Zer0Suvivers

alright. i got a pretest on my car. and well.. its running some high hc's the printout he gave me said 267HC.... so he said i need a tuneup.. and possibly new cats...

and of course he said i need cali legal cats. but w/e. **** that. i dont have no 500 for cats.. so what do you guys think would be the best way to get my car to pass.. i already got new plugs and wires.. i will give it an oil change.. but yeah.. any other tips or tricks...

a guy at a parts store said to use seafoam... but yeah no.. i dont wanna chance blowing something up.. haha i dont know what it does to engines.

thanxs agains guys

1SWEET7

iTrader: (1)

You can buy a cat on the for sale section for like $100.

Zer0Suvivers

are they new cats?? because i will need 3 of them.. since 7's have 3 lol

1SWEET7

iTrader: (1)

You don't need 3, I smogged my car here in Cali (**** smog laws) with just a Bonez main cat. The one I bought was a brand new Bonez cat for $120 I believe, then I resold it for $80.

Zer0Suvivers

so u just changed the main cat??

kenshinhimura

iTrader: (1)

ya. i passed smog test way under limit with a universal cat.

barnett87rx7

iTrader: (1)

make sure you drive it and redline pre test to get cats warm and to clear out any crap built up in the engine

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

That depends on how strict Nevada is on visual inspection. If they just care about the tail pipe emmissions, you only need a new universal cat. If they do visual like California, you will need all three.

FYI, in Cali lots of guys ream out the precats, but leave the empty chambers on the exhaust. Then they put a main 3-way cat with a CARB number on. The car will pass visual and tail pipe this way.

Here is my emission testing thread. It is over 4 years old. I post up the new emission test each year. There might be some good info for you in there.
https://www.rx7club.com/showthread.p...light=emission

Good Luck.

1SWEET7

iTrader: (1)

I have a 2.5" downpipe and I had my Bonez cat put in place of my pre-silencer and it passed just fine here in California. I only had one cat. This was done just over a year ago.

DeMoe Aurelius

iTrader: (4)

Mine pass in North Vegas with just one cat. So get a new main cat and you should be fine.

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

That's great. I think you will find that your experience is not a typical California story and that one should not expect to slip by the visual in California.

Again, the OP should find out what rules apply and how they are typically applied in his are.

DeMoe Aurelius

iTrader: (4)

the only thing I liked about Nevada was the smog laws is not as harsh as here in sunny California...Zero I'm not sure what part of Nevada your in but if you in the Vegas Area or hell not go on to WWW.VegasRotary.com it will take you to another site but some one may know who can help you always find out in person cause the forums get policed. We seen post read by North Las Vegas Police no Bullshit!!!

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

I can also vouch for passing smog here in CA without precats. I'm sure you can find techs that will be extremely **** about the visual test, but many others are just looking to get you in and out as quickly as possible. Find a tech that's not a dick, and stick with them every couple years.

But in the OP's case it doesn't sound like it matters. Leave the precats in place & get a main cat that's in better condition. The precats are only there for cold start emissions. After that, the main cat does the work.

jackhild59

iTrader: (7)

Now that is good advice. I use the same shop every year. It's a family operation. I get all my vehicles (6) done there, so they know me by name and vice versa. It helps that I am not a number. When I ask make sure that they properly warm up the car before the test, they are happy to work with me. I went to another place once. The were annoyed that I wanted to even speak with the tech doing the test.

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

It's a similar situation with the shop I use. The owner is the smog tech, and happens to love my car, so the visual is a breeze each time.

CrazyDude

I've actually found that people are pretty relaxed about the visual in CA, surprisingly (except shops owned by russians).

When they are looking at the cats, they look for an engraving that says "D-###-##", which is a CARB executive order, directive, or something of that nature. Even though the converters are supposed to be sold & installed application-specific, you can find one of the right size & diameter by looking through the Magnaflow website, and then going over to Ebay. It'll be about $100.
Don't forget to get 8% back by using Bing.
I bought a 38016 (16" x 2.5" pipe), although the air tube is on the wrong side, so I'll have to install it upside-down.

Take this with a grain of salt, however: I can't get my HC emissions below 210ppm @ 15mph with an old converter, but I think this is due to other problem. Listen to other people as well.

Asterisk

iTrader: (3)

lol @"except shops owned by Russians..."

I'm russian myself, tell them your Russian friend Igor recommended the place.

funkjaw

iTrader: (3)

<------ Smog tech here.

Make sure the airpump is functioning correctly. I will be very surprised if a tune up gets your car to pass.

Is this test done on a dyno or is it a two speed idle test?

If you like to have fun and get on the gas here and there it is not necessary to use any type of carbon cleaner like seafoam on rotaries. You'll be surprised how good of a cleaner hitting 8k RPM is. Now the middle aged house wife that drives her Rx8 around and never sees more than 5k on her automagic equipped car? Thats a different story.

PLUS getting rid of artificial compression due to carbon build up with seafoam is not going to lower your HC; it will lower your NoX (only if you don't destroy your cats from doing the carbon clean) Which is why: IF YOU SEAFOAM YOUR CAR DO IT BEFORE YOU REPLACE YOUR CAT(S). Also, Mazda dealerships sell a special carbon cleaner for rotaries I have been told (or at least provide the service).

Here in CA, 9/10 smog techs aren't going to bend down to see how many cats their are in a low to the ground Rx7.

If you replace the cat.... don't gut or take out the two pre-cats. Sure, some people can pass without them (my NA sure does) but you might as well just leave them on considering you are having smog problems already.

Zer0Suvivers

yeah. im going to give my car a tuneup and replace the main cat.. and yes i like to drive my car past 5k at least. lol since thats where the power is... and well why not??

i figured that smog techs arent going to bend down to count the cats.

and its not done on a dyno.. i live in northern cali. so the smog isnt as strict. but it seems they are getting worse... due to the expansion of the city.. aka more stores and companies clearing trees along the highways. that i dont mind the clearing of trees on the highway. damn deer are hard to see in the trees. lol..

but on the topic of the smog pump. is there a way to test it?? or just take the air hose off and see if its actually pumping air?

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

Basically. You can take the whole thing off and spin it by hand. If you feel air coming out, it's working. If there are horrible metal noises, and the metal fins come out, it's broken. Ask me how I know this .

Zer0Suvivers

that would suck.. blades breaking off and getting sucked through the intake. trashing your engine... well i will check that today. and im changing my spark plugs. because they need a changing.. havent done it yet.. i dont know if the lady i bought it from knows how lol

SmogSUX

iTrader: (12)

I thought high HC during idle test was an EGR related issue...unless I'm wrong?

RotaryRocket88

iTrader: (7)

The EGR is to reduce NOx, which is common under lean conditions. But show me a stock FC that runs lean at idle / low throttle, heh. HC will go up with a richer mixture.

ericgrau

iTrader: (1)

A cali legal cat is only $250. The forum FAQ says you also need a tune-up and an oil change, which you kinda did I guess. Might want to check your timing too, and anything else I'm forgetting. I assume you'll have the air pump hooked up? Your cat needs that. You only need a main cat for smog after the car is warmed up; the pre-cat is to reduce emissions during warm-up. One of multiple reasons why they have a visual test and not just sniffer.

Zer0Suvivers

my air pump is always connected.. and i havent done a tuneup yet. but soon. its freakin cold