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Anyone have experience passing the I/M240 emissions test with a JDM FD? I am in Colorado (Denver area) and would prefer to actually pass rather than have to use an address from a non emissions county. The car in question is a '95 with supposedly all of the original JDM emissions equipment still on it
Usually cars older than 25 years aren't required to pass emissions. Although I've passed the Japanese one I drove it with high revs to heat up the converter and didn't turn it off to keep it hot. The airpump will run below 3000rpm and if they don't absolutely hammer the throttle and keep emissions in check. I also stopped premixing just in case although my OMP does work.
Here's a thread where I helped a guy pass an IM240 test. If the car is stock and the cat/air pump isn't failed/everything in good condition, it can pass. You just have to be careful because it's sensitive to the driver. It will fail CO if they boost it too much, which is what was going on in that thread (see post 26 and 46).
The missing precat and lack of accelerated warm up system don't matter for an IM240 because it is a hot test. On the EPA test, the vehicle sits overnight at 75F before cold starting. So make sure the car is warm/not sitting for hours and hours before testing and it will be fine.
If you do fail, post in this thread copies of all the documents and the second by second emission chart such as what was shown in the referenced thread. Then we can see where you are failing.
Hello guys do you mind me jumping in the conversation ? I am also in the process of preparing a 1999 JDM RX7 for emission testing, more specifically the Euro2 emission standard.
The car is tested according to the NCCE cycle (average speed 33.6 km/h, max speed 120 km/h, cycle time 1180 s and time at idle 25 %). Note that the car gets a preheating step of 40 s before starting measurements.
The tested vehicle has to meet the average emissions values as follow (< 2.2 g/km CO, < 0.5 g/km THC + NOx)
My car is a 1999 JDM Mazda RX7 but comes with a Knightsport downpipe and a Re-Amemiya hi-flow cat. Obviously that is not going to do the trick. I have been in touch with a local swiss tuner that has been able to pass these tests with RX7s. He gave me the advice of finding a used USDM precat downpipe and stock main cat. He will then get the catalytic cells opened and refilled with 400 cpsi catalytic material through a specialized company. He also strongly suggested to get inconel shielding for the whole downpipe and midpipe to avoid thermal losses through the pipe. The car will then get tuned specifically for low boost and low emissions (with the Power FC ECU coming with the car).
I did not think it was actually possible to "refill" catalytic converter with new catalytic cells (that's obviously far from cheap). I know a USDM precat downpipe won't fit a RHD car because of the steering column. Since the cell has to be opened anyways I was thinking of welding the precat cell from an USDM downpipe to the stock JDM downpipe. Do you know if that is possible ? Also is the inconel shielding overkill ? It is quite pricey and was thinking of going simply with a ceramic coating or high quality exhaust wrapping ? If I am not mistaken the Power FC still allows every emission component to work as intended from the factory ?
The pre-cat is only for cold start emissions, like the first 30 seconds of the car running. Do you need the pre cat to pass a visual inspection?
Typically if you have a healthy stock main cat and a working air pump system, along with the car being in good shape (good plugs, not running poorly) you should be able to pass a sniffer test.
Is there any reason why you can't run the test right now and see where you stand? Make sure to get all the paperwork if it fails. They should be able to get you a second-by-second emission read out. This is actually a pretty tough test, tougher than an IM240 test for sure. It's basically the previous NEDC cycle that was used until a few years ago, but they are at Euro 2 standards and as you said they give you a 40 second grace period. Does the 40 seconds start after the vehicle begins moving? Or do they just idle it for 40 seconds and then start the driving?
So your standard is THC + NOX, which is harder to pass than having separate NOX and THC standards (THC is total hydrocarbons). How long is the car going to be sitting before it starts the test? Like do you drop it off at the station in the morning and it sits for 4 hours and then runs? Or can you show up for your appointment and they get it on the dyno within 30 minutes?
Really I would base line the vehicle first. Get your NOX, THC, and CO numbers as the car sits. Tell the inspection station that you'd like them to drive it easy (unless you think that's a bad idea/ would make somebody mad).
If it's failing CO, no precat will save you. It's most likely the driving style of the test driver, as it is probably going into boost too much. If it has high THC and low NOx, then we have to look at where the emission is coming from. It could be coming from the cold start, in which case having a better cat would help. The 40 second grace period probably helps a lot though.
You really need to run the test first before doing anything. I do automotive emission test engineering for a living. You always need a baseline when you start.
The 40 second grace period probably helps a lot though..
our test in CA is way different, its just steady state, but last time i dove the car there, and just threw it on the tester, so cold. the tech spent enough time with the car running that it warmed up enough, and it still passed, even with the RE Amemiya ecu...
so while one would want a longer warm up, the FD is pretty good at warming up a converter!
Here are the results from my I/M240 test today. The kid driving went into boost every acceleration and the car did have to sit for a while in line before being tested so that probably affected the result somewhat. It does sometimes smell like gas, particularly on startup. Any advice?
Can you tell us, what mods does the car have? Anything that would reduce restriction on the turbo at all and increase boost? Aftermarket air filter (even a drop-in type), aftermarket downpipe, etc?
When analyzing the chart, you want to look for areas where the failing emission looks almost "square," basically pegs the limit of the chart. So that's at 15, 105, and 160 seconds for your hydrocarbons. The first one is most likely due to the cat not being fully warmed. You can tell because CO is not pegging, it's just a quick spike, meaning it probably didn't get into much boost (more CO-->richer-->most likely more boost). Those other two accelerations at 105 and 160 are where you failed. The guy wasn't easy enough on the gas. He's probably used to driving old Corollas. I don't remember if they have a fixed manual transmission shift schedule they have to follow. Basically he just needs to drive it easier.
One thing you could try is unplugging the precontrol and wastegate actuators under the intake manifold. That will basically limit the boost and help those accelerations at 105 and 160 seconds. You'd probably need to put resisters in them to prevent a check engine light. Also can you ask the guy at the inspection station if you can idle the car until he runs the test? Tell him just to not shut it off, let it idle in the parking lot or in the garage with the door open. That will help your HC on the first acceleration because your cat will be warmer.
07-03-21, 06:00 AM
