86 rx7 gxl not passing CA smog
 

Hey everyone, I just smogged my car so I can register it, and it failed.... The test results were this:

HC (ppm)
15mph: 460 (max 99)
25mph: 658 (max 81)

CO%
15mph: 0.05 (max 0.60)
25mph: 4.87 (max 0.46)

Has anyone else had this problem? And could it be the ACV? And help is appriciated.

has your catalytic converter ever been replaced?.These cars are notorious for eating the crap out of them.

i've lived in CA my whole life, and i've smogged probably 100 Rx7's by now, and here's my recipe.

with an S4:

make sure its generally running ok, set the TPS, set the idle mixture (i go best idle, and then slightly richer), set the idle rpm, it should be 750rpm +/- 50. you can check the timing if you're bored, set it to stock.

step 2, is to check the ACV. with the car warmed up, at idle there should be no air coming out of the dump/vent hose, if there is you need to find out why. on an S4 there is a big hose that feeds vacuum to the ACV solenoids on the front of the intake, and n00bs get it reversed with the other one, and it fails smog. other than that the ACV's go bad sometimes.

once the ACV is working, it should pass, but the bonus round is to make an LED tester and plug it into the diagnostic port, and make sure the o2 sensor is working.

with a working o2 and ACV, the cat almost isn't needed

I'll try that. The funny thing is that I think the smog tech kept the car in first the whole test. But my next question (without getting hammered for it) where is the acv, and the idle control? And how do you set the timing on this car?

And also, is there any way I can run a mixture of e85 and petrol? Like 40/60? Or 30/70? Just so it burns cleaner.

all the shop manuals are here Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals

Awesome, I downloaded a few of them. But how bad is it for me to run a mixture of e85 and unleaded fuel?