So I took the caR to the local 15 minute smog test station today and she failed!


The car blew a whopping 423ppm HC at idle! (California gross polluter is ******* 250!)

Not to mention, I just barely made it under the wire at 120ppm HC @ 2500RPM (California is 130 max / 280 gross polluter)

California has this law where the test only stations cannot offer advice or perform repairs so I have almost no idea where I should start to trouble shoot.

Just to give some background on the situation;

The car has 74k on the clock, a DC 4-1 Ceramic Header, magnaflow high flow cat and a greddy Evo2 ricer catback.

Where should I begin my trouble shooting? Is the high flow cat the weakest link? Ignition?


California Smog *****

 

magnaflow high flow cat

 

I would say cat also.

 

Put everything back to stock.... then put all the performance parts back on after the emission.

 

swap out the cat

 

throw the stock cat back on

 

Thanks all, I'll pull the aftermarket cat off this weekend and see how it looks.
Not sure if the stock cat will bolt right up (I didn't put the aftermarket exhaust on the ITR, previous owner did) but it's an easy part to swap out.

 

as long as your cat and catback were for your car and not a gsr(gsr has different length, so different length carback) you will be fine, your greddy catback will bolt up to your stock cat, and your dc header should bolt up fine also, remember to use locktite

 

check your timing? i have no idea. ca smog confuses me so i refuse to partake.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 01-0720 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">as long as your cat and catback were for your car and not a gsr(gsr has different length, so different length carback) you will be fine, your greddy catback will bolt up to your stock cat, and your dc header should bolt up fine also, remember to use locktite</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

Keep your car running while waiting in line (i.e., was it "warmed up")?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Keep your car running while waiting in line (i.e., was it "warmed up")?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep.

I drove the 30 mins to where the shop was in fourth gear on the freeway.

I'm sure the cat was plenty hot.

 

Any other "goodies" like a modded or P28 ecu, etc?

I failed the high (2500 rpm) NoX (I believe) when running a Mugen ECU through an emissions inspection in VA, on a bet.
That was with a DC Sports 4-1 header, stock cat and exhaust.
Swapped out the ECU for the stock 97 one an passed nicely.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any other "goodies" like a modded or P28 ecu, etc?

I failed the high (2500 rpm) NoX (I believe) when running a Mugen ECU through an emissions inspection in VA, on a bet.
That was with a DC Sports 4-1 header, stock cat and exhaust.
Swapped out the ECU for the stock 97 one an passed nicely.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Nope, the ECU and motor are totally stock.

After thinking about it a bit further, I think the cat that is on my car currently doesn't have the OBD-II bung on it. I think the smog guy also mentioned that, which is pretty funny.

I hope the stock cat will drop in, haha.

I wonder where that secondary O2 sensor is...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nholmes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Nope, the ECU and motor are totally stock.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you get a MIL/ECU code light?
Especially not having a secondary ECU!!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Do you get a MIL/ECU code light?
Especially not having a secondary ECU!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

That's what is weird. (I have to look at the sec O2 though and see if it's even under the car) I don't have a check engine light and the car seems to run fine no codes, etc.

????

 

A birdie just told me to tell you to add an 02 socket extention

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Jay J &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">add an 02 socket extention </TD></TR></TABLE>

Do you mean add a rear bung to the cat?

If the cat is fried, I'm just going to run with the stock cat.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nholmes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If the cat is fried, I'm just going to run with the stock cat.</TD></TR></TABLE>

If it fits and the O2 is just up under the dash/carpet, you should be fine once it's all back together.

 

Do you have a check engine light? When you turn the key does it come on? then go off?

I know its a stupid question but a friend of mine got a car with no light, turns out the previous owner took out the bulb. Put another in there and it had like 10 codes.

 

Well let's have a little educational session here
HC's are Hydrocarbons, HC's are typically unburnt fuel and or oil.

You could be running a hair rich

your cat could not be functioning properly (to check this get car to operating tempt drive it around immediatley pull over, and if i remember correctly the cat outlet temp should be 200 higher then the inlet you need to do this with a temp gun not your hand )

You could be burning excessive amounts of oil


there are a few others things it could be but instead of everyone spouting off random **** i figured id point you in the right direction.

 

In all likelihood you'll need a new cat of one type or another.

Which version of the DC 4-1 do you have?

If you have the USDM one just get a stock cat and swap it out...you should be good to go.

If it's a JDM one, it could get trickey since you could have a JDM cat back, in which case you'll need a JDM spec length cat (availible from SMSP) or you'll have to take the car down to ye olde muffler shoppe and see what needs to be fabricated.

Other things to do would be to put in a new air filter, spark plugs and make sure the cat is good and hot by the tiem you get to the inspection station...

--
George

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by walker111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Do you have a check engine light? When you turn the key does it come on? then go off?

I know its a stupid question but a friend of mine got a car with no light, turns out the previous owner took out the bulb. Put another in there and it had like 10 codes.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yep, I actually checked for this today. The CEL does in fact light up when the car is started and then go off immediately.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Casey@Burns &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well let's have a little educational session here
HC's are Hydrocarbons, HC's are typically unburnt fuel and or oil.

You could be running a hair rich

your cat could not be functioning properly (to check this get car to operating tempt drive it around immediatley pull over, and if i remember correctly the cat outlet temp should be 200 higher then the inlet you need to do this with a temp gun not your hand )

You could be burning excessive amounts of oil


there are a few others things it could be but instead of everyone spouting off random **** i figured id point you in the right direction. </TD></TR></TABLE>

When I last had the car inspected and had the major service performed (six weeks ago or so) the tech told me that my plugs looked great. He said that they looked like normal plugs, the car didn't appear to be running rich or lean.

I'll have to look into finding someone with a temp gun so I can check that...

As for oil consumption, the PCV seems to be working correctly and when I changed my oil two weeks ago I checked it prior to draining and it seemed to be on the low end of the stick, but not as though it was burning too much.

Having thought about this and read the posts, I'm leaning toward the cat being the culprit.

One thing I did notice, the cat doesn't have a secondary o2 sensor installed, so I have NFI where it is (dangling from the firewall, etc) so I'm sure that might also be part of the reason my HC ppm reading was blowing more HC than a 1960's V8 motor.



EDIT - Thanks for the infoz all!

 

Get under your car and find out where the other o2 is.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by walker111 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Get under your car and find out where the other o2 is.</TD></TR></TABLE>