Hi Guys, first post here, I tried to read all the emissions threads, and could not solve my problems.

Car: 1993 Plymouth Laser AWD with JDM motor with 200km on it
Compression is 150 psi right accross the board.
New Cat converter
new O2 Sensor
new plugs (NGK stock type)
new wires
New coolant temp sender
new waterpump and alternator (although that doesnt have much to do with emissions)

Failed emissions 4 times, Right now I am at 638 ppm HC, at idle and the limit is 200, Idle is fast around 1100 rpm.

ISC checks out ok, TPS checks out ok, Idle switch checks out ok,

Car doesnt sound quite right at idle, its not quite a miss but its not smooth. I can smell Unburnt HC at the tailpipe.

Please help if you have any thoughts it would be much appreciated.

Do you have any fuel/airflow related mods?

You may also want to read through this thread:

http://www.ca.dsm.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=254639&fpart=1

Thanks, I read that thread, My car should be stock, no mods other than removing the intake silencer and intake horn.

I should add, new air filter as well and oil is less than 300km on it.

No error codes, no CEL.

Car runs well just not at idle.

What are your fuel trims at? Any exhaust leaks (even TINY ones) before/around the 02 sensor?

Edit: have you verified that your base timing is at 5*?

Check these three things

-Timing has to be 5 degrees at idle
-NO BOOST LEAKS
-No exhaust leaks

Reset the battery and take the car for a good spin 20 min hard driving and make sure the cat is hot before you do the test.

Do you still have the stock emissions equipment installed? or was it removed during the engine swap

No Boost Leaks, (sorry should have mentioned that).
No apparent Exhaust leaks (although why would that cause the HC failure)
Timing is at 5deg.

do a good decarbonization, both using MCCC and letting it soak overnite and then suck some windshield washer fluid thru a vacuum hose slowly and carefully with some rpms on. Suck in about a liter or maybe more.

With lots of carbon on your pistons or head parts, fuel will soak into it and then evaporate out and be unburned. Quite common, not just for DSM's either but any car with miles on it and/or had sat for a while(JDM engine)

Also double check your cam timing. Simple check on that is to pull the upper cover and then put the car in 2nd gear, ebrake off, and roll the car till the "T" mark on the lower timing cover is aligned with the notch on the crank pulley. When this lines up, check for alignment on the cams. If even one cam is out one tooth, its 12 degrees.

I did decarbonize it, however hopefully I have found the problems, The exhaust manifold was cracked, Its been replaced and hopefully it will pass today. wish me luck.

Failed Again, High HC at idle, no exhaust leaks, Car is not running well at idle, feels like it has a miss. Any suggestions?

If it's not idling well, and you've changed the plugs/wires already, maybe the coil is on its way out.

I'd double-check for intake leaks, especially at/around the throttle body, as these will have a big effect on your idle.

As a side note: Exhaust leaks can raise HC because when the leak is near the O2 sensor it may read more lean than actual, thus prompting the ECU to add fuel, resulting in a rich mixture.

That being said, it's important that you reset your ECU after correcting these problems. It will take some time for the ECU to learn that you've fixed something, and take away that extra fuel.
Pull the MPI fuse from the fusible link on the +ve battery terminal, for a minute, and your ECU is reset.

What do you mean by car is not running well at idle?

As in it's idle surging?

Or fluttering around?

Please explain, will make it easier to diagnose.

Fluttering, It smells really rich at idle from the exhaust, when i pull the plugs to "read" them they seem normal.

my mechanics cleaned the throttlebody and egr valve. if you hold the car at 2500 rpm like the emissions test does then once every 5-10 seconds the car will make a noise like a miss, at idle it occurs more often.

Compression is 150psi accross the board.

Idle hunts up and down, but only by a 100 rpm or so,

I changed the coil, to a backup one that i had, no differnce in idle, I do reset the ecu, and it is not throwing any codes.

