Well, it's time to call for help. I did a search and have diagnosed my car after failing twice with gross poluter satus. My engine runs good, with good plugs,wires,filters,timing is good,cat was replace a couple of years ago while the car was in Oregon, but it is a Kali Car. My ACV gets power all the timefor some reason and is in relief mode all the time. I need to figure the best way to shim the valve so as to pass. I did not find that info doing a seach. Everybody talks about it but noone says how it is done.

I got a 1 month extension, but I'm running out of time.

Thanks.

'81 GSL M/T - no mods - aftermarket cat

 

I had a 85GSL with racing beat muffler, borla or whatever high flow cat from rx7.com?

I had it's records, it always passed super good. Did you change the cat? maybe it's a cheap one or somthing, my bros 79SA stank rly bad and it used to pass smog, I couldn't even hear or smell my fb at idle lol... darn rb mufflers are quiet

 

The cat WAS changed in Oregon. It seems to be working be cause smells of sulfer after a while. But, I'm certain it is not getting port injected air because of the air control valve or that it is not getting power to the solenoid at the proper time, possible a tps issue or emission control box.

I may be able to figure out how to shim the vale open to a position to allow that long enough to get past smog, but I would like to know it has been done by someone here.

Yes, I will call my friends out a TRI-Point to see how they have been handling it.

 

the valve is the problem... if you take it apart its really simple, we usually end up with a couple 10mm nuts to hold it open

 

Well, alrighty then...thats what I was looking for. I'll try that this weekend.

 

its simpler to take the valve out and apart, than it is to try to type an explaination.

take it apart, blow thru it, see what the plungers do, see what they need to do, and find something that fits in that space!

 

... & be sure to swap it back when you've passed. Don't want to cook anything important!

 

No problem with that. I'm still going to fix it later, but when I have the time and money to do it. Right now I've just got to get it smogged and registered so that I can get on to other things about the car, like a stereo, a spare tire/wheel, repair gas gauge,a/c,etc...

 

I know the feeling. Trust me there.

 

Have you done the testing of the ACV per the FSM?

1A:10 is the page.

What were the readings from the test?

Was it a gross polluter at idle and 2500 RPM?

 

Have you done the testing of the ACV per the FSM?
CA emissions test does not test at idle, only at 15 and 25 mph on the dyno.

I wasn't using that manual, I was using the emissions manual, and no, not completely as I will get to in a moment.

What were the readings from the test?
15 mph 2061 rpm HC Max allowed 152 - GP 342 - Measured 709 CO% Max allowed 1.05 GP 2.55 Measured 3.05
25 mph 2107 rpm HC Max allowed 123 - GP 274 - Measured 619 CO% Max allowed 0.85 GP 2.35 - Measured 2.88

I've done the ACV shim mod to hold it open and we took a reading here in the shop. HC was from 550 - 790 range and CO% was from 3.0 - 4.5 all of which tells me that my air control valve is not the problem. I looks like I may need to replace the main cat and add the proper pre-cat after all. Although I will replace the main cat first, then add the pre-cat if I need to.

By shimming the ACV, I feel that I have completed my diagnosis of it for the time being. I still plan on getting the CA ACV later, after I get this thing registered. I thank you all for your input and help in this matter and I will keep you posted.

 

unusual. usually air pump air into the exhaust ports will nearly pass with no cat at the 25mph test....

i must say i don't know where to look next, i've smogged some giant POS's (even one with a bad motor), and they all pass with air pump air

the ONLY thing i see, is that the rpms are really low, test is usually run around 2800, which should help

 

I passed!!!
After I replaced my Cat with a CA spec cat, I had shimmed my air control valve, but my pretest showed that did not make a difference. For good measure I put in 1 gallon of denatured alcohol to approx 2-3 gallons of gas. I had to readjust the idle mixture afterwards because it idled rough...lean mixture, I supose.

Here are the readings:
15 mph - HC PPM max 152 - meas 91---CO% max 1.05 - meas .04
25 mph - HC PPM max 123 - meas 34---CO% max 0.14- meas 0.00
Kali takes no idle readings. If it had failed this time I would have installed a pre-cat as a last resort, as it was equipped OEM with one but does not have one now. I have since de-shimmed my air control valve and readjusted my timing to the performance setting recommended by Racing Beat.

I'm so happy, now I can get my baby registered and fix things at my liesure.

 

https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...+Emission+test.

 

I think this is the first actual first-hand, before-and-after, success report thread I have seen for the alcohol mix fix. With numbers and everything

Everything else I've read was "somebody's buddy" or "I read somewhere."

Out of interest, what were your NOX numbers for the two tests?

 

1st failed test NOX: 15 mph MAX allowed 1191 - Gross Poluter 2331 - Measured 228
25 mph MAX allowed 1021 - Gross Polluter 2131 - Measured 186
2nd failed test NOX: 15 mph Measured 319 - 25 mph measured 272

Just so you know, a Rotary will almost never fail NOX due to its inherent design that carries a small amount of exhaust from the exhaust stroke into the new intake charge which is natural EGR valve in its design.

And you are right, that why I did it and posted the result, as I couldn't find any straight answers either. I hope this helps others in a similar situation.

 

The rotary's exhaust gasses curves don't cross like piston engines; one of the reasons we've always gotten a raw deal in the smog department.

Piston engines have a triangle-shaped "sweet spot" within which all three gasses (HC, CO, NOX) are relatively low. That zone is what the original EPA design targets were meant to achieve.

On a rotary, the three gas curves all inflect the same direction; there's no sweet spot.


Ironically, it was in the attempt to track down info about the alcohol-mix trick that I first discovered this site, as I was trying to get my car in passing shape again after a long idle period. Read about it, but I was unwilling to try it as I couldn't find first-hand success stories.

So I did it the hard way.