Chevrille

So my del sol didn't pass emissions after I changed the bad fuel injector, but it's barely failing. My neighbor was saying a good next step would be the cat, and I was just wondering if any of you had a good one laying around. The car is a 93 Del Sol 1.6L SI. If you don't have one, can you point me to some good cheaper(less than $100) ones? This is my first Honda so I'd appreciate if you could also tell me what to stay away from.

If you have any ideas beside the cat, let me know that, too. O2 sensor has been recently replaced so it's not that.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Lack of the most important information in this thread.

RT_NEWYORK

Do you have a cel code for bad cat (p0420)?

Chevrille

I don't know. I'm about to buy this car and it's sitting in my neighbor's lawn(I'm buying it from him as soon as it passes). He said he let his son use it for about 6 months and that the CEL was on for most of that time. Didn't tell me for what though, and the couple times I drove it around the neighborhood I didn't see a CEL at all.

RT_NEWYORK

Buyer beware I'd say.

Chevrille

Well, I'm not going into this without knowing. I know it's not perfect, but I'm also buying this car specifically to learn with. I'm not trying to buy a perfect car, so I'm not way too worried. I'd just like to get it to pass. Good learning experience for me I think. S'why I'm asking for help haha.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Exactly WHAT is not passing? You have yet to say. All you've told us is that it failed to pass and what parts were changed out.

Too bad you didn't post this before today. I was in Nashville yesterday. I would've swung by to take a look with you.

RT_NEWYORK

No I understand what you mean you just don't want to get something that needs waaay more work than it seems like and hopefully your neighbor wouldn't screw you over. But these older del sols and civics are a dime a dozen on Craigslist could always shop around for one that can pass inspection off the bat. Good luck !

Chevrille

I cant afford one of the Del Sols on CL because theyre all $3500+ here D: But there are a ton so you're right about that, and that comforts me a little because it means parts are cheap. We've worked on V8 Firebirds, and well... nothing is cheap on that car.

What do you mean by what is not passing? He took it down to get tested for me so all he said was that it barely failed. He said it was better after the fuel injector swap though.

Sorry, I'm new to this. I just have a Toyota Paseo that I havent had to really mess with yet, and I'm trying to learn(after seeing the MR2 engine my neighbor pulled I'm glad I decided to learn with Honda...)

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Doesn't "not passing" mean the same thing as "barely failed"? I'm confused.

Exactly WHAT caused it to fail?

Chevrille

Oh, see that's what we were trying to figure out. I said "barely failed" because it wasn't too far from passing at all from what I understand. We had one fuel injector that was a little too big on there, so we changed that in hopes it'd pass after that. It's better, but not perfect. He changed the O2 sensor recently as well, and he can't think of anything else that's been done that would cause it to not pass. He mentioned it possibly being a cat now just from troubleshooting, but he's not for sure. It's not too expensive for me to get one, though. My father mentioned it could be something to do with the EGR, but my neighbor's the one with all the experience on Honda engines so I'm not sure how likely EGR is. Anything's possible at this point though.

grumblemarc

iTrader: (4)

Actually, I'm looking for the emissions results (no emissions here in East Tenn).
They look like this.
25/25 Test Reading----------Allowed
HC ppm----402--------------147 Fail
CO %------2.03-------------0.82 Fail
NOx ppm---1413------------1072 Fail
RPM--------2024------------3000 Max
CO+CO2----15.08-----------6.00 Min

50/15 Test Reading---------Allowed
HC ppm----364--------------152 Fail
CO %------1.40-------------0.85 Fail
NOx ppm---1453------------1186 Fail
RPM--------1860-----------3000 Max
CO+CO2----14.92-----------6.00 Min

Chevrille

I'll have to see if I can get that from him because right now I have no idea.

jbpnoman

A snapshot of the emissions sheet would be best - there's often more information to be had from seeing what the mechanic marked. Was the car tested while it was fully warmed up, or was it driven straight to the shop where it sat until it got pulled in?

Chevrille

As far as I know it was warmed up. They did ask him to rev the engine higher though, I know that much. I'll try to get a picture of the emissions sheet tomorrow though.

Chevrille

Alright, so it's failing with the HC at 472 where the max is 220. Everything else passed. The injector change did help. We're gonna swap the computer with that from another and see if that makes it pass in case it's a bad computer, but he said it's a 90% chance a catalytic converter would fix it. He just has another computer on hand to test with, so we thought that'd be an easy route to go, just in case.

Thoughts?

street93eg

Yeah, when I bought my 93 civic I had to get it smogged to get on base and it barely failed HC. After a bunch of fudging around with parts and not getting it down enough I just swapped cats with a nice bolt on brand new out of the box.

Worked like a champ cause it went from barely failing to amost as clean as a babies bottom.

Chevrille

Yeah I'm looking at a Magnaflow 22636. It's $110 but it's stainless steel, new, and direct fit, so if it comes to it that's where I'm going with it.
Thanks for letting me know dude! I'll probably go ahead and order it this week then.

mikekh10a

iTrader: (2)

good choice going with magnaflow. they're my go to brand for exhaust parts. (except for mufflers since the preference for that is based on sound)

Chevrille

Alright, so we swapped the computers it passed emissions with flying colors. We didn't expect that to work at all so I had already ordered a new cat. Whoops! Luckily it hadn't shipped yet though so it's gonna be fine.

I'm excited. Now to replace the shocks on the back and it's perfect to go!