Well brought my 86 rx7 to emmissions only to fail. It has a rebuilt motor with only 35k on it and runs fine. It has a small exhaust leak somewhere.. but duno why thatd effect it. It failed by 8x the normal CO readings.

 

Did you have a catalytic Converter on this Car?(a NEW ONE?)..does it have an Air Pump?...by the way,they shouldn't have done an Etest IF the car had an Exhaust leak.The car By rights should have a solid Exhaust system,Free of any Holes,or perforations.

 

If the air pump isnt hooked up that can definately be the problem...alot of ppl dont bother putting it back on if you've had the motor out already.

 

I assume "Brentwood" is CA, right? I'm not sure how CA does its emissions testing of pre-OBD cars, but in Maryland where I live, they place sniffer probes on both sides and under the car specifically to check for exhaust leaks. If the leak is upstream of the cat, what is escaping would be just as dirty as exhaust from a car with no cats at all. That alone could be enough to fail the test.

 

your O2 sensors may be gummed up but not enough to set off a light. Afer an engine is rebuilt on the first few startups alot of gunk gets burned through as part of the break in period and it has a bad habit of sticking to o2 sensors. If you haven't changed them recently it might not be a bad idea to do so. The computers in those aren't the quickest to respond so that may be why you haven't gotten a light. Timing could be off a bit too. Also make sure your trailing ignition is functioning good that helps burn off alot of CO