Hi guys,
My worst nightmare is happening again! Took my baby down for her smog test yesterday and she failed miserably (gross polluter). I am upset, but I am also very surprised. She went through smog the last two times beautifully. She's got new cads, new engine with only 30k, and is VERY well maintined. The only thing my dad said he did since last smog was adjust the carb, which is where I personally think the problem is.

Unfortunately, dad is out of state and I'm attemping to deal with this on my own. Let me tell you. Being a female RX7 owner isn't the easiest thing in the world! First of all, mechanics act like you know NOTHING about your car when, in fact, you probably know more than they do! It's so frustrating! I'm also facing the whole dilemma of "it's a rotary, you're going to have to take it to the dealership.." UGH! Are there are rotary gurus in the Sac area who might be willing to take a look at my 7 or can anyone recommend a smog and repair facility who will actually work on a 7 and not complain about the engine being a rotary? Even the guy at the smog place had some smart *** remark. Whatever. My car runs beautifully and I really do think adjusting the carb had something to do with the failure of emissions. I'd give you all the numbers, but I don't have the paperwork in front of me right now.

Thanks for reading this. Any help/advice/whatever would be appreciated!!

Tammie
RX7Girl

 

if you post up your readings i can give you some ideas of where to go with it, but i'm failing to see why being a girl means anything.

find the sheet and post up the results.

 

If you need someone to actually look at the car if you're completely puzzled, Ben, (SN Karack) could probably help you.

 

if it's a carby, chances are whoever played with the car made it run as smooth as possible and just made it too rich.
rich = high co's

 

i'll vouch for ben...if you want someone to look at it he's the guy to go to...he knows his stuff!!

side note...
you're going to rotary fest on the 24th right? we're caravaning down from sac, you should go with. the only thing better than a bunch of rx7s driving together is even more rx7s driving together.

 

And if it is running lean, you will have high hyrdocarbons.
If you have new cats on her and the tune up is good. Meaning that plugs, cap,rotor and wires are functioning good. Alot of time the only problem is that you did not drive far enough to the smog station or they let the car sit for awhile and did not warm it up before smogging.
Best thing to do before going in for smog is drive for around 20-30 minutes, then when you get there make sure it's close to your appointment time. Do not shut the car off while you are there. This way the cat stays hot and will do it's job.

Guitarjunkie is right about looking at the result sheet. It will give us a better understanding of what is going on. Also answer whether the car was well warmed up or not.
I have never had one carb'd seven that did not pass with new cats and warmed up properly.
Usually when someone adjusts the carb, it is just bypassing what the real running problem is.

 

You WILL need to have a gas analyizer hooked up to tune the carb for smog, the slightest hair of adjustment can cause enough of a difference between pass and no pass. I know Mr. Mazda in Campbell has one, not sure who can do it up by sac. The other suggestion is to make sure everything is functional, toss new plugs in, and make sure the engine is burning hot before the test (drive up and down the freeway and stuff and make sure everything is good and warm), do an oil change, your air filter is fresh, and make sure your air pump is working. Smogging carbed first gen is a pain, it took my shop five pretest to get mine through another two years...

Alvin

 

no **** man, i knew this old guy that could tell you with his nose about the hc and co. he was amazingly accurate--like withing .2% co almost every time!! he couldn't tell nox without the analyser, but he had one hell of a sniffer!.

 

Thanks for all of the thoughtful responses! I'll look at my paperwork tonight when I get home from work and post again.

In response to being a girl..lol...sorry if that came out wrong. All I meant by that is half the mechanics I take my car to talk to me like I know nothing about the car and it gets VERY annoying after a while.

More soon!

 

Tammy, PM'd you.

Zach

 

i charge girls double.

 

It's good to be the King (ala Mel Brooks)

 

for your manwhore services? haha j/m

 

Anjew warned me about you!!!

 

human girls are a little too...... delicate?

 

As i can see. The usual West coast roast response. Has anyone seen the test report numbers yet?

 

if the results were posted, she'd have a serious answer by now.

girls = noobs

 

thank god for goats

 

 

i swear chicks start threads just for the leg humpers.

where's the emissions readout?

 

Nah, this girl is a cool person. Come on, she's one of the NorCal people. Aren't we all cool??

 

I understand where Tammie's coming from. I got screamed at for putting premix in my GTUs a while back and a lot of garages, parts stores, etc do tend to treat you like a complete idiot or they try to leg hump you. I've had mechanics tell me I needed new transmission filters and headlight fluid. I've been quoted higher prices for services/items where my husband would get discounts for the same services/items done to the same vehicle. On the flip side, I've also received some discounted items and I get a lot of compliments on my car. So, I guess it's not all bad being female.


-Berry

 

me+girls=

 

girls suck

 

if you're lucky