Mine also failed the HC at idle and was running rough and rich. Nothing seemed to fix it until I swapped out the injectors. You seemed to have tried everything else.

If it leads to desperation, why no make a small vacuum leak so that you lean it out for the test since it's only an 2 speed idle test and no load.

Also, if you've replaced all those parts, isn't that enough to get the $400 one year thing?

The at or above $450 limit may only qualify if done at an accreditted facility, by an accreditted technician but I'd have to brush up in that regard to be sure.

If the idle is at ~1000 RPM and is hunting 100 RPM or more consistently, then you have to perform all the basics to set timing, Idle Stop Switch, TPS, Boost leaks, and yes you could have a leaking injector which could be found somewhat by turning off the injectors with a logger but makes it more complicated if you aren't on the rollers. Without a consistent idle, elevated RPM and obviously bad tailpipe emissions are some issues that you can have.

Your high idle is what worries me the most because you can't set the timing very accurately for "base" timing when the engine is racing above the proper level. Heck the car could even have the throttle plate partly opened to the point of exposing the vacuum ports slightly, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Have you take a vacuum tester to apply vacuum directly to the EGR valve? Normally this only happens under load, but you can also use your hand (watch out as it can get hot in that area) to depress the EGR valve if memory serves me well enough (2-3 years ago I did this), and that will allow you to flood the motor with EGR to prove that your motor should almost stall out at idle when doing this. You can also hold the RPM higher and perform the same test at ~2500 just to see what the motor should sound like when EGR is applied. The motor will usually need to be pretty hot for the EGR to be kicking in, so don't burn yourself to do this. This can be done with the motor cold for the sake of knowing that the EGR has some dramatic effect at idle.

What sort of vacuum readings do you have too?

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead..I just thought I would update it as I am the new owner the car and found out what the problem was. The timing belt was changed as mentioned by the previous owner, however the shop did not line the cams up properly. The exhaust cam was retarded a tooth which is apparently a common error. I have re-timed the car at this point so hopefully that will solve the problem. I will be firing it up this Sunday and then proceeding to have an emissions test done this coming week.

I went for my E-test today and didnt do any of the standard prep work for it. No oil change, plugs or wires. And I failed quite bad.

2500rpm
Limit Reading Result
HC 200 107 Pass
CO 1.0 1.33 Fail
NO N/A

Idle
Limit Reading Result
HC 200 208 Fail
CO 1.0 2.53 Fail
NO N/A

Now I will go change my plugs, my wires are still in good condition. I am running stock injectors and fuel system with a DSMlink.

I have been thru just about every thread there is on e-test and all the of them almost conflict each other.

Any pointers? Looks like I am running way rich at idle. Also does running 84 octane gas help or hurt? Currently I am running Ultra94 only

Go for a highway pull before the test, and use crap gas.

We just bought a 93 Benz 300E recently, and the first e-test I took it in for it failed. HC: limit 54, reading around 150. NO: limit around 200, reading was in the 700's !

I swear, I put nothing else but a gallon of methanol in the tank, went for a retest the next day and passed.
HC: limit 54, reading 54
NO: limit around 200's, reading was in the 100's

This was this past weekend. I'll post up the failed and passed e-test when I get a chance.

it wouldn't hurt lean the car out a bit or even slightly advance the ignition timing by a degree since you don't have to put the car on the rollers.

Have you checked your fuel trims in DSMlink ?
Start with the free stuff first.

Did you go for a good run right before the test? Something as simple as not having the CAT hot enough will make you fail (as they don't do anything unless their hot enough). Then start with the other simple things mentioned. Have also heard that if the car is idled a long time before the test, the evap system could be purging into the intake, which will also make your readings higher then normal.

Sorry to hijack the thread guys, but why do you say to use crap gas Rob? Is there something in the higher end gas such as Sunoco 94 that can cause the car to fail?

The lower octane fuel burns faster, so it's more likely to pass an emissions test as there's less chance of residual.

