ok guys.. need some help,

i have a 98 civic hx, basically stock just the ordinary bolt ons and an msd. but anyway went to get the car inspected last month (im in pa) and it didnt pass emissions. but the mechanic couldnt figure out why, the car isnt throwing any codes or anything? also the day before i sent it to get inspected my battry cable came off and was unplugged for a few hours, so i thought maybe the battery would have cleared any codes it may have been throwing.. could this be right? but also at the same time the car was driven some 300 miles after the battery disconnected.???

also my car hasnt felt the same lately, seems real sluggish like i lost some power... any ideas?

 

check O2 sensor and cat

 

After the battery is unplugged you must do a drive cycle of 3-5 days before doing emissions or else the computer will automatically fail you.

edit* thats how it is over here in AZ

 

o2 sensor was just replaced about 3 months ago.. not sure about the cat.. but if one of them were out, wouldnt it throw a code? and i knew there was a drive cycle, but i thought it was a matter of miles..? also this all occured last weekend, and there were another some 500 miles put on the car since and a week went by, still no codes?

any other ideas?

 

My vote would also go towards the o2 and catback. Those are two of the biggest things that can effect emissions.

 

is there anyway i can check either to see if they are the problem or not??

i really dont have money to just start randomly replacing things and hoping they are the cause.

 

o2 senor, cat, fuel filter, oil change, plugs, wires ..... If not pay someone to pass it...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by lvzero0 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">o2 senor, cat, fuel filter, oil change, plugs, wires ..... If not pay someone to pass it... </TD></TR></TABLE>

lol so what does an oil change, plugs, wires have to do with passing emissions...

Check the voltage on the returning wire on the O2. If the voltage is below spec that could be the cause.

 

alright ill check.. since i have the y5 motor i got a 5wire o2 sensor.. which would be the returning wire??

 

with pa emissions do they look at the ecu, or do they put the car on rollers?

if they go through the computer, you need to drive it until the system readiness checks are complete. i think the ecu has to go through four drive cycles.

anyways, drive it for a couple of days and try it again.

what exactly did you fail for?

 

im not sure what they do exactly.. all i know is it didnt pass, and they couldnt figure out why..

they said when they hooked it up to the machine to run the emissions through the state, it failed.. but my car isnt throwing any codes and they couldnt figure out what would be causing it to fail.