Ever since I had the swap with the chipped ecu, I thought I would be running rich. So I went to smog my car today and failed. The tech said due to me running lean. Here are the results...



Here is the setup...

95 civic dx
B16 Sir2
Chipped Ecu (possibly Spoon)
Skunk2 Cam Gears - Intake at 0 & Exhaust is 2marks turned CCW (sorry not sure if thats + or - friend mechanic set it)
Cat is a Highflow w/ about 15K miles, no resonator
Aftermarket O2 Sensor, maybe Bosch
Apexi WS exhaust

All the following is Stock
Air Intake w/ K&N drop in filter
Exhaust & Intake Manifolds
Head & Block Internals (Except for Cam Gears)
TB
DX Fuel Pump
Fuel injectors
Fuel rail
FPR
NGK Spark plugs about 10K miles
Filled the tank up and added STP Fuel Injector Cleaner
Fresh Oil change with Mobil Synthetic


Like I mentioned before, Ive always thought I would be running rich instead. Exhaust fumes kinda smell like rotten egg a little. Tech also said perhaps the 02 is to blame. And maybe the Cat too, but it only has 15K miles. Also, I have a VAFC but havent had the chance to install it. Would hooking it up and giving it more fuel help? Please let me know what you guys think.

 

PS: So sorry about the pic size

 

One more thing. Prior to going down to the smog inspection, I pulled out the Kamikaze header and replaced it with the OEM header. Here is a pic of what it chambers looked like...

 

is your cat a three way cat? if i is not that you might need to go find an OEM cat and put it on...and alos take out your chipped/modified ecu and replace it with a stock one.

 

I dont remember if the cat is a 3 way. But i do know its a carsound highflow cat

 

When you have high NOx levels, they will tell you at the inspection station that it is due to High Combustion Temp Levels (which generally equals Lean Conditions)

A couple things you could do or might be wrong.

1st, for your next inspection, go out an buy some colder spark plugs, $2 ea. at an auto parts store. 2nd, retard your timing about 2-3 degrees...if they check it in your state, stay conservative and only retard two degrees.

Your Cat may be defective. I bought a new Carsound highflo from Kteller and it dropped my NOx levels from 2500 down to 107 or some crap.

Also, try a bottle of that gaurenteed to pass additive stuff. its about $15 but i give it a lot of credit for helping me pass. Fill your gas tank up with crap gas, 87 or 89 if you dont already, add the GTPE and run it until you are almost empty (1/8 of a tank). Buy 3 bottles of Heet Gas Line Antifreