Ok guys. I visited the smog referee last week with my jdm h22a in attempts to get my BAR sticker. Well I ended up failing both the visual and emission tests.
Now I failed visual because I was missing a starting air valve on my intake manifold. That's no big deal cuz I can easily get that valve. Stupid h22's have so many valves and vacuum lines going everywhere .

Anyways, the emissions test results concerns me. Here were my results

15 MPH: HC Max-121 Meas-191 CO Max-.76 Meas-.61 NO Max-807 Meas-3538!!!! GROSS POLUTER

25 MPH: HC Max-96 Meas-96(Close one) CO Max-.65 Meas-.20 NO Max-746 Meas-496 PASS

I need your guys help. I failed the 15mph test pretty badly, especially with NOx. What can I do?

Heres my setup:
jdm h22a
EGR system hooked up
No CEL
AEM 92-96 Prelude short ram intake
Greddy 92-96 Prelude Vtec SS Header w/ modified collector to 2.5" (The ref didn't say anything about this)
2.5" Carsound cat (only 6 months old)
2.5" custom exhaust
Del Sol Vtec Dual Core Radiator
USDM P13 ECU
Stock integra LS fuel pump (I had a walbro 255lph pump in there but I swapped it out for the test cuz my fuel pressure was at 50psi with it in there)

Keep in mind this is the Cali BAR referee so I don't think I can mess with my timing or fuel pressure. They check the timing and adjust it if it is off, I'm pretty sure about that. So does anyone have any ideas on what I can do to pass? What if I ran 87 octane just for the test? Do I need a new cat? What if I put a second cat on? Will the ref trip over this? Will a second cat even do anything? Is my 2.5" collector and exhaust the reason I failed?

I know high NOx if from running too lean or too hot, but I failed HC too on 15mph test. I passed the 25mph test though, well barely with HC. I need your guys help!!!

Thanks.

 

In looking at your readings I notice two things:
#1- you are not running lean, so your sky high NOX is not due to a lean mixture.
#2-your readings are higher than normal across the board, indicates that your cat is taking a dirt nap ("he's dead Jim !").
Things to check: cam timing-one tooth can make all the difference, retard ignition timing- go about 4 degrees retarded, (they don't adjust it during the test-only check it-if it is too far advanced, it fails the timing functional check). Run premium fuel, lower octane fuel will cause higher NOX.
Apply vacuum to your EGR valve while the car is idling-it should stumble and possibly stall. If you apply vacuum to the EGR valve and nothing changes, your EGR passages may be plugged. Good luck.

 

Yup, sounds like cat. Also, do this, as it's proven to work on my cars when I had to smog them (and even when I took my B18A CRX to the smog ref back in 98). Take the throttle body off and clean it out good with some carb cleaner and a rag, and whipe it clean. Also, reach into the intake manifold as much as you can and whipe that clean as well. For some reason, during an initial pretest, a mechanic I knew told me to do this and what do you know, it dropped the HCs and NOs by quite a bit. I know the smog ref does check the timing, as they put it on the BAR sticker, but I don't know if they care if you have a 2nd cat. With the GReddy headers, drive the car around for a good 20-30 minutes in high rpms (like 4500+) just to keep the headers nice & hot, and then go to the smog ref. If the headers are cold when he tests it, it won't help the cat and your NOs will be too high. When I've gone twice to the smog ref station, they only run your car for like 2 minutes, and that's after they've already started with 5-10 minutes of visual inspection first so make sure your headers & cat are warm when you go.

 

Thanks alot guys. I'm gonna check to see if my egr valve is clogged. I'm also going to clean my throttle body and inside the intake manifold before the test.

Do you guys really think I need a new cat? It's only 6 months old. I did drive the car for about 30 minutes on the freeway pretty hard on the way to the ref, but when I got there, they made me wait for like 20 minutes before they pulled my car in the back. I turned the car off when I got there cuz I got there at the exact time my appointment was for, and I figured they would pull it around right away, but they made me wait. Do you think that's why I failed then, cuz my cat cooled down too much? Or should I get a new one?

