so i went in for my smog today, and failed miserably. everything was low, except for the level of hydrocarbons. at idle it was approximately 1.5 times as much as the maximum limit, and at 2500 rpm, it was about 2.5 times as much as the limit.

I know there's a thread around here somewhere that shows what emission components control the level of HC or CO or NO. so i was wondering if anybody has it bookmarked? I tried looking for the past 10-15 minutes but cant seem to find it. and plus...

my car's labled as a gross poluter. how long does this stand for? i know i have to smog it every year, but for how long?


Smog sucks....

 

*waits for an old school head to post*

 

Lololololol

 

HC ( Hydrocarbon ) is unburnt raw fuel.
You could have any number of problems with the car causing a rich mixture.

Is the car modified at all?

Has there been any work done to the engine at all?
Air filter clean?
How long ago was the oil changed?
Fuel filter both in line and in the tank?

Intake, exhaust, fuel or timing controllers, injectors, etc...

It could be leaking or stuck injectors, AFM out of adjustment, TPS adjustment, timing issue, air leaks, exhaust leak ( in the case of the oxygen sensor seeing oxygen and telling the computer to increase the fuel) etc...

Posting a scan of the paperwork will also help to track down the issue.

As far as the gross polluter thing goes, I beleive it will be on the cars record for quite a while. So if you ever modify the car and they pull up a gross polluter flag on your car they will be extra picky and inspect every little thing to try and catch something to fail it.

 

*ahem* http://smogcheck.ca.gov its your buddy...........
yes, posting the paperwork would most definitely help, and a little background info on the car.
service, mods, any and all work done to the engine.
and with the GP, as far as i remember, once a GP, always a GP. you will only be allowed to go to a test-only station or ref. if you take it to a ref once the repair work has been done and it passes the way it should, then i think he can change the status.
i dont remember, if another experienced smog tech can chime in here.

Lloyd

 

get an old school and be done with that smog crap....RX-7 + gross polluter + annual smog + cost of insurance and depreciation = fail

 

Lol!

 

That table is here: https://www.rx7club.com/showpost.php...06&postcount=4

 

its a good rule of thumb to follow, its not 100%. ide check the plugs first and foremost, just because they are easy to get to.

Lloyd

 

Usually the hydrocarbon issue is fixed by leaning things out, putting a good cat, running the gas tank down to about an 1/8 tank and then two bottles of fuel injector cleaner, and maybe changing the oil to full synthetic. I've done all this. Most likely, a new cat welded in will get 'er done by itself.

What I haven't done, but have heard of, is folks dumping alcohol in the tank instead of fuel injector cleaner. I leave it to others to give opinon of any issue doing that.

Hydrocarbons is simply unburnt fuel (aka dino juice):

leaning out = less fuel

cat's job is to get real hot and burn up fuel

higher % of Fuel injector cleaner to gas=less gas burning. Fuel injector cleaner doesn't produce hydrocarbons like regular gasoline.

Our cars inject oil (dino juice) into the combustion chamber. Synthetic isn't dino, and HC's is unburt dino juice.

Anyway, what ever you do, the end goal is to reduce unburnt dino juice coming out of your tail pipe. Anything you do that does that addess's the HC issue.

 

good luck trying to weld in another non-stock cat, any half decent tech will see it and fail you.
also, if your HC are super high, but your CO isnt, then fuel isnt being burned at all, if it were being burned, then the CO would be high as well. a cat would be destroyed by pure HC in the quickness. check ignition first. thats what high HC points to, but what would i know.......lol.
anyways, pics of the paperwork is the first step, or at least post the numbers for us.
if the oil was saturated by fuel, HC and CO would be high, the CO is partially burned fuel, which would make sense because of the oil injection system injecting fuel as well, allowing some fuel to burn but not all.
also, check your fuel pressure, might be a problem there
anyways, numbers please

Lloyd

 

What do you have done to your car?

Simple FYI:
Too Lean = High NoX and HC, Low CO
Too Rich = High CO and HC, Low NoX

 

True. But the response would simply be that the stock cat had been replaced with aftermarket long before the new rules went into effect. Grandfathered. Further, any decent muffler shop would put in a cat with the correct model number making it all copacetic anyway. But the smart money would go to a smog place that is really busy discouraging that extent of inspection.

I have a set of relatively new STOCK cats I use and/or loan (with first born left as collateral so I get them back ) from time to time for such purposes. My HC's are so low with them that the exhaust is almost breathable

 

ya, i lent my to someone and they got thrown out, and the ones on the car i bought were toast. so ******* gay. between the dead cats and my afm after being wired back together correctly but intermitent, my readings were double the legal limit.
oh well
i got it passed, thats all that matters
Lloyd

 

So they actually look under your car now? I remember 2years ago my stock cat busted, no longer functional and replaced it and it passed. I know now California requires OBDII CARB Approved Cats if you were replacing on OBDII and newer car, I didnt actually expected needed for older cars. So if I were to smog my car now, my car won't passed the visual because its not stock cat or CARB compliant ?

If this true I need to save money for a new cat for my car to have my car pass smog...fml...

 

^^^only depending on the tech, but as per carb and bar stardards, ANYTHING past 1975 requires a carb compliant new cat that has to be signed off and inspected before being allowed to be smogged.
im just saying what the rules are, not what people are doing. i am just the kind of tech that inspects everything, its easy enough to do, really, what is an extra 3 calories burned and 30 more seconds for covering your ***?

Lloyd

 

Unless you get reffed, don't worry about it.

 

that's one of the reasons i got ride of my second gen. this is getting out of control.

 

ya, in all honesty, theres really nothing to worry about. im just saying from a smog tech point of view. sadly, alot of the smog techs are just there to get paid, and they arent really car guys......
and for the most part, theyre not going to spend enough time looking through it to spot cats

Lloyd