Well my daily driver 88 Civic DX needed smog at a test only this year. It passed the sniffer but they say my gas cap is bad and that my timing is at 13 instead of 18.
Now that isn't a problem to fix BUT, my NO readings were almost at the max at 15mph. Smog guy told me that it's most likely going to fail the sniffer after fixing the timing.

So, my question is, what needs to be done to lower the NO readings (more so at 15mph)? Or am I better off just getting the diagnostics done by someone. I'm low on money right now and my registration is done very soon

 

Make sure you have a fresh tune-up.
Check oxy sensor and cat.
That should do the trick.
Good luck

 

before i took my 88 dx to get smogged at a smog only place,,i put a new cat,,then while it was gettin tested the guy said the gas cap didnt pass but that he had a new one there that he could put on,,he did and i passed

 

Your NOx in this case will go down if you use less ignition advance. 16 BTDC is within the spec and you should be okay with that. Your HC may go up, but if you passed that with some room, you may be okay. If you're using a 16 year old catalyst, it may be due for a replacement...

 

Yea, I honestly have no idea if the cat has ever been replaced since I bought the car about 2yrs ago and everything was fine when I smogged it then.

I called some local places and they all told me my NOx number would go up and that i'll fail.

So basically, I'm going to follow one smog guy's advice and do the Consumer Assistance Program. Since the state made me go to a test only I'm eligible to pay only $100 and the state will cover up to $500 So once I have the approval notice, I'm just going to take it somewhere and let them have at it

Nice to know that I can get money from them since they're charging me so much for "modified emissions" on my GSR

 

will since you dont have much money here is a quick fix
- injector cleaner
- forward the timing to 14-15 tdc ( stock timing is 16 but u can can go up to 18 or low as 14 vice versa the higher the timing mostly means higher nox )
- get 2 bottles ISO HEET gas tank cleaner red bottle $$ 1.50 each
- some new spark plugs $10 (ngk )

for about 15 dolllars you should pass if your numbers are barely off , make sure to run the car pretty hard before you get to the tech (warm up the cat ) the injector cleaner will clean the the inectors and some carbon deposit , the ISO HEET gas tank clean is like pure alchol ( makes the car run clean , also theres some stuff called guareented to pass smog stuff at autozone that works pretty good for the money (no a miracle but does lower the smog numbers for a few dollars )
good luck

 

A $100 tip got me a certificate.