So I'm getting frustrated with my civic vx which is my backup car and car that I used for pizza delivery for 8 months while in college. Now that I want to sell it I can't pass smog, even though the last time it was smogged which was 1.5 years ago, it passed with flying colors. Now I'm getting ridiculous amounts of NOX that is driving me insane. I've done many repairs but can't seem to pinpoint what is causing me to fail. Below is a list of everything I've done.

Retarded Timing to 13 Degrees (125,500 Miles)
Recleaned EGR and EACV (125,000 Miles)
New Distributor Cap and Rotor (125,000 Miles)
New Thermostat (125,000 Miles)
Replaced Input Shaft Bearing and Axle Seals (125,000 Miles)
New Radiator (122,000 Miles)
New Clutch (118,000) Miles
Replaced Throwout Bearing (118,000 miles)
4 Wire 02 Sensor (Auto Parts Direct To You)
NGK Spark Plugs (NGK Website)
Fuel Filter (Honda OEM)
NGK Plug Wires (NGK Website)
Exhaust Manifold (Dorman 674-545)
Cat Converter (Dorman 674-545)
OEM Honda Timing Belt Change at 115,900 miles
Water Pump Replaced at 115,900 miles
Replaced Stock Muffler at 115,800 miles
Cleaned EGR Valve at 116,100 miles
Cleaned EGR Ports/Intake Manifold at 116,100 miles
Cleaned EACV at 116,100 miles

While I had my pizza delivery job I had converted the car to Fed with the new ECU, conversion harness, and 5 Wire O2 sensor. After it failed with the Fed conversion I decided to go back to CA ECU and new 4 wire O2 sensor. My results with the CA ECU and O2 turned out worse than the Fed. I have no idea what is wrong. I ran Guaranteed to Pass and Gumout Fuel Injector Cleaner already. I even ran it close to E before my last test and filled it with 1.5 quarts of Denatured Alcohol and still it did not pass. (And yes I've now diluted the alcohol with regular gas.)

The only current problem with the car is that it has an intermittent CEL with code 1 for oxygen sensor or sometimes code 0 for ECU, they are never both on at the same time. I tried switching over to my FED ECU to see if I get a CEL and I get code 41 for primary o2 sensor heater. I don't see why anything would be wrong since I've tried the old and new o2 sensor and still get the same codes. Also, I have an extremely low idle with the car, it will idle all warmed up at about 200 to 300 rpms, it has never died but I can't get it to idle higher without experiencing a fluctuating idle. Oh and the EGR was tested and works fine. Can anyone help out?

Here are my most recent results:

 

Here are all the links I have or even somewhat related to this topic. I have a 92 VX that's parked. I know it had high NOX readings last emissions test - so I researched. Haven't tried to fix it yet, though. Hopefully these help.

http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=9505
https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-del-sol-1992-2000-1/help-my-vx-wont-pass-smog-2631211/
http://www.gassavers.org/showthread.php?t=9513

 

ur runnng lean on gas.fpr maybe

 

Where is your new cat located? is it still on the exhaust manifold? And does the O2 sensor code stay on all the time? because it could be that since the car is running badly the O2 sensor code comes on because the reading is outside of the ECU spec.

 

Yes, the new cat is still on the exhaust manifold, it's basically a replica of the original, maybe only slighted angled differently by less than half an inch. The only reason I switched out the cat was because there was a small crack in the exhaust manifold, but I might try just putting some jb weld on the crack and putting it back on to see if I still get the code.

 

its best to use stock cat general for emissions testing, hmm if you still fail idk

 

So you are getting an O2 code?

Your A/F ratio for the first test is @15mph 15.25 and@25mph 15.05

So the car is running lean. Time to check things out again.

 

why did you set the timing to 13*???
the ECU is expecting 16*, by pulling it to 13*, every table in the ECU is going to be actually +3* compared to what it should be. This can do bad things to emissions.

 

I retarded the timing to 13* because I was trying to get it to run less lean and therefore reduce NOx

 

set it back to 16*, your issue resides elsewhere.
in fact the timing being like it is may be hurting your emissions readings.

 

Ok, so I think I've found my problem and it lies in the ECU. I found two pins which were very similar in color and they were switched. This was for the primary o2 heater and LAF sensor. So I'm pretty sure things will be much better now. Also, I have some concerns regarding other pins, and if anyone can help me out I'd appreciate it. So I looked at the ECU pin diagram for the VX in both the downloadable manual (2nd to last page, pg. 1257) and also at an OBD1 pin diagram I found through google search. Both tell me what color the wire should be and the one I found online also tells me what it's used for. Here are my findings:

A11 is said to be Orange/Blue or Red but mine is Pink (EGR)
D3 has quite a bit of electrical tape (Knock Sensor)
D11 is said to be Light Green or Red/Black but mine is Pink (Throttle Position Sensor)
D17 is said to be White but mine is White/Pink (MAP Sensor)

I don't know if the color variations really matter at all but I'm just trying to get everything done and done right. Thanks!

 

wtf pink wires? are you sure they aren't just red and faded?