its alot better then it was before.... I have 30days to retest at the same shop for $20....

Judging from the difference between the 15mph reading & the 25mph reading, it looks like the EGR system is working. A way to check this is to take your fingers & place them underneath the EGR valve. With your other hand, rev your throttle at the throttle body. You should feel the diaphram underneath the EGR go up & down with each rev of the engine.

Your car failing at low speed may be due to either a kinked hose limiting the amount of vacuum at low speed OR that secondary air valve..the one that connects to the exhaust manifold...IAV/AIV...something like that. Make sure the hoses are not clogged/dirty or leaking.

That's the only thing I can think of....
Good luck!!
ID
'95 SE

[HyperTek]

thanks! Ill check it out.

[XxJaPxOxNeEs23xX]

i dont know how much this will change the emissions, but i heard that if you change the oil it could help. and does anyone know i mean i know sr is illegal but has anyone put a sr through a emissions test. and what were the results