Well I just played around with the link a bit, it sounds better at idle but I am still 100% sure what I doing, I will be staying out of boost for now.
My fuel trims are strange
LTFT (Lo) 12.5
LTFT (Med) 12.5
STFT 16.8

Those numbers didnt change at all when I moved the Global setting -5, -10 and -15 didnt make them change at all. It did sound like it was idling better and no knock was showing.

Timming I left alone at idle its around +3-5 but at around 2500rpm it shows +20-30 advance. That doesnt look right to me

for your ltft's and such, what was your coolant temp, if it's too cold, the car assumes its still warming up, and trhe ecu wont learn. There's a a whole method to get it to change the fuel trims

Your ecu is maxed out, it thinks you are running lean so it's adding 12.5% more fuel into the mixture but if the stft is almost 17% then it's trying to add even more. Yout tune is completely wrong.

What injectors are you running? and what are the global and deadtime settings.

I am running stock injectors, the global is currently set at -15% and 0 dead time.

The car was up to operating temperature, I gotta wait for traffic to clear up so i can get some steady speed driving in.

I know the car has been running rich, the black soot on my bumper can atest to that.

That's why you are running lean.

Zero out everything. You only use global to compensate for larger injectors. You don't have larger injectors, you have stock injectors.

After dinner I will zero everything back out and see what happens. Everything was left at stock settings when I first did the etest.

I'll report back later

Well I zeroed everything out and things started to move a bit but all the trims are still to high. I bumped the 50hz up a bit and the stft went to near zero, the ltft are still high, but I ran out of time, I will log it again on the way to work tommorrow.

you have 450cc injectors---

DO NOT TOUCH Global or deadtime settings. For stock 450cc you should have global at 0% and 0 deadtime.

If your airflow is positive in idle 50hz increase the airflow the same amount.

So if your low trim is 10% increase 50hz by 10%,

Log MafRaw and rev the car under 50hz then 150hz and then 250hz and adjust the airflow settings accordingly.

to pass the etest you should increase you base timing from 5 deg to 6-6.5deg to lean out your mixture more.

Ok, so I thought my car was good, but when I took it for a E-test I found that it wasn't as good as I thought. I had a big jug(4liters of methol hydrate) and $25 of 94 octane and here are the readings

ASM 2525
Limit Reading
HC ppm- 58 -21
CO%- .32 -.02
NO ppm- 652 -1869

CURB IDLE
Limit Reading
HC ppm- 200 -2064
CO%- 1.00 -0.00
NO ppm- N/A -N/A

The car is a 91 fwd tsi, I think I need to change the cat, which I have, but need to know what else might be causing these numbers. My reading of HC ppm at idle is extremly high, does our stock fpr stay open at idle and closed while under load to keep pressure in the rail? If so could the FPR be to blame aswell? My plug wires could use changing, so I guess I will do them and the cat forsure, but my temp permit ends on Sunday so have to get this done asap.
Any and all help would be great thank in advance Brendan.

Why didn't you just do a test with 89 octane gas? If it doesn't pass that, then try other things... Or is there something making you think you'll fail with regular gas?

Check the fuel form here, there's a big guide to emissions diagnostics.

While it's never going to cause this kind of gross pollution, use regular gas. Higher octane gas can hurt emmisions.

Log your o2, your probably going to find it either dead, or reporting full rich at idle. If it's not dead, start looking at the fuel injection system, MAF readings, etc. Something's giving cause to pump fuel in. Or failing that, it's not burning.

High NOX is often an EGR valve getting stuck, failed or a cat on the way out.

A busted FPR could certainly be increasing fuel pressure far outside what the ECU can account for, but you'd probably have other serious driveability issues as well as that.

If your o2 test's good, and maf readings are within reason, I might do a quick fuel pressure check, but it's likely your going to find your trouble before getting to it.

Plugs and wires can't hurt, but would need to be way into miss-fire at idle territory to cause this kind of trouble. And lastly, the cat is often not to blame, but running very rich for a long time can really take it's toll and plug them up with carbon rendering them pretty in-effective.

Paul

Ya my car use to blow all kinds of black smoke when boosting, then my turbo went and oil started to go through my exhaust and cat. I have recently put the maf-t in and the black smoke is all gone, aswell I changed the turbo.

Ok, I have found some of my parts, which include a new 2.5 inch cat, newer egr, I am going to use a can of t/b cleaner to be sure of no carbon build up. I will do a boost leak test and seal all leaks.
Does anyone in or around oshawa have a copy or can make me a copy of tmo logging program I have a copy, but the computer its on is in peices.
Is there any thing else I should do as a precaution? Also if I have exhaust leaks would that make me fail?
If it would does anyone know where I can get the turbo to manifold gasket, turbo to o2 gasket, and o2 to downpipe? I know one of them is leaking and the others probablly arn't far behind. I know I can go to Mitsu, I just remember looking for them before and didn't have much luck so I HAD to go to Mitsu (I hate waiting lol). If they are my only option does anyone know the part numbers?
Could I just buy a can of copper spray gasket to temp seal the leaks? If so where can I get some?(they don't sell it where I use to get it)

Also I noticed that my idle on the test was at 438rpm? I read in the e-test guide in the fuel fourm that a low idle can cause a incomplete burn. So could that alone be why I have such high HC on my crub idle?

I'd do all you said, and then get it idling properly with regular gas, then a highway run and straight on to the rollers.

Exhaust leaks around the O2 sensor could make you rich, but I don't think it would be this bad.

Gaskets are MD181032, MD124675 & MB687002 - did you try Ziggy?

Crappy tire sells Pemratex UltraCopper.
I wouldn't bother using just RTV. You'd have to get rid of the old gaskets and everyting will be apart so you might as well do it right with gaskets.

I had a car fail because of low idle rpms, fixed it by adjusting the base idle set screw and it passed, not only did it just pass but the HC numbers were close to zero. Huge improvement.

Next I had another car that failed emissions testing, changed the spark plugs and fresh new engine oil change and there was a dramatic improvement at the next emission test (passed as well). There was no hint of poor idle or anything to indicate the spark plugs were bad, but they were easy to change and cheap to replace.

Ok, so I took it in again today only to fail again here are the new results

2500rpm
hc limit-200 reading-34 -PASS
co% limit-1.00 reading-0.01 -PASS

Idle
hc limit-200 reading-305 -FAIL
co% limit-1.00 reading-0.00 -PASS

I ajusted the first knob the maf-t 2 clicks to the left, the second 1 to the left, and the third 1 click to the left, I also changed the plug wires, egr, double checked the timing, boost leak tested it I noticed that around 30psi it would start to leak slowly could this be the problem. My engine light was also on during the test, which could have been one of two codes, O2 or tps. Please fill me in on what it might be.

do you have access to a scanner? or even better, one that can view live data.

imo, the cat and O2 sensors would be the first thing I look at if I fail HC by that much.

in your case, it's time to check the O2 sensor.

No, I have the logger cable for a laptop, but lent my laptop out and its not looking like I will get it back. I have the maf-t, and from what I can tell, HC= rich. So can I just turn the idle and mid knobs to the right a lick or two? To lean it out.

never played with a maf-t before so not too sure.

but if you can lean out idle some, theoretically that "should" do it.

keep in mind that if your O2 is working and reading, leaning out the maf-t might not do you any good as your ECU will just tune it right back.

surest way is to take a look at your O2 readings, if it's even working. that should take most of the guess work out.

As long as you have the compression within spec you should pass regardless of whether you run 89 or 94. what are your compression readings?
My car passed the pipe test without the egr. The cat was present.
I think high HC could also be unburnt fuel.

try retarding the timing in order to squeeze by, but there are no proper band-aid solutions.

if you are not as efficient as you could be, you are losing power too.

