Hey guys, my friend took his car to the CA B.A.R with an LS Swap and everything seemed to pass fine. The car is a 94 EG hatch and the motor is a 96 LS. The visual inspection failed only due to DC headers that the previous owner had. So we replaced them with stock headers and have an appointment for today at 1:30. I took the smog results to a smog tech and he said that it also failed due to maybe having a misfire. Here are the results.

15 MPH:
RPM - 1944
MEAS %CO2 - 15.0
MEAS %O2 - 0.0
MAX HC (PPM) - 92 FAILED
AVE HC (PPM) - 21
MEAS (PPM) - 160 FAILED
MAX CO (%) .55
AVE CO (%) - .06
MEAS CO (%) - .48
MAX NO (PPM) - 716 FAILED
AVE NO (PPM) - 150
MEAS NO (PPM) - 1325 FAILED RESLTS = FAILED

25 MPH:
RPM - 2235
MEAS %CO2 - 15.4
MEAS %O2 - 0.0
MAX HC (PPM) - 57 FAILED
AVE HC (PPM) - 13
MEAS (PPM) - 68 FAILED
MAX CO (%) .54
AVE CO (%) - .05
MEAS CO (%) - .06
MAX NO (PPM) - 764
AVE NO (PPM) - 136
MEAS NO (PPM) - 53 RESULTS = FAILED

Sorry for the long post but I was wondering if any smog techs out there can help me find out what I need to do to fix those results. Not too sure if this is in the right forum either.

 

Sucks to live in cali lol Thank god here in oregon they dont do that.

 

The car is failing on both HC and NO, so the problem may be a bad cat.

 

Well the previous owner said it was a new cat.

 

A cat can be destroyed very quickly if an engine runs rich.

 

your HC is WAYYY too high even if you had a bad cat. You need to fix what ever is wrong with your car because a bad cat wouldn't be causing readings that high regardless of what you guys think. People love to mention the catalytic converter as a catch all and it's obvious given the responses in this thread despite the OP mentioning a smog tech says there may be a misfire!

 

OhOk I see. It's at the b.a.r right now and the tech seems to be a dick lol

 

^I agree that the root cause is that the engine is running rich. That problem must be fixed first. However, running rich has already caused a second problem -- destruction of the cat -- as indicated by the high NO.

 

but why can't a misfire cause high nox and hc as well? Could be creating hot spots in the combustion chamber and causing pre or post ignition for all we know. There could be so much "fail" that the catalytic converter just can't handle the mess. I'd just have the OP fix the car so it runs like a top and then worry about the catalytic converter later.

 

In general, misfire results in unburnt fuel (high HC and low NOx), so I think the accompanying high NOx suggests that the high HC has already killed the cat. The rich condition might be caused by misfire or the fuel injectors dumping too much fuel into the cylinders. Either way, I do agree that the running rich problem must be dealt with first, even though the cat is probably dead and will need ultimately to be replaced to pass emissions.

 

I just ran your numbers and the car is infact running rich
At 15 the afr is 14.46 to 1 and at 25 it is 14.43 to 1 which is just a bit on the rich side.

Headers take away heat from the cat so just maybe the stock header might just get it to pass, with the 02 sensor in the right place too.

Post the new numbers when you get them.

 

So it ended up failing at the referee. Dumb tech said I need a B18B1 DOHC VTEC ENGINE Intake manifold and throttle body lol. It says, Install correct intake manifold and throttle body as per application (1994 Acura B18B1 DOHC VTEC Engine). Also install complete Intake Air Bypass system. The manifold says p75 on it, it's an ls one but he said that it was a honda one not acura. The throttle body doesn't have a nipple on it for the charcoal canister to plug into, and he found one of the charcoal canister hose connected to a screw lol. Well here's the new numbers, still running rich.

15 MPH:
RPM - 1952
MEAS %CO2 - 15.2
MEAS %O2 - 0.0
MAX HC (PPM) - 92
AVE HC (PPM) - 21
MEAS (PPM) - 113
MAX CO (%) .55
AVE CO (%) - .06
MEAS CO (%) - .30
MAX NO (PPM) - 716
AVE NO (PPM) - 150
MEAS NO (PPM) - 332 RESLTS = FAILED

25 MPH:
RPM - 2246
MEAS %CO2 - 15.3
MEAS %O2 - 0.0
MAX HC (PPM) - 57
AVE HC (PPM) - 13
MEAS HC (PPM) - 33
MAX CO (%) .54
AVE CO (%) - .05
MEAS CO (%) - .04
MAX NO (PPM) - 764
AVE NO (PPM) - 136
MEAS NO (PPM) - 18 RESULTS = PASSED

 

Does anybody have any ideas?

 

Read the damn thread.. We've already told you, the car is running rich, it's going to fail.. However it looks like you've got multiple issues going on, specifically that you don't have all the parts that the engine is suppose to come with.. well all you can do is get those parts but even if you do, you still need to deal with your car running rich.

 

Before you start going all crazy on me, what I meant is how do I go about fixing it from running rich? Like spark plugs, wires, cap and rotor, and check timing?

 

That would be a start. Maybe that might address the possible misfire. The cat was also mentioned.

 

It also looks as if your cat is not having enough time to warm up, or it's toast and can no longer warm up at low speeds.

 

Yes.. Get a Helms manual or at least get a PDF version of the helms manual of the engine the car it came from. If you're serious about working on your own car, having the service manual would be invaluable to you. If you had a working OBD-II port, you'd be able to hookup something like a scan gauge to the car. This tool is helpful because it tells things like ignition timing and GPH which is helpful if you want to see if the car is using more fuel to idle than it should. I have no idea what you've mashed together with what but to me it sounds like a frankenstein setup. Just make sure you're using the ECU and engine wiring harness that was intended for that engine, otherwise diagnosis is going to be very difficult.

Since I'm in California as well, when I do a swap in my car, I'm going to try and keep it as stock as possible so I don't have to worry about wiring headaches like I've currently got with the cabin wiring harness. (Previous owner blew out a speaker and swapped the left and right speakers, it's a big mess)

 

you might be running too lean, and ls/vtec can't get BAR so you might be screwed, a tune would help you pass the sniffer but you would fail the visual

 

Thread is kinda old.