I got a high flow cat welded into my midpipe the other day because I am sick of the car being loud and stinky. Anyhow, they didn't have anything to hook up the air pump tube so I decided "what the hell" and took it into emissions yesterday. I passed the "cruise" test on the rollers, but I failed the **** out of the idle test. Both HC and CO at idle were approximately 4 times the limit ! Last night I hooked up the air tube and replaced my plugs. I was expecting the idle to improve greatly with the air pump hooked up, but it was only marginal. I'm gonna try again today, any suggestions?

 

i had a problem with my CO readings being over 2X the missouri state limit.

the only work i had done was getting the EGR valve replaced- it then passed, go figure...???

 

Hmmm...how much is a new EGR valve?

 

The EGR doesn't operate at idle. Therefore replacing it will not do anything for emissions at idle.
Your air fuel mixture is to rich at idle.

Good Luck

 

Check out http://www.scuderiaciriani.com
and do a search on emissions, it will help you out.

 

Glass Man is right. The emissions segment on that site will help. Mine fails all the time. The only thing I can think of is getting a management system that's programable. Some people here have a separate emissions tuning. That is what i'm going to do.
My car failed so hard that it fucked up their machine, and they couldn't test anybody else until they fixed it. There machine couldn't comprehend how badly my car ran. That's messed up.

 

Bruceman, If the EGR valve doesn't work at idle, how come the manual says that it could be a possible cause of a bad idle? Some people say that if the EGR valve is stuck open, it's like a vacuum leak, and therefore makes the car run rich. Thus, not passing emmisions. Do you think there is any truth in this?
I know that I had mine cleaned once, and it did make a difference in my idle quality.
Jim

 

unless the computer lied, this was exactly my case.

 

Do you have an aftermarket ECU? It doesn't show up in your sig, but since your'e running all those exhaust mods, you might be...

If you are, start tuning that...if not, ****, weld another cat in there

 

Nope, no programmable ECU, thus far I am only running 10psi, I just bought the car and the previous owner isn't what you'd call "consciencious".

Well, I failed again today after replacing the plugs and hooking up the smog tube.

Hydrocarbons (ppm)
Cruise Limit: 150
Cruise Emissions: 31
Cruise Result: Pass :joy:

Idle Limit: 220
Idle Emissions: 701
Idle Result: FAIL


CO (%)
Cruise Limit: 1.1
Cruise Emissions: 0.11
Cruise Result: Pass :joy:

Idle Limit: 1.2
Idle Emissions: 4.46 (worse than yesterday)
Idle Result: FAIL

 

Which high flow did you get?
I failed with a Bonez but passed with a Tri-Point. The Bonez is lousy for > 20mph dyno tests.
Someone else here had the same problem.

 

I got a magnaflow/carsound 3" high flow cat.

 

"Bruceman, If the EGR valve doesn't work at idle, how come the manual says that it could be a possible cause of a bad idle? Some people say that if the EGR valve is stuck open, it's like a vacuum leak, and therefore makes the car run rich. Thus, not passing emmisions. Do you think there is any truth in this?
I know that I had mine cleaned once, and it did make a difference in my idle quality.
Jim"

If the EGR is leaking it would leak exhaust gas or air into the intake manifold niether of which would make the mixture be rich. This would cause a rough idle but would not cause high HC. HC is directly related to the amount of fuel presence.
I could well be wrong, maybe someone else understands it better.

 

good job tripling the idle limit, F*ck the Ozone, hehe.
No emissions testing here in Florida, thank god.

 

HC emissions can be high because the car is running rich (obvious) or running lean (not so obvious). If too lean, the car will miss occasionally, sending unburned fuel into the converter which it may or may not be able to burn off. Toddzilla, what's your vacuum at idle? My gut feel is that if you have below 17 in. Hg vacuum at 700 rpm there is a leak somewhere, unless you are at high altitude.

I second Grampa re the Bonez cat (for CA smog specs, anyway).

---- Bill

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm seeing 18" Hg at idle. I think that I found the problem the other night. Friday night I decided to look for vacuum leaks and replace my O2 sensor. I found one leaky vacuum line, replaced the O2, and for some reason, left the garage light off when I started the car. As soon as I started it I saw that one of the plug wires is arcing like a bastard....so, I'm 99% sure that the plug wire is my problem. I ordered some taylor wires from summit, but they won't be here until wednesday. When I get them on I'll let you guys know how it does.

Now to fix the oil leaks.