Yesterday Result of smogging. I failed and got some advise from some members here about using Sea Foam and i got a bottle and mix it into my gasoline and went and re test it again today. And here's my outcome. . . .


Yesterday 11.18.04



Today 11/19.04



And that *** didn't pass me still. It's only by 101 . .
Since i went back the next day to smog it and it failed. He told me don't smog gas saver cars ( I had a crx 90) cause they're a pain in the ***.

f u c k you to smogging.

 

High NOx levels come from very high combustion temperatures and hot catalytic convertors. If the CO and HC are low, then you can try messing with the timing a little to cool things down a bit.

 

Set timing to 14 degrees, and if u have a FPR (like i do) u can even up the psi 3-5. I did both things and it brought my numbers down a few hundred. BTW, the smog tech guy didnt mention the FPR when he was "visually inspecting."

 

I have a completely stock 91 civic hatcback and about 2 weeks ago i had the same problem. Passed everything except for NOX. I had the cat tested by a trusted friend/honda mechanic and was told it was bad and to replace it. I also got answers from this forum saying to try retarding the timing and that would probably help. I took both pieces of advice and replaced the cat as well as retarded the timing a few degrees and passed with flying colors (close to or below the average).
Now, I cannot say if replaceing the cat alone did anything, or if retarding the timing did anything on its own, but together the car passed just fine and it only cost 100$ in repairs (for the cat). I did have to pay again for a retest, but I found a place that offered a free retest which is something i neglected to find out about the first place (lesson learned). If i were you i would(in this order)

Check your Timing, if it is advanced then set it to stock or retard a few degrees and retest. If you want to make double sure you can replace the cat as well. I got mine from here: Link
if that link doesnt work go to http://www.kragen.com and search for part number 29132 (Maremont 29132

Acura/honda Direct Fit 3-way Catalytic Converter Flange In/out )

94$ but the price in the store was almost 150$ so either print it out and make them match their own price, or order it online and pick it up etc. Your call.

Hope that helps, I was shitting myself when doing all this because no matter what, you are still not going to know untill you test it and that of coarse costs $$

Good luck.

 

when you go to get the your car smogged again try the following.

-make sure your gas tank is filled halfway or less with the highest level octane in your area

-run the car hard for 45-60 minutes prior to the test

-dont shut the car off before smogging it

-after you've done your 45-60 minute warmup, pour in 2-3 bottles of denatured alcohol into your gas tank (no more then 1/2 a gallon of denatured alcohol)

-smog your car, dont let the smog techs know about the alcohol in your tank

-after the smog test, go to the nearest gas station and fil up all the way with the highest octane gas they have


The important thing to remember is when you are done testing you fill your gas tank right away to dilute the denatured alcohol. You dont want that stuff lingering in your fuel system or gas tank in a high concentration. If will break down the inside of the fuel system.

 

Thanks for all the help about smogging. I will try every damn thing. I will pass this crap cause i don't wanna deal with it for 2 years.

 

This is true.
Basically your car is either running too lean or has too low ocatane of fuel in it.

The ONLY thing I agree with in that post is not to turn your car off before the test.
Don't bother puring achohol in the tank. It's great for lowering high CO readings, but not the solution for helping your NoX.

Don't drive for an 45 minutes~hour... what a waste. Drive for maybe 15~20 minutes to get that catalytic converter warmed up.

Putting high octane fuel might help pass your smog test (slim chance), but it's really not the solution you need to hear at this time IMO.

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First things first.
You didn't post anything about your engine setup.
You didn't say if you had put additives in the gas tank before the test (other than that you Seafoamed). - Some people put injector cleaner or octane booster in the tank before the test and wonder why they failed... duh.
Tell us what you have under the hood and what mods you have.

Second, you didn't post all your Smog test results.
Post them! There is a lot that can be said from all the smog test results together.

