mecman

iTrader: (11)

My '93 failed Illinois emissions test for the 2nd time!!!
y car is basically stock. I have a PFS K&N intake. Fan mod, boost gauge, A/F gauge. Nothing fancy.

I replaced the plugs, plug wires, Fuel filter, changed the coolant, did a compression test (looks good) and changed the oil. Ran the car for 1 hour on the highway and it still failed hydrocarbons and Carbon monoxide.

I have a 3" S.S. downpipe that I am ready to put and an M2 ECU upgrade but I am afraid to put it on since I cannot pass with a pre-cat, stock main cat and stock exhaust on it now!

My Mazda mechanic said, the fan mod causes the ECU to run rich and the intake gets too much hot air without being tied into the intercooler air duct.

This doesn't make sense to me. He said with the stock air cleaner he will guarentee it will pass.

How do you guys get your cars to pass with intake, downpipes, hi-flow cats, air pump removal and cat back exhaust systems??!!

mecman

iTrader: (11)

Any helpful hints?

hapa

The intake shouldn't effect the emmisions. Were you running the fans during the test? The most important parts of testing are having new plugs in leading (make sure they are 7EQP's), keeping ALL electricals off (I mean ALL including fans), and finally keeping the cat hot before/during the test. If you do these things with a working car (i.e. working airpump/cat/control system) you should be able to pass. In Illinois is it the Dyno test? or just tailpipe idle/2500rpm test? Give more info and maybe I can give you some more tips.

eric

sacabon

I failed emissions horribly last year with everything on the car stock. Full tuneup was done a few weeks before the test along with injector cleaner. My HC was around 400ppm. I found my tps wasn't within spec. After adjustment my HC went to 150ppm.

neo_omega

go to A-spec tuning. They may able to help.

http://www.a-spectuning.com/

whitet777

How many miles are on your FD? Could just be a bad catalytic converter.

I agree, check out A-spec tuning.

RZRX7TT

I had my ac running during the test, is that why i failed? i just have a downpipe and catback and i failed!!!! with same as the guy above for hydrocarbons and emissions

neo_omega

AC running?????? You do know they told you to turn off everything for a reason, don't you?

mecman

iTrader: (11)

I had all electricals off including the fans and A/C.
And yes, Illinois is a dyno test. My car has 62K original miles on it. I even changed the O2 sensor before the test.

If Mazda cannot get it to pass after I put the stock air cleaner back in, I will take your advice and go to A-Spec.

neo_omega

also go to pet boys and get a bottle of those "pass emission" stuff. I used it laste time. And my car passed with flying color.

hapa

Were you able to watch the test? If so did the tester go into boost at all? It's really easy for someone to put too much gas and go into boost on the dyno test. Explain to them they have to be very careful when testing your car and not to boost it at all. Was your old o2 sensor bad? Are you running a factory Mazda o2 sensor? If not (it was just old) switch it back. I have heard that the bosch universals can be a little slow and cause the emmissions to be fractionally higher (but every little bit helps). I would put the stock intake back in, and retest it with that smog help stuff in the gas tank. Just keep the cat. hot, and ask for the best driver at the testing station to keep off the gas.

good luck, let us know what happens.
eric

also if it's possible always ALWAYS get a pre-test done. In Northern California any shop can test the car, without sending a report to the DMV. This will tell you where your car stands without notifying the DMV.

mecman

iTrader: (11)

I finally passed Illinois emissions testing!!!!

Mazda said they couldn't do anything and that the car was running perfect. They tried to help me get a waiver but Illinois EPA denied me since it passed in 2001.

I went and bought a high flow main cat from Gotham Racing.com and put on my 3" SS downpipe with stock cat back. My intake is PFS K&N filters in a fiberglass box. I put a gallon of denatured alcohol in a with a 1/2 tank of gas and headed to the test station. They said they had to do a visual which had me worried since the downpipe was polished stainless pipe that would obviously not be a pre-cat. Basically they did not know what to look for and o.k.'d the visual.

To make a long story short. It passed with flying colors! Yea! I put the car in winter storage today.

P.S. - Love the downpipe and high flow cat! The car runs much stronger and love to hear those turbos spoolin'!

pluto

Glad that you were able to pass the emission with our high flow cat. If you need anything, let us know.

Steve

shred

Its that old crappy Cat!! There was no way that my car was going to pass earlier, but I recently did my DP and Cat (car had 96k miles on it). Runs excellent now, not a single problem. Passed emissions today really well.

So from that I concluded that my old pre-cat and regular cat were causing the damage. Plugging up, hurting the turbos and cuasing emissions from the poorly reacting engine that couldn't breath.

Great to hear that you passed. You were probably wiping your brow like I was!!

Thing that I can't understand, I still see cars running down the road looking like a James Bond smoke screen and they pass?? WTF!!