So i'm in the process of getting my '95 civic BARed. Besides some things i have to replace, it didn't pass smog. I read some of the reasons on here on why a car would fail smog but i want to know what you guys think.

My car has a B18b motor, headers, brand new intake, and a new cat. I talked to the guy who did my swap and he said based on the numbers it had to be my cat. so i'm going to try and have the shop who put the cat in repace it. But I want to know what else could be wrong. Oh, and should i use high or low octane fuel based on my numbers.

_________HC_______CO(%)___NO (PPM)
______MAX MEAS MAX MEAS MAX MEAS
15mph 89___118__.53__.67___708_2873 GROSS POLLUTER
25mph 54___227__.51__.11___746_914 FAIL




Modified by mike03,95civic at 1:27 PM 11/3/2007


Modified by mike03,95civic at 1:32 PM 11/3/2007

 

What type of ECU are you running, what type of cat was installed, and is all of the emissions equipment intact?

 

I have stock integra ECU. I think the cat is just a universal cat. All the emissions equipment is intact.

 

I assume no CEL's?

Make sure your EGR is working properly, and that the cat is a decent unit.

 

Any other suggestions. Do you think it could be just the cat?

 

Could be your o2 sensor(s) too.

2800ppm Nox does point to the cat also. What was the O2 reading from the test?

Do you have any exhaust leaks?

Set your timing to spec or -1 degree.

How old is the motor? Might need to do a decarbonize treatment.

 

Could be a bad Motor?

 

Could be. Thanks for your technical expertise and your serious thoughts.

NOT.

 

The motor is supposed to be a '95 but it could be older.
How would i be able to tell if their is an exaust leak?
How do you do a decarbanize treatment?

 

95, ok how many miles? if over 140k then seafoam.
Exhaust leak = listen for ticking sounds and feel for exhaust excaping around the flanges/gaskets.
Seafoam is one. It comes in a can. It will have directions on it. I just use it thru the intake manifold. Also I use a small vacuum line rather than the brake booster vacuum line. It is kinda like cleaning the carb on a older motor, Run up the rpm and suck the stuff into the manifold.

Seafoam will not drop your Nox that much, usually it is good for three to four hundred ppm's. It also depends on how much build-up of carbon your motor has.

 

The car has 170,000 miles on it. The motor was put in a month ago and they say they normally have like 50,000 miles on them. So where can you get seafoam? Thanks for the info so far. What else can I do?

 

yeah sea foam is the best. you can get it at autozone or napa or some other auto parts store. and also the Nox you have is really high. im getting my smog licence now and if you have a new cat than most of the time you will pass the first time but burn the cat out after a while. How was your timing? and when was the last time you changed your oil? how about the ignition system? a weak ignition system of not the right plugs or gap will effect your air fuel burn. HC's is just raw unburned fuel where CO's are partially burned fuel, and NOx are oxides of nitrogen, which are toxic and are created by high heat. so check all senors esspecially ECT and check the cooling system.

 

Oh and if all else fails you can always do what i did and get the apexi NEO and just turn the fuel map down about 15% i was a gross polluter and i passed with flying colors way under the max. ifs kind of expensive but its $300 well worth it

 

i dont understand chart but if you are high on the hydro carbons then you have a cat problem. and run a low grade fuel and only have about 1/4 tank it will put youre motor in limp mode and will shoot less fuel in the car. make shurer you get that cat nice and hot drive it ever were and rev it up.

 

So is the apexi NEO hard to install? Do you need to hook up a computer to it to tune it?

 

no that thing is awsome. all you need to do is hook up to power, ground, 12 volt constant, parking lights, interupt the map signal and the vtec signal. thats all. i did all my wiring about a foot above my ecu so its not easy to see and then got a radio block off plate and velcroed it to that in my 98 ex. very easy to tune just a push of the button. And do you have a three way cat or just a dual cat the TWC will have three different beds inside it. the first bed reduces NOx where the other two trap oxygen to turn the HC to water and the CO to CO2. Where did you get the cat and what brand is it? that will be a good thing to check. if it is a catco cat or someother cheap *** universal fit it more than likely wont be doing a good enough job for a CA car.

 

Just a thought, check your fuel pressure and the regulator. You may have a tear in the diaphram.

 

Well i'll see how my retest goes but i'll keep that in mind. So what kind of cat would you recommend?

 

do a compression and leak down on the motor and se if its still good. if not, i wouldnt bother baring the motor. if everything is good, then i'd do a complete tune up, seafoam, injector clener, replace the cat.

i failed my first time, but only by a little and a new cat made it pass

 

What is a compression and a leak down? Yea i already went to try and have it bared so I have to make it pass.

 

a leak down you take a tester that you screw into your head where the spark plug goes and with the cylinder at TDC fill it with air and see if it hold the pressure it will see if your valves and rings are sealing good.

 

go to autozone and buy some stuff called "gauranteed to pass".

 

What is "gauranteed to pass"? How much is it?

 

Does "gauranteed to pass" clean out the same things as seafoam? Or do they both do the same thing?

 

I have the same motor and the same problem , check if you got a CEL light if not make sure that works , if so its your O2 check if the wire is connected to your ECU
and there are some step to wire it, do you have a vx or cx?