Last - where did you smog? Suggestion, don't take it to a mechanic place that just happens to do smos as well. They sometimes try to fail your car so they can turn around and tell you how much it will cost them to fix it for you.
Smog only places (no mechanic work) could care less if your fail.... they can't ix it for you They would rather you pass so you can get your car out of there and they can get on to the next customer.
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IF NoX is the only problem and all the other numbers were passing VERY well then don't even bother looking at the catalytic converter. The cat is a 3 way cat (deals with 3 pollutants at the same time) so if 3 o your smog test umbers were high then it would mke sense to look at the cat.

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Is your car an 88~91 D15 with auto tranny?
Is it an HF?
H22?

Those engines came with an EGR.
If the EGR ports in the intake manifold or the ports in the EGR itslef become plugged with carbon then your NoX goes up. Normally this won't throw a code unless the rubber diaphram in the EGR gets a hole in it or if the lift sensor in the EGR dies or is left unplugged.
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Most pobable causes of high NoX - running lean or ignition timing is not set correctly.

Higher octane gas might be the solution, but it WILL raise your Co numbers. It's impossible to tell if you need to do that until you post your other test results and check your ignition timing. You usually want to run the LOWEST octane fuel for smog check. Lower octane burns off more completely = lower CO.

If your setup is farily stock then check the timing (if your CO results were LOW then your ignition is in good working condition).
If that was set correct and all your other results were LOW (besides NoX) then change your O2 sensor. O2 sensor detrmines how much fuel the ECU lets the lets the injectors dump. O2 doesn't throw a code unless it's totally dead or unplugged. If it's old and just doens't work well then you don't get a code, but you get messed up smog results.
Because you did the Seafoam you probably cleared out carbon from the cobustion chambers and blew it all out onto the O2... possibly clogging it.

 

same thing happened to me, i didnt pass the NO part, got a new cat and o2 sensor, poured in some fuel cleaner, and then passed with flying colors.

 

Before i smog it i got a new cat converter, new exhaust, new spark plug, new spark plug wires, new oil change, new o2 sensor also i replaced the fuel filter (which was a bitch to take off ). Tested and failed with 1050 NOx. Everything else pass.

NOx was too high so i listen to a SMOG TECH on HT and got sea foam and used that. Then i used a fuel cleaner, And this time i got 912. Really close to passing.

Anyways, i heard so much about it's your timing. I'm new to this project fix up thing. How do i change my timing? Can someone explain it in the simpliest term?
where is it located at? and how do i adjust it?

It's either the timing adjustment or the alcohol pouring . .. . but i wanna try the timing first so please tell me how to do it. thanks.

That's the only thing i haven't done. Can't believe i put in $500 + of parts to just get it to pass smog.

 

knox is his combustion temps, car could be running a little lean to cause that,mess with timing and buy a 3 way cat


Modified by sabertooth at 7:25 PM 11/20/2004

 

What about running a one-step colder plug to reduce cylinder temps? NGK BCPR7ES-11 on my CRX with ZC. I had high NOX but just barely passed. Everything else was great. I plan to advance my ignition a bit and do a lot of highway driving so the colder plugs should cut some of the cylinder temp.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by DaMmniTz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Before i smog it i got a new cat converter, new exhaust, new spark plug, new spark plug wires, new oil change, new o2 sensor also i replaced the fuel filter (which was a bitch to take off ). Tested and failed with 1050 NOx. Everything else pass.

NOx was too high so i listen to a SMOG TECH on HT and got sea foam and used that. Then i used a fuel cleaner, And this time i got 912. Really close to passing.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Please post up your engine setup or your other test results.
I know your other results say "pass", but I'd like to see just how well they pass.

Talking to an internet "smog tech" on Honda-tech is about as reliable as going in an AOL "adult" chatroom and believing that some girl in there is actually a girl just because they say so!

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how long did you run your setup with all that work done?
I hope you didn't get all that put on and ruch over to the smog test.
You must run a brand new catalytic converter several miles (atleast a good 1/2 drive) before it burns in and starts working properly.

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Sea Foam might help on a high milage engine, but won't do anything for a newer engine with nice clean insides. Sea Foam clears out possible carbon builup from the piston tops and the combustion chamber. If you have a newer engine then sea foam isn't going to do anything for you.

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Timing -
is your car OBD-1 or non-OBD?
You need to give some info here.