Slinky85

I failed my emissions test =[...
I drove my car for errands before w/ over 1 hour of driving, and 10 minute parking in between each thing intill emissions. I waited with the car on. I have aftermaket exhaust (3" dual, at the exh. manifilds) stock manifolds, just found out there had never been an air filter in it. The PVC valve has a vacuum, and the other hose on the other valve cover has a vacuum.

RESULTS...

HydroCarbons (1.80 GPM State) 3.4783 GPM = Me, Fail
Carbon Monoxide (30.00 GPM State) 55.0173 = Me, Fail
Oxides of Nitrogen (2.8 State) 2.2401 = Me, Pass (yay)

I think this means i am running rich, I think this means possibly bad injectors, O2 sensor, spark plugs, spark wires...?

Please help, any advice is greatly appreciated

toptechx6

Looks like your state has IM240 protocol, If I understand your post correctly you have no cat? My suggestion would be to start there.

Slinky85

I have High flow cat's, put them on like a few months ago (last september? ish)

Just replaced O2 sensor so that is ruled out for now.

Is there any way to test my own exhaust? or rich/lean conditions?

thanks

redwing76

www.altavista.com "high hydrocarbons".

Your running rich, as you probably know.

toptechx6

Okay, having cats makes sense, without them it would probably have failed the visual inspection assuming the tester was competent. As redwing76 mentioned high CO (incomplete combustion) normally indicates a rich condition, personally I would address the high HC first.
High HC (unburned fuel) usually indicates a misfire, it can be caused by anything that would cause an engine miss, (ignition, fuel, timing, or mechanical problems) high HC and High CO can also be caused by a failure of the AIR system. If the car seems to run okay (no noticeable misfire) follow the diagnostics in the FSM for the air injection.
Normally this type of emission test produces a graph of the run, posting that may help with diagnosis, good luck.

Slinky85

I hope this isnt a stupid question.... What is the FSM, and in the event I am unfamilliar with it, how would I get such a graph?

If it helps... When i cold start the car, I get into the gas to help it, and a blue smoke cloud comes out, then no blue smoke after that.

Thanks

toptechx6

FSM is an abbreviation for Factory Service Manual, if you don't have one you should, it is very valuable resource for diagnosing any problem.
Basically you need to verify the air pump is delivering air to the cat side after warm up. The FSM is a good step by step guide especially if you are unfamiliar with emission systems. If you don't have a manual or good basic emission knowledge you may want to consider a repair shop that specializes in repairing such test failures.
Forum members CFI-EFI or edcmat-L1 are both excellent on such problems, if they don't chime in you may want to try to PM for some help. Follow their advice carefully if they reply.
Most states provide a graph of the IM240 test when you fail but it doesn't sound like you got one?
Your smoke on start up sounds like it could be weak valve stem oil seals, I doubt it would cause your failure unless oil has fouled a plug to the point of misfire, you should be able to tell that by driving, and you haven't indicated the car runs bad.

redwing76

The high flow cats can be a problem?

toptechx6

Not to my knowledge, they should work fine. I misunderstood his first post as meaning he had removed the cats, sorry if I was unclear too.

Slinky85

The car runs fine, under accelleration there are no problems.
btw, i dont get those graph things. I am in Maryland

At Idle and low RPM's, there is intermittant hesitaion, stalling, surging.
these symptoms occur only when the engine is hot (running temperature ~180+ degrees)
Surging b/t 500 and 600 rpm at a stop, and stalling if the surge goes below 400.

from a stop or slow roll, there was hesitation when I punch it, this happens less often after I changed to 93 octane, Fuel inj. cleaner, and O2 sensor.

also when cruizing, if I let my foot off of the gas, @ about 40-45 mph and ~1200 rpms, the car pulses as it decelerates untill it out of the 1000-1200 window.

hope this helps
will try and pm the refrenced members
thanks

mikey whipreck

I put my thoughts in bold in your quote:

It shouldn't cost you anything to run some tests yourself, so what is your timing set at? If you think you are running rich, you can easily check for injector leaks by running a leak down test. Also, I'm willing to bet that your high-flow cats are more effective then the junk cat you took off of your 85. Good luck

edcmat-l1

High CO and HCs is rich. Anytime you have high CO its rich, period. High HCs, low CO, combined with high oxygen is indicative of a lean misfire, or just a plain ol' ignition miss.
The first thing to do is get the engine running properly. Do you have scan capability? You'll need to scan it. See what the fuel trims are doing. Could be a leaky injector, pressure regulator, etc. If the fuel trims are negative and its running rich, its getting fuel from somewhere it shouldnt be. If the fuel trims are positive, the ECMs adding fuel for some reason. Faulty coolant sensor, something like that.
BTW. An ignition miss will not cause high CO.

redwing76

Wouldn't a faulty coolant sensor set a code? All the faulty coolant sensors that I've seen have set a code. But if not a scan should bring it out.

redwing76

Good points, a basic tune up might make the difference.

Mo_Bandy

it almost sound like you may want to also check the IAC Idle air control ... if it is carboned up it will cause the stumbling and pulsing you are discribing... I would also sugges tthat it could be causing some of the rich condition that was showing up on the emmissions scan...

Hope this helps...

MO

Benny42

A bad vacuum line on my fuel pressure regulator caused mine to fail on the first try last year. Same high HC and CO. All new hoses fixed mine. benny

Slinky85

checked my timing, slightly less than 6* (looks like 5.8*~5.9* is that close enough?)

and checked/reset tps from ~.48 to .541 vDC

My first impression is that this fixes my stalling surging... problem
Will know for sure by 2morrow.

Only codes I pulled were 33 and 42.
42-timing- go figure, I checked the timing
33- MAF (does it also indicate a vac. line leak?) I have unplugged the MAF and run the car thus triggering this code...

just cleared the codes, i will see if the 33 comes up again.

Where can I get a leakdown tester? how much is it? Also how much should it cost for a shop to do it? (assuming I found one that I trust)

How would I test the vacuum lines? can i replace them without removing the intake plenum/TB?

I looked at the IAC valve, is the method of removal a big wrench? I dont have that size at the moment.

Thanks

redwing76

For a service manual try this www.helminc.com

You really cant guess about driveability problems, you need the parameters for fuel and igntion to fix your car.

I think the manual is $20.00.

Leak down test? As in compression? If its compression a compression guage will do it.

If its fuel I guess a fuel pressure guage would do it. You have to know how long it takes for the fuel pressure to bleed down, otherwise its only a guess.

But working without a manual is like shooting in the dark.
The Helms manual is highly reccomended.
The Haynes is certainly better than nothing.

Benny42

The vacuum lines can be changed without taking the intake off. Start on the passenger side of the plenum, near the back. Follow them around, the hard plastic ones can crack. A diagram is on the radiator shroud. benny

corvettekid89

if that doesnt work try goin to another place that happened to me once they failed me and i went to a different place to test right after and i passed