Let's keep this simple...

Higher HC at idle just means you have some extra unburnt fuel flying out the exhaust.

Make sure the car is completely warmed up... take it for a good steady spin. Don't accelerate to hard or to often, but drive atleast 15km then go for the test.

Steps to take before you go....

1.)You need to install new spark plugs BPR6ES and gap them to proper specs 0.28.

2.)Raise your idle to 1000-1150 rpm this just below the 1200rpm limit.

3.) Install a stock MAF sensor for the test unless you can properly tune the maf-t.

4. Make sure your base timing is correct (with a timing light)

Then if the above doesn't work you can always

run lower octane gas for the test.. or and even slightly advance timing by 0.5-1 degree giving you a leaner burn. However your NOx might increase slighty.

Thanks guys

1.)You need to install new spark plugs BPR6ES and gap them to proper specs 0.28.
- Just did before the first test, I will pull and re-check the gap and condition though(might just get a new set as I need a recipt for the $17 re-test)

2.)Raise your idle to 1000-1150 rpm this just below the 1200rpm limit.
- Just did before the re-test

3.) Install a stock MAF sensor for the test unless you can properly tune the maf-t.
- Don't have one, but pretty sure I got it tuned good for the test

4. Make sure your base timing is correct (with a timing light)
- Just did before the re-test

I will also check the compression, but I'm sure its good. I also am trying to find a cheaper than new o2 in the for sale fourm lol, as the one in there has been rewired from my 2g n/t :S. I'm also wondering if my TPS being out of ajusment could be causing these conditions at idle.

Here are the reading from a snap on computer, I know my o2 is dead and my TPS has a broken wire almost cut right through, but how does everything else look. I had my friend who use to be a e-tester set it up, he said it should pass, but I am second guessing it, as the exhaust smokes for a little bit on start up.
2500rpm


Idle

Fix the TPS wire, it is an essential part of the entire throttle system and you make sure you calibrate it. Can't remember of the top of my head what the tps volts should be at idle but double check on vfaq.

Hey i really need to know what i can fix so that i can pass the next emission test. I went today and i failed the idle part of the test. The HC ppm read 348 and the limit is 200.
The guy that did it for me said it might be miss firing. On the screen it looked as if the idle was jumping.
So bascily high HC at idel.. how can i fix this?

Try searching "methanol". It's a quick solution if you just want to pass and then worry about the issues later.

I would do the spark plugs and wires and then throw in some methanol in the tank. I can't remember the mixture, but it works.

I use it because I don't have a cat on my car. You'll get a funny idle until your car warms up.

So, I don't think my car is going to pass without an EGR valve considering of how bad I failed last time (high NOX). I'm going for a re-test next week sometime, after fixing a major boost leak/new oil change/new spark plugs and bringing back the timing a tad.

My shop had someone who could "help" but is no longer able to.

I need my car to be on the road by the end of next week and this e-test is the only thing stopping it from happening.

If you know anyone, please PM me.

NOX is measured only at idle if I remember correctly.

Would it work if you richen idle up a little bit? but without going over so you would fail HC.

not sure if that'll work, just an idea.

How would I go about doing that?

NOx is measured at Cruise, this is only when your EGR opens.



If you have link, you can richen up your fuel sliders at the RPM where they test at (About 2500ish) to dump a little more fuel so it cools your burn.

If you have DSMLink, no you can't do this. Fuel sliders are for open loop tuning only & the car won't be in open loop when doing an etest (or at cruise). It will be in closed loop, which gets feedbacks from the O2 sensor, so even if you were to richen things up, the ecu would just try & compensate to get your trims back inline. Only way to richen it up would be to add so much fuel that the ecu can no longer compensate but that will cause other issues (throw a CEL, probably not pass other portions of the test).

The way to do it with link would be to reduce your timing sliders at the specific test rpms. As the timing sliders are always in effect.

