projectEK9

My car failed smog yesterday and was actually labeled as a "gross polluter". I had a bad cat (was gross polluter) on my car for about 6-8 months and just found one on ht that was still good. After the test it showed my carbon levels were extremely high. Now my question is with me having the bad cat on for such a long time affect the cat back piping? Would the carbon residue still be in the exhaust piping which caused me to fail?

I know a guy who works at a muffler shop and can get me a stock exhaust for my car the same day I order it. Should I buy it?

on a side note when I bought my car 2 years ago I smogged it the first day I got it, it passes with flying colors, now my car is still stock and I had such extreme numbers. Its gotts be the exhaust right?

tkosmith

Doesn't necessarily have to be only your exhaust system... If your motor is running rich, it can cause those emissions problems too. Check your plugs, see if it's running richer than it was. Compare your read outs from the previous test (if you can) and get that stock exhasut.

projectEK9

Im going to take it to a shop today after work so they can work on it/check it out.

projectEK9

bump

Lord Helmet

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by projectEK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">My car failed smog yesterday and was actually labeled as a "gross polluter". I had a bad cat (was gross polluter) on my car for about 6-8 months and just found one on ht that was still good. After the test it showed my carbon levels were extremely high. Now my question is with me having the bad cat on for such a long time affect the cat back piping? Would the carbon residue still be in the exhaust piping which caused me to fail?
</TD></TR></TABLE>

No that won't be the case because if it was, my dad's van which failed smog and was labeled a gross polluter would not have had passed smog super clean after he replaced the cat.

Get a new cat, don't risk failing again if you decide to buy the used cat. Because you will be wondering why the car failed again and not know that is the problem in the first place.

neutron91

do you have your numbers by chance??

projectEK9

not on hand because i left it in my car and left it at the shop.

but I do remember at 15mph my carbon numbers were triple the limit and the numbers at 25 mph were 5 times the limit... =[

projectEK9

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Lord Helmet &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">No that won't be the case because if it was, my dad's van which failed smog and was labeled a gross polluter would not have had passed smog super clean after he replaced the cat.

Get a new cat, don't risk failing again if you decide to buy the used cat. Because you will be wondering why the car failed again and not know that is the problem in the first place. </TD></TR></TABLE>

you have a point. I couldnt tell you if the new used cat I got was good but I took the guy's word on h-t about it still being good.

projectEK9

Just got a call back from the mechanic. Looks like I need a new primary and secondary o2 sensor as well as repair the engine harness going to the secondary o2 sensor. The grand total youre asking? $850. Yup.

Lord Helmet

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by projectEK9 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just got a call back from the mechanic. Looks like I need a new primary and secondary o2 sensor as well as repair the engine harness going to the secondary o2 sensor. The grand total youre asking? $850. Yup. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Why don't just get a used engine harness instead of paying $850 for repairing a harness? Used harnesses cost around $200: last time I checked for a OBD1 GSR at ImportAutoSalvage.com. You could've install it yourself and use the left over money to buy the primary & secondary O2 sensor. If you're too scared to do it then by all means let them take your hard earned money. Work smarter not harder.