Ouch! That hurt.Failed emissions.Suggestions?
 

Hey all. Today was supposed to be my final step in getting my 7 on the road. The dreadful emissions test.... Need I say more.

I passed quite well on the 2500rpm side with

Limit. Reading

HC 200. 49. (Pass)
Co. 1. 0.13 (pass)
Dilution 6. 13.8 (valid)

Now the idle...

Hc 200. 288 (failed)
Co. 1. 5.7!!!!!!! ( how is that even possible)
Dilu. 6. 16.5 (valid)

That being said it gets worse. My temp sticker expires Monday (holiday) and I have my motorcycle exam tomorrow, then off camping with the family. this leaves me about 3 hrs in the morning and 2 hrs in the afternoon. I'm thinking its my cat because when I purchased the car last month I did the 60k tune up. It's a 1988 NA fc s4 convertible. I don't have any time to waste so I plan on replacing the cat tomorrow around 10am and will dilute my fuel with some of that methyl hydrate I've read about, maybe it's a good thing I only have about 8L of fuel in the tank right now. I should mention I haven't yet checked my ACV or OMP. I'll be doing that at 6am tomorrow morning. If any one has any Dvice or comments, please and thanks.

your pretty well on the right track.
Drive the hell out of it and get it REAL warm before testing.
Just make sure you FILL UP after the test.That Methyl hydrate will eat stuff you don't want eaten!
OH.suggestion is to also let the shop do the Cat install so it counts towards your emissions improvement if you re-test.
I am sure they will not count the amount spent if it is done at home by self install.( I encountered that once with another car)

Unfortunately the emissions place I've been going to for years only does bardic tune ups. I'm still reading on the alcohol but its starting to worry me, especially with 180,000km on the engine. I have 3 options, do the alcohol and cat, install 2 cats OR. Shoot the guy a few bucks and have him idle my ca at......2k. They aren't able to hook up the device they would use on a cylinder engine so they by pass it and manually run X rpm.

Quick question. Will running methyl hydrate kill the new cat im about to get installed? It's a generic cat, will only be on for yearly tests. I know the 7 runs hot and im sure she will be even hotter with this 'trick'

not for that momentary run...it will be fine.
If a 15 year old cat can hold up to it,and test and pass,then a New one won't even go "uuhhhh.."..It'll be fine dude..
Good luck with the Test.
If not phone me and I got a Big Bat...heh!..I'll "get the law changed"..lol..I watched Walking Tall!

Can't tell you the exact answer to your question, but you are correct, the lean mixture will run hotter and definitely won't help the longevity of the cat.

As for the idle, check your timing under 1k rpm and make sure the TPS is set correctly. Worst case, hook up vacuum directly to the port air nipple on the ACV. I believe it's the front nipple, but it's one of two.

Well im at the drive clean. New cat, new o2.. Wish me luck.

:icon_tup::icon_tup::icon_tup::icon_tup::icon_tup: :icon_tup:
and afterwards! :us4allswi

Well im at the drive clean. New cat, new o2.. Wish me luck.

Fail

Co on 2500 rpm is now 1.6, limit 1. Everything else great.

Still fighting this, and it's costing me large so far. I've had 3 more attempts and each are getting better. I'm confused still though. Since the new cat has been installed I've been passing the idle test with ease, but horribly failing the 2500 rpm part.

Initial test faild the idle, passed 2500 with ease- 2L of methyl and 10L of fuel.... Leads me to believe I have a bad cat and was running too hot at 2500

2nd test had 87 oct fuel only with new cat

The exact opposite, failed 2500 CO and nothing else was bad,

3rd test, new o2 87oct fail 2500 hc and co, pass idle with flying colours..

4th test ran the car for 30 minutes on a good high way run, still not change

Last test yesterday, ran 94 octane, got her hot but still failed. Not by much this time
Got my hc down to 266 (allowed 200) and my co down to 1.35 (allowed 1)

Now I'm thinking ill try one lat time before I decide to sell the car, I'm thinking. 3l of methyl hydrate as I still have 3/4 tank I'd 94 oct.... Any other suggestions?.. Please and thanks.

I made sure to check the air pump today and it is working.

And passsss!!!

Care to tell others how you did that?..That is what the Forum is about you know!
S-H-A-R-I-N-G!...
Chip???.mmmm..Beer..

After replacing a cat, I would have asked to see the calibration records for that machine if they failed me again. :nod:

Please share details of how you were able to pass, I'm about to get mine tested and I'm not optimistic. If anybody has any suggestions they would be greatly appreciated. I could just pay a "friendly" shop a wad of cash but the problem is computers upload their results these days.

No no, this was a LEGIT pass. Quite simple actually.


Disconnected my battery and made sure all capacitors in the on board memory were completely dead/off. By doing this I first honk the horn, no sound is a good thing, then hold the breaks for5 secs, finally I hit the hazard button. None of these should get power. If the caris warm you MUST make sure the car is cool before reconnecting the battery. I drove nice and slow to Home Depot, bought 2l of methy hydrate and added it my my 3/4 tank of fuel. I called ahead to make sure I could get tested as soon as I pulled in( that was the hard part) now I drove slow again till I hit the free way, and the. DRIVE IN HIGH RPM FOR 15 mins. You don't have to speed, stay in 2nd or 3rd gear. I noticed my water temp was just above normal and the same for my oil pressure.

Final result passed with FLYING colours.

Congrats on the pass!!

Hang on... I have 2 questions:

1. Did you or did you NOT have a catalytic converter in place for the e-test?
2. What octane number gas did you use to mix with methyl hydrate?