Not sure if this is the right section to post, but I just failed my smog test today at 15mph. The HC max is 66 and I read a 116 and the NO max is 487 and I read at 2591. I just got the car less than a week ago and so far just sea foamed the car through the brake booster vacuum. Iwas told at the place that smogged my car to check the egr valve, but i Don have 1 on this car

ONLY mods are a carb legal short ram arm intake and carb legal 2 piece pace setter headers.

Any suggestions where to start? I'm in California and trying to complete my smog to finish my transfer of sale registration.

TIA


1998 HONDA CIVIC EX EJ8 COUPE

 

http://www.smogsite.com/calculators.html#lambda
Plug your test results numbers into the lambda calculator to see if you air/fuel ratio is off greatly. If it isn't your cat it probably just old and tired.

 

After I failed, I sea foamed the car again (Brake Booster line x2 total), replaced spark plugs, wires and distributor cap and rotor that looked worn out. Opened the valve cover and no build up. Put in a bottle of fuel system cleaner in my tank, so I have to run it down close to E before another test.

I'm thinking if it's the purge valve, or pcv valve or the cat or o2 sensor or sensors, since the car's mpg seems a lot lower than it should be. Also does the rear o2 sensor do anything more than just reading and sending a signal to the ecu that the cat is functioning?

The reason I failed: The guy said the car wasn't burning fuel. Car has 173,xxx miles.

 

I put in my results and this is what I got. If I read it right I'm still in the acceptable limits. So would this rule out the o2 sensors as a problem?

 

Well the good news it your cat is working.... Stop sea-foaming your car, it's full of ketones which burn way too hot.

Usually this happens when you're not getting a clean burn, most likely in one cylinder, which means your O2S is compensating the rest of the cylinders but one is still burning lean. Check the spark plugs, if this is the case then one will be white and the rest black.

Most importantly, check thoroughly for vacuum leaks, especially at the injectors and intake manifold.

Since you replaced the exhaust, make absolutely sure you have no exhaust leaks. This will definitely throw off your primary O2.

If you're still not passing, do a compression and leakdown test to rule out leaky valves or rings.
Make sure your distributor timing (or cam timing) isn't advanced.
Drive the car off a cliff and start over.

 

all of this is pretty spot on.
I also strongly recommend doing a valve lash adjustment. valve lash being out of spec will wreak havoc on emissions tests due to the cylinders all running unevenly.

 

Thanks, so far after the 2nd sea foam, change of plugs, wires, dizzy cap, rotor (looked bad). It was running a lot better, but still changed the primary o2 sensor (wasn't getting hot after a long drive) also changed the pcv valve which looked bad, did an oil change, checked the purge valve and no air is coming out when blowing into it and has consistent pressure and I put guarantee 2 pass in the tank and filled up and now having a hard time to burn through the tank. The car drove smooth no hesitation or stalling but the gas mileage before was bad, I knew it had to of been either burning fuel or the fuel leveler was acting up, but I been out of it, because I needed an alignment to get smog done but no one would align my car because how low it is and it took 2 days to find a place and just wanted to finish my registration and get smog done, I don't know why I even took it for smog.

But, right now mpg seems high even though I been shifting later, trying to hit vtec to burn gas, but not emptying the tank.

Should I be good now or should I have my timing checked?

 

Do all the things we said to do, and stop putting additives in your tank. It burns hot and adds extra NOx which you clearly can't afford to add if you want to pass.
If you're not able to do all those things yourself, have a mechanic do it for you.
There's a 0% chance you'll pass right now since the problem hasn't been repaired.

 

In my last post I said I replaced:
spark plugs
spark plug wires
distributor cap
rotor
1st o2 sensor
pcv valve
oil change
checked the purge valve (holds pressure no leak)
Going to clean my AEM dry flow filter with the proper solution later today.
Fixed exhaust leak before my 1st smog

Just waiting to burn this tank of gas and get the cleaner out. So besides the cleaner still in the system (1st and only time I put additives in my tank), that I wouldn't get tested with it in anyway, why are you saying I have a 0% chance to pass? What am I missing still?


Just did a valve adjustment, ignition timing and cleaned my air filter with the right cleaning spray.