Fack... you're right Darren. Gotta slow down on the Alexander Keiths....

Retarding timing will cause an incomplete burn, this will also up your HC, so you'll have to find the middle point.

Thanks Darren!

hey i was wondering if that stuff from canadian tire works, it guarantees the car will pass.. is that the same stuff?

Alright cool, thanks guys.

I'll take it for the test early this week to see if there was any improvement and post up the results.

Well, it seems we have a lot of emissions questions regarding passing, results, etc so we have decided to make a merged thread about these kinds of questions.

From now on, all emissions related questions/topics go here. This thread has been stickied.

If you have problems with emissions testing, please read through the thread first, your answer may lay inside.

Well, I failed my last one on Friday, so went over the car again, and found a torn coupler, go figure it happend after the boost leak test :S. So I am going again in a bit, I think it should be good today, before this I never failed a e-test, and this is the eighth dsm that I have done lol.

PASSED!!!

Congrats. Hopefully I can say the same

Yeah thanks man, Good luck with yours!

Retarded my timing to -5 across the board. It's at the shop now after driving it around for a bit. Everyone was telling me to drive it around before the test to make sure the cat was extremely hot, although my shop said I shouldn't have done that as that would just make my NOx higher? .. what is true?

I should have my results before 11am

I PASSED!!!!!

I haven't gotten the paper yet, but I got a call from my shop saying I passed. SO pumped lol.

My NOx was at 95, limit was 500 or something.
Previous test, my NOx was at 1900

the shop is right about the Nox,

high NOx is indicative of other problems... such as running to lean or a bad cat. In your case I would you say your car was running way to lean before.

Should I be putting my timing back to +5?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, i took the wifes 94 non turbo talon in for an e test

Results from 1st on


limit reading
hc ppm 57 146
co% .32 .56
no ppm 421 2414

After the test i put on a new cat, new o2 sensor,new air filter,new plugs and wires,the oil was changed before the test

results from 2nd test
limit reading
hc ppm 57 62
co% .32 .03 pass
no ppm 421 2138

On both tests the idle part of the test passed, anyone out there give some thought as to what the hell is going on thanks

EGR valve

High NO #'s are generally caused by a lean fuel mixture.

Yup. Leaner burn is also a hotter burn. Nitrogen and oxygen in the air combine to form NOx under these extreme temps. I think the temp is around 2500degF. Either way, our motors combat this high NOx by recirculating exhaust gases into the intake tract via the EGR valve.

Chance are the EGR is broken or the vacuum lines going to it are not correctly working or hooked up.

Ya, with results like that, after the first test, the first thing I would have checked/changed was the EGR valve/system.

Can you elaborate?
I hate when people post quick answers with no back-up information or links It makes me feel unedumicated

(Sorry Brandon, I'm just getting you back for the alternator fiasco Welcome to the other side of the fence.)

Here is the emissions diag. topic:
http://www.ca.dsm.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=174162#Post174162

The reason JDM vehicles (like my MR2) have such high NO2 #s is because they don't have an EGR valve, my MR2 numbers looked exactly the same.

And I didn't need to elaborate, the answer is quick and simple! Something to do with the EGR system is messing up Now I could have said, "use the search option because people have brought this up numerous times and there is a huge post on e-test numbers, so you should do that because I am going to be a dick to you if you don't", but I thought just saying the answer would be best

Yeah sounds like the EGR, because when cars fail everything, the first thing that comes into my mind is a bad cat, but since you changed that its most likely your EGR.

Cat doesn't effect NOx limits like that. EGR is the main cause of a high NOx limit.

Not true, A lot of emission Related component can effect nox,but the main 3 are a Cat, 02 Sensor and EGR You cannot say EGR is the main cause of a high NOX reading. Im a Emission Test Inspector and Work at a Accredited Repair Facility, We fix at least 3 cars a week, that fail emission, From personal experience a Failing cat is the most commonly problem with NOX. Last week we had a 2005 Toyota corolla that failed with only 120k on it, The cat and EGR system were good, it was a failing O2 Sensor...Just shows you EVERY CAR is very different and you cant base your results on the mr2....

