I failed emissions. they did an idle test cause they couldn't drive my car. I failed because of the hydrocarbons. I got a reading of 1944 and it should have been 220 or under. anybody have any ideas? I know I need a valve adjustment but could that be the only reason?

 

I doubt that's your problem, could try it though. Have a good cat? Just curious-why couldn't they drive your car?

 

the guy couldn't handle the 4puck. I don't know if the cat is bad or not. it might be pretty worn but why the high reading of hydrocarbons?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ivan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I failed because of the hydrocarbons. I got a reading of 1944 </TD></TR></TABLE>
1944 ppm of HC at idle would have me looking for a cylinder missfire. Sounds like one cylinder isn't running at all.

 

they are. I checked that by disconnecting all the injectors individually. I'm thinking my cat might be shot.

 

omg Ivan took his car to emissions Its prolly your cat dood. Did you put **** gas in it and run it pretty hard before the test? The cat works better after the car has been driven hard and lower grade gas burns quicker...if you didnt do that it should help.

 

I can't put **** gas in unless you want my car to blow up. I'm leaning towards the cat since my car is actually running lean everywhere else

 

anybody else?

 

my car failed because of the high hydrocarbon levels too. my car at the time had 128k miles with the original cat so I just replaced it with a new hi-flow cat and my car passed. this was on a dyno and in the "high smog area" california is known for. just my .02

 

what was your HC level? Mine is extremely high. standard is 220 and i got 1944

 

help me

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ivan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what was your HC level? Mine is extremely high. standard is 220 and i got 1944 </TD></TR></TABLE>

I forgot the exact numbers but I do remember it was 3 or 4 times higher then a maximum limit allowed.

 

so its kinda like my numbers huh? I'm replacing the cat tomorrow.

 

bump

 

I changed my catalytic converter even though my old one was in good condition.

 

They have emission in Japan too? I thought it's "drive what you brung" country.

 

haha I'm not in japan. its a joke. I'm in IL

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ivan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I changed my catalytic converter even though my old one was in good condition.</TD></TR></TABLE>
How much was it? Why did you replace it if there was nothing wrong with it?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chiovnidca &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
How much was it? Why did you replace it if there was nothing wrong with it?</TD></TR></TABLE>it was a universal one and I did all the work(cutting and welding). It can only help and not hurt me right? I figure it had to lower some of the emissions.

 

1944 HC's? A new cat can only do so much; you need to fix the cause of your misfire. Compression and spark would be the first two things I checked. Then check for an extremely lean mixture, if all else is o.k. Your car must not run too well, at least at idle!

 

what would cause a misfire? Doesn't the high hc mean its not burning all the gas right? well they only did an idle test. my idle isn't that bad. it stays pretty steady. The only thing I fixed from that day was a nipple in the intake manifold that wasn't plugged(its the nipple for the cruise but its disabled). I plugged that up and my idle is alot better. I don't think that would have cause a high hc. My car has been running lean up up top but I don't think my lack of higher flow injectors would cause the high hc's at idle

 

cause of misfire: a weak coil or other ignition component.

 

would a coil go out just like that? Does anybody have a pic of the coil?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Ivan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what would cause a misfire? Doesn't the high hc mean its not burning all the gas right? well they only did an idle test. my idle isn't that bad. it stays pretty steady. The only thing I fixed from that day was a nipple in the intake manifold that wasn't plugged(its the nipple for the cruise but its disabled). I plugged that up and my idle is alot better. I don't think that would have cause a high hc. My car has been running lean up up top but I don't think my lack of higher flow injectors would cause the high hc's at idle</TD></TR></TABLE>
HC's are raw, unburned fuel. CO is the product of incomplete combustion-i.e. a very rich mixture.
That vacuum leak you plugged could account for a lot of your HC's, it would cause a lean misfire in one or more cylinders.

 

well I have good compression. I'm getting spark in all cylinders. Would it still be my coil?