I'm getting my car BARed but it fails smog on hc and nox. It's a '95 civic with a B18b swap and stock Acura computer. So I thought I would ask you guys. I was told my car is running to lean. No one car tell me why it's running lean or how to correct it. It has new O2 sensor and a new cat. only upgrades to motor is headers and intake. Thanks for any advise.

 

Get a FPR.... I think that might help...

 

getting an adjustable fpr wont pass with the Ref. If you need more fuel pressure, you can put on a gsr fpr. it's about 5psi more than the LS. Also, try swapping on a stock header and intake.

 

running too lean is usually an o2 sensor....

 

what ecu are you running? u just said an acura ecu...... are u running an ls ecu??

what are the full specs of this setup. its the only way ur gona get accurate help...

unless u like wasting time and money with guesses.

 

The car might be running lean cause you got an aftermarket intake, if you got more air flowing in, the car will run a bit lean. Put your stock intake on and try a fuel injector cleaner, you might have dirty injectors.

 

What is your MAP voltage at a fully warmed up idle, where is the O2 sensor located, did you put on an OEM cat, did you drive the **** out of it just prior to getting it tested, cat needs to be good and hot. Is the thermostat in good working order and is the fan coming on with what seems like good cycling.

Does you car have an EGR valve and do you know if the EGR ports are clear. What type of tests does your inspection station do and what are the other gas readings please, idle and 25 mph, if that is the type of test you got???

 

Already replaced it.

 

It has the wires for Vtech, but it's not hooked to anything. What do you mean by full specs?

 

I don't have a stock intake but I did already cleaned the injectors.

 

What should the map voltage be? The O2 sensor is on the headers near the cat (under the motor). I'm not sure if its an oem cat, it's supposed to be a good cat like a flowmaster but I plan to switch it out for a stock cat. I drove the car hard for 2 hours before the test. Guys were dicks though and turned it off for 10min. then let it idle for another 10min. It should have been hot still though. The thermostat seems to be working fine.

It doesn't have egr valve. I'm told 95 acura and hondas don't have egr valve.
They do 15mph and 25mph. The 25mph was good it passed nox no problem and it passed hc and co.

Thanks for the advice so far.

 

MAP, just under 1 volt at a fully warmed up idle with no accessories on and not fans. If they turned it off and then let it idle for 10 then the cat was no longer hot, maybe not hot enough to be "LIT OFF", if the cat is not LIT then it will not work. Have them show you the procedures for doing the inspection, they have procedures to follow by law.

 

According to everything before this post it sounds like you have a weak catalytic converter on the car and that it needs to be replaced. However if you can warm the car up really really good and leave it running before the test it might pass the test.

Somethings I never understand about people that ask smog questions:

Most never say everything the car failed for in their first post
They never say what make/model year the car is in their first post
They never say exactly what engine/ecu they have and what mods are done in thier first post
They never say what they have already done to try to fix the problem in their first post
They never say what the emissions readings were when the car failed in thier first post

Please please please.. everybody with smog failures.

POST ALL OF YOUR EMISSIONS READINGS IF YOUR CAR FAILS!!!

Preferably in this format. (this is only an example


RPM C02 02 HC C0 No
Test meas - meas - meas - max ave meas - max ave meas - max ave meas

15 MPH 1517 - 15.0 - 0.2 - 52 4 6 - 0.66 0.01 0.00- 517 20 352
25MPH 1476 - 15.1 - 0.0 - 36 4 2 - 0.80 0.07 0.00- 770 13 66

Or do what this guy did... a picture is worth a thousand words

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=2165290

 

I pretty much covered everything you are said people should put in my first post. I'll post the full test results later if it would help.

 

Thanks for the info on the sensor. Yea they have ways to get around it though. While they turned the car off I bet they would say they are inspecting it. One time I asked them if they could warm it up and they made a big deal saying the operating temp is 200 degrees and my car was 201. I would go to a different station but i'm affraid they might check to see if I got repairs done at a CAP station.