If it means anything... my car passed without an EGR

yeah that shows you every car is different

my car with no cat had a nox of 2800, with a cat 2200. egr is the main source of high nox, every mechanic i know says so.

Again you are comparing your old mr2 bro, Mikes car passed without a EGR, every car is VERY diffrent, Yes EGR is made to control NOX, but what I was saying you cant say its the main problem with a emission test , I dont want people reading your comment and directly going to spend money fixing there EGR and then there car fails...and with Micheals car I was saying when a CAR FAILS EVERY reading many times for me it is the CAT.. but not the case with his car becuase he already changed it...

and Brandon only a difference of 600 eh, A lot of cars that need a Cat fail at the same reading, and once that cat is on it is usually under 400 NOX, but that was not the case with your mr2, If I recall did it come with a EGR ? I dont think so but im not sure, If you had put the EGR first and tested it with no cat, I Garuntee you would've got the same Readings

I would say the first thing to check is the EGR system (assuming the car is supposed to be equipped with one). This is because usually it is easy to test.
With the engine at idle, manually actuate or apply vacuum as needed to get the valve to open. If the engine stalls aor at least runs rough, it's likely the EGR system is not plugged. Also confirm the valve diaphragm is working properly.

I would say that it is a common failure point (especially on older cars) due to the environment it has to work in. I have seen the EGR passages completely clogged on my old Camaro, the valve still worked but nothing could flow.

Now some cars I know either weren't designed to need an EGR valve or don't need it much, fine.

However, it's easy to check and a nasty environment so I would still check it first if I had NOx issues. Swapping out a cat or O2 is way more difficult and costly.

For the cars that have electronic EGR, well then I guess it's tougher to manually operate the valve. Sucks to be you. Maybe there is a jumper you can use.

Rob, Thats the thing, I can check 02 sensor with a Computer, And The cat with the Actual Emission machine, For me it is the same thing, I was Replying to Brandons Statement when he says, A cat doesnt affect The limits like that which is for sure not true, And A EGR is the main cause of a High Nox Which I am saying is not true for every car, and Yes EGR should be checked first because it is the easiest

How would I get the same ratings if I installed a system that is put in place to reduce NOx limits. The USDM MR2 with an EGR valve passes those limits no problem. Only difference, engine wise, between jdm and usdm, is the EGR valve.

And yes only 600, because a 3 way cat is not something that can drop the NOx limits like an EGR system does, that is what it's there for.

I went over this with Durham Auto Works, Can-Saf, Tomlin, Yoshio, and my family mechanic.

And the cars might be different, but all EGR systems work the same.

But isn't the EGR supposed to be closed at idle?
So a properly functioning EGR shouldn't do anything to lower the NOx at idle. Something else is going on!

//edit
I see it did pass the idle test, however. So do carry on and keep the above as trivia

Brandon I meant, if you had put a EGR with no CAT you would get near the same limits as Putting a Cat with no EGR

Cars with functioning EGRS and Failing cats read over 2000 in nox, and once that cat is put on it reads under 400

Same thing with a EGR, if the EGR is failing and has a functioning cat and reads over 2000 once again the nox would come down when cleaning or replacing the EGR

Do you understand what I am trying to say ?

Hi guys
I just failed etest.

I read from the emission control faq's that the high CO% could be attributed with running rich.
I have a SAFC installed but all the setting were set to 0's accross. Do you think leaning out the safc a little on the low throttle can help me pass the etest?

Also, I realized after doing the etest that my base timing was set to 2 or 3 degree, i am not sure if that has contributed to the failure.

Sorry for the blurry picture.

Run 87 octane gas. That's what I used and passed.

Good luck.

Base timing - not enough advance will make it rich, since you don't get a complete burn.
Put some 87 octane in too, it burns quicker.
Go for a highway cruise just before the test.

