HAILERS

Ok. There might be something amiss with your car. I did the 8second test you mentioned. Rpm over 1500, TPS disconnected, pulled the Relied vacuum hose off and felt vacuum. After 120 seconds vacuum disappears. I let the engine go back to idle and the suction started almost rightaway.

So. Assuming my car is good to go (passes emissions with flying colors each year), then what they are implying is that vacuum will return withing 8seconds of going back to idle. Slight assumption there, but I'm a True Believer, so to speak.

You MIGHT try to get that idle below 800rpm for a idle. That MIGHT be what causes the vacuum to not return on your car.

EDIT: Your 02 readings seem to be right for idle with the Relief connector connected and with it disconnected.

I'd go for a ride and see if you can observe closed loop at a steady speed, using your meter.

MazDan

iTrader: (3)

I didn't do this, I used a timing light. I guess it wouldn't hurt to check it that way too.

Thanks for checking this for me. There must be some significant difference if your vacuum comes back and mine doesn't. I'll try dropping the idle and redoing the test. I'll also try cruising with the multimeter plugged in. I don't think I'll have time to do that until Friday though.

MazDan

iTrader: (3)

OK here's what I did today...

-Went for a quick drive to warm it up.
-Got sidetracked and stopped at an auto place to borrow a spring compressor.
-Installed some Konis that I bought a couple of weeks ago off this site. They are awesome.
After that I got back to emissions business.

Instead of just rechecking the timing I actually pulled and restabbed the CAS. I double-checked it with a timing light, the timing is definitely correct.
I then dropped the idle to 800. With the jumper wire pulled, actual idle is closer to 700rpm. I'm fine with that because it's very stable, even with all accessories on. It's very quiet though, that'll take some getting used to.

I then re-did the 120s / 8s relief solenoid test. Now the vacuum returns when it should. This seems like an improvement.
I wish I had done the test after redoing the timing, and before adjusting the idle. I would have like to know which change actually fixed this problem. I also wish I had rechecked the timing again before pulling the CAS. Now I'm not sure if any timing change was actually made.

I haven't driven around with the DMM monitoring O2 because I was tired from all the suspension work. Pulling the carpet seemed like too much trouble.

I think I'll take it through emissions testing again tomorrow and see if anything's changed. I don't want to get my hopes up though.

MazDan

iTrader: (3)

Another update...

On the way to the emission testing facility, I noticed some misfiring when I floored it aboved 3000rpm. I should have aborted, but instead I decided not to drive it too hard, and to test it anyway (I was already near the place and I had to renew my insurance today).

Results:
-Driving emissions remained about the same as last time.
-Idle emissions were through the roof. HCs were way worse than driving emissions. Oddly enough the idle felt fine to me, even at 650rpm.

What caused this change?
As soon as I left the place I realized that I had forgot to plug my TPS back in (after doing the 120s/8s test yesterday).

Was this a waste of time and money?
Maybe. But I think it may also have provided a valuable clue.
As far as I understand, with the TPS unplugged, the ECU treats everything as WOT. This would be why my idle HCs were out of control.
What's interesting to me is that the driving HCs were unchanged. The emission level was the same for both tests with and without the TPS. I think this indicates that even with the TPS connected, the ECU thinks that WOT is occuring when in reality it's only light throttle cruising. (I should have driven around with the O2 probe connected as Hailers suggested). If this is true then there must be something wrong with either the TPS adjustment, or the TPS itself.

Now I did check the TPS before the first e-test and it seemed to be fine. It seemed to sweep smoothly from about 1k to about 6k. I'll check it again. Actually now that I think of it, I didn't read the output with the engine running (although I did set it about a year ago). This is important right?

I won't be able to do any more testing until late Sunday at the earliest. I'll also post the second e-test results later on tomorrow.

MazDan

iTrader: (3)

Results with no TPS:


I checked my TPS today. Unplugged it checked out fine, 1Kohm closed, 6kohm WOT. No dead zones.

Plugged in and running it measured only about 0.5V at idle. I don't know why this is. Maybe I'm not measuring correctly, maybe one of these two methods is wrong? I adjusted it to 1V at idle (750rpm). I think it may be running a little smoother but who knows. I'll have to do the cruising test later.

MazDan

iTrader: (3)

OK I know this is a really old thread but I just wanted to conclude it.

Here are the results from todays test:


Changes that were made since the last attempt:
-Replaced Bonez single cat with Bonez dual cats
-Added and tuned an RTEK 2.0 ECU
-Added a Zietronix wideband (simulating narrowband with switching point set to 14.8:1)

The RTEK is awesome and makes the car so much smoother throughout the powerband. Definitely a good investment. I have the wideband setup so i can quickly switch between wide/narrow output for tuning/daily driving.
Since I didn't want to waste any more money on repeated tests I never tested after replacing just the cat. So I don't know which change contributed the most to the pass. If it was replacing the 1 year old Bonez cat, is it possible it's dead already? I'm considering switching back to the single for everyday use and preserving the dual setup for emissions testing.

Texas_Ace

iTrader: (18)

Quite interesting. I am about o get my car tested and if I fail i am thinking i might just have a second cat added to the car and have them weld a flang so i can use a test pipe i have when i am not testing.

I would also like to know what helped most. Cats or ECU?

Along these lines, i have read though this thread and there is so much info i am now almost more confused then before lo.

What things do i really need to test to have the best chance at passing emmisions?

HAILERS

A one year old cat that was not getting air from the airpump via the ACV and exhaust ports, could and most probably would go to hell in a hand basket imho.

I might add, when you set your idle using the RTEK, and how it's looking for 20%, that is an output of one volt from the TPS to the ECU.