will a smog test indicate the life of an engine? If a engine fails the smog test how likely is it to be a lemon?

 

Seeing as mine is failing ona new motor, emissions might not be the greatest indication of how mechanically sound the actual motor is. There are alot of other things that can affect emissions...Age of the cats, condition of your injectors, condition of the EGR valve, pressure regulator, air pressure sensor, ACV..the list goes on. And the only way is to test each one till you find the culprit. Best thing to do is get a readout cause different numbers mean different things... Hope I didnt confuse you too much..

Rat

 

Smog test can only be considered a test of the vehicle, not of the motor failing.

generally though if you had a bad smog test it could indicate that the maintenace of the car hadn't been kept up on, or that the car is old.

 

thanks guys the reason I ask is I am in the process of purchasing a motor, and the seller, a member hear informed me today that I took it to get smogged and it failed. He has been very fair and thoughtful and I appreciate him for it. He is taking it somewhere to be looked at by a rotory mechanic and letting me know more tommorow. I hope the thing is fine so I can get it in my car soon, but do not want to neglect reliablity on a car that will be driven back and forth to school.

J-Rat I appreciate the info. hopefully where I live I will never have to pass a smog test, because none of the cars I own would have a chance.

 

Yeah, this whole smog test is really giving me a HEADACHE!! What pisses me off the most is my little harmless 1.3 liter motor has to compete with these freakin HUMONGOUS GAS GUZZLING CRAPPY SUVs!!! Its VERY annoying.

Best indacator of the health of a rotary that I personally know is the compression test. Maybe looking at the plugs, although some of the smog equipment can cause bad readings on the plugs. Also, be realistic about it...If you are buying from a member here, chances are the motor was taken care of pretty well. Also, mileage is a factor. Some people say 100,000 is it for rotaries, but I disagree. Mine went 204,000 and was STILL running when it was replaced.

Hope it works out for ya..

RAT

 

Hey J-Rat, what are you doing tomorrow night ?

Trying to take over the world ?

...pointless, but had to do it....

 

Thas cool..I was wondering who was gonna hassle me first!!!!

 

J-Rat I appreciate it. This motor only has about 40K on it. I believe that is what he said. The motor I am replacing only has 75K original miles on the car and the motor. It sat up since 98 and has zero compression in the front rotor. Well I am waiting to hear about the motor, he is taking it to be looked at today. I'll let yall kow soon.

 

Also remember, that rotaries that sit for a long time, have NO COMPRESSION!!!

 

yes I've heard. I tried to do all the tricks. I even pulled it all around town. Actually only about 5 miles. I would get it up to speed and then pop the clutch. It would squeal the tires, but would not start. I even pulled it until the motor got up to operating temp and tried to start it then. This new motor I'm getting has not been sitting up, so it should be good.

 

nothing I do ever works out. Is this a siqn from GOD?
I can't get the motor so need one now

 

Having a Rotary SUCKS if you live in a State with emissions, unless you -ahem- know some certain shops...

 

I can't even get a motor to get the car to the shops

 

PLEASE!! Tell me something I didnt already KNOW!!!

 

the theory of a rotary engine is brilliant..
The actual working of the theory sucks.

 

Actually, the rotaries are supposed to be fairly clean burning engines when running correctly. Its all these damn sensors that seem to foul up the works....

 

i hate sensors. Every car I own with a sensor on it is broken down as we speak. I think they all have the Y2K bug. Trans am Broke, rx7 never worked, toyota truck broke, 65 mustang in better performaning condition than new. Must be like wine.

 

Rotary dont suck at emission, it's the way your car is tuned. Look at my numbers taken today

Tested Max. allow in the state
HC 22.5 168.0
CO 0.0 1.08
NO 28.7 1208.0

Did it today after work at Norwich, CT. Car had 158839 miles when it rolled onto the dyno. I tested it 2 years ago on March 8th with 76500 miles

Tested Max. allow in the state
HC 21.2 168.0
CO 0.0 1.08
NO 84.5 1208.0


So as you can tell, milage dont make that much of a difference. Oh yeah car is a little diffferent. My car was bone stock 2 years ago. Now it has a 3 day old Bonez cat, RB y pipe and mufflers.

 

here are my emission numbers
HC ?????
CO ?????
NO ?????
what are they HC hydrocarbons CO carbon monoxide, and NO nitreous oxide he he he he
we don't do emissions in the great state of MS

 

You get those if you live with democrats

 

we don't have any republicans around here. We are all to poor to have shoes.
at least that is what most people think of when they here mississippi

 

Okay, the point to stating that rotaries suck for emissions was to point out that when they work, they work great. But when a 4 series has a bad sensor, that isnt being flagged by the ECU it can be a MAJOR headache. Or youcould have bought a motor from a moron who swapped the rotor housings....

 

what would swaping the housings do?

 

Probably quite nicely...The dilemma here is that its a pain in the ***, my car runs fine, and I need time to save money cause if I go tearing this motor apart, I would like to do a quality rebuild... So realistically, I have no reason to bitch. I am just broke...and lazy.

Rat

 

You know the problem with rotary emission isnt just because badly tuned car. Just look at the max. limit. The test is setup for the piston cars. High NO allowerence, low HC. Rotary is good on NO, bad on HC...