If that doesn't sort it out, maybe leaning it out a bit will.

Well the moral of my story is DO Not buy a cat from Canadian Tire,it turns out after putting all the stuff in the car and having it fail again i got them to do the diagnostic on it, and sure enough the cat i bought from crappy tire was a dud had like 10% effiency 140 bucks later and some begging i got him to make the test pass wink wink so now my nox reads zero lol.. Thanks for all your input guys wealth of knowledge on here thats for damn sure..

Which cat was it, Magnaflow ?

And Francis did you check how your o2 Sensor was working, looks like it could have been a faulty o2 sensor

I actually got my issue resolved.
I minus the idle -5 and -10 from 2000 to 3000 rpm on my safc.

No idea if the o2 was bad or not, I am getting any codes and the logger shows that it's responding.

I got this

91' tsi fwd

Just recently went for an e-test at crappy. They said there was too much blue smoke when they went to do the rolling test.
If the car sits and idles for awhile and then you go to take off that's the only time it smokes.

How much harm does adding those really honey-thick additives to your oil do? You know the 'stop oil burning/leaking' ones.

It's my beater and I'm not concerned about performance anymore, I just don't want to blow it up and pass the e-test so I can get one last year out of it.

Any suggestions?
Thanks

My old 1.8L DSM had leaky valve seals and smoked just like you described. I switched from regular dino 10w30 to Valvoline MaxLife (high mileage oil) and it greatly reduced the smoke.

I'd be cautious with additives in a turbo motor too

Hmm, I wish I could get as far as the guys did in the thread that my topic was moved to but they wouldn't even test it. Sorry, I thought it was a different issue than these fellows were having as mine has nothing to do with fuel or tuning as I have no way of changing any of those thing on this car.

Thanks for the info Rob, I'll definitely try that.

Hey Kevin, Go to crappy tire and pick up, Stop Smoke/Stop Leak, I think its called, Put it into your oil and drive around, That's what we recommend to cars that I cannot E-test, And If you E-test them, The machine gets Facked Over

some info for you guys.

Oil changers is an awesome place for an etest. You drive right up and wait maybe 30 mins max(if its busy) and you are out of there fast.

none of this crappy tire 3-4 hour wait or having to make an appt and end up waiting an hour anyways.

ive been as quick as rolling up. paying/doing test and gone all within 10 mins.

I havent gone to crappy tire for an etest in ages since i discovered this little gem of a place.

no i dont work for them. just trying to help members save some time. i know i was tired of the shitty crappy tire service.

Hey Guys,
Im a new DSM owner who took ownership of a neglected Eclipse from my roommates ex wife. Its a 97 Eclipse Spyder GS-T and it has some issues, but Id like to get some feedback on what I should do next for repairs. I took the car to get it e-tested expecting it to fail (wanted to see how badly) and it did. The car was throwing the code P0340, so I reset it before the test.

Since failing the test, I replaced the cam sensor, and will have to replace the BOV, because it is broken where the vacuum line goes into it. It was jb welded by someone, but im going to replace it just the same.

How are the boost leak tests done on dsm cars? On my SRT-4, I would attach a fitting on my Turbo and use my compressor to reach 20 pounds of pressure. Is that the same method for dsm cars?

The plugs, wires, coil pack, and oil were changed prior to the e-test. The car is no longer throwing codes since replacing the cam sensor.



Thanks for your help
Ed

Welcome, Ed,

Check out this post (and the Fuel Systems forum) for some emissions ideas..
http://www.ca.dsm.org/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=174162#Post174162

You can find boost leak test info and other great resources at http://www.vfaq.com

You should do another test after fixing any boost leaks. The bad CAS could have been causing a misfire and boost leaks definitely don't help.

Make sure you reset the ECU after fixing things and drive around for a good while (including a highway pull before the test, to get your cat hot).

Good luck!