 

Anyone else have any input?

 

Well I dunno how it works in CA, but everytime I get my car done, I let the thing freakin idle for a good 30 minutes while I'm waiting.

You want it as hot as you can possibly get it.

Especially if you've got an aftermarket 'high flow'....the hotter, the better!

 

Idling will not heat up the cat, it will actually cool down. Drive the **** out of it if you want the cat good and warm.

 

It won't get HOTTER, you're right, but it's not going to cool down like it would with the car OFF.

It won't get 'cool' though by any means.

 

Here is my test result:

15MPH HC: 208 (Fail) CO: .70 (Pass) NOX: 2714 (Fail)
25MPH HC: 159 (Pass) CO: .60 (Pass) NOX: 2288 (Fail)

The interesting thing is that on my inspection sheet the reference engine is 1500 cc engine. I'm wondering if the BAR is for 1500CC and 2200CC engine would make more smog and therefore, fail most tests. I'm in Texas and my H is also failing the smog test. Bummer! I dont' thing your 2.5 inch exhaust is the problem I'm running stock civic exhaust and still getting the high NOX reading. I think that my problem is too much NOX and Low RPM feul mixture. Seems like you are failing at about the same spot. Low RPM HC and NOX at High RPM. Mine pass low RPM NOX but fail at High RPM. I'll let you know if I find fix. Thanks

 

Here is what I've found so far. Excessive HC ... misfire and feul remains in the combustion chamber; also at the same time an increase in o2 and reduction in CO2 (exactly what mine is doing at 15MPH -- I don't see your measurement for Co2 and O2), a weak coil, ignition component problem.

Excessive CO ... too rich a A/F mixture. CO is created when combustion takes place but too much CO means too much feul. My CO level is low and both 15-25MPH test pass. Yours looks like it is also passing. Mine is .7 and .6 below normal and pass, i.e., not a rich or too much feul problem. (at least the gas analyzer doesn't think so.)

lastly, NOx: Excessive NOx is caused by high combustion temp. the following is a quote of one of the automotive tech site. "The rich problem should not be the cause of the high NOx reading unless it took out the catalytic convertor already. High NOx means high combustion chamber temperatures. If it's running rich all that extra fuel should be cooling down the temperature, not raising it. An inop EGR valve will cause high NOx."

Looks like we both have excessive level of NOx. I know for a fact that I blocked off my EGR valve with at metal plate. A leading cause of high NOx reading is EGR not functioning. NOx is cause by excessive heat in the combustion chamber: possible causes of heat are: raditor: I'm still using the 1.5L civic radior (small half of the size of H raditor --BAD) Cooling Fan, Thermostat stuck, Here is one that will fall in line with my CO reading EXCESSIVELY LEAN A/F mixture. (still using Civic fuel pump -- perhaps not enough pressure to the injectors) O2 sensor, Spark Timing -- (I'm checking mine and retarding it some) and Carbon deposits on intake valve.

Well that's all I've found. Hope it helps you as it did me. I'm doubting that it is a problem with being rich A/F mixture. The data from the inspection station seems to point to Heat, ignition, and too lean A/F. Thanks.

 

Hmmm. Running too lean might be what's happening, but I did pass the NOx at the higher rpm test. Running my 255lph pump puts my fuel pressure up to about 50psi with the vacuum hose still attached to the fpr. I think that's too high of a fuel pressure at idle.

It's like my egr didn't work for the lower rpm test. I dunno. It could be sooo many things. I'm just gonna put a new O2 in, clean my egr valve, clean the carbon buildup in the throttle body and intake manifold, maybe header wrap my collector, drive the **** out of my car right before the test and PRAY.

Thanks for all your help guys. I'll keep you updated civic7 on how the retest goes.

 

PASSED State inspection today. The NOX number looks great. I un-blocked my EGR that fixed the NOX problem. Retard the timing 1 degree and she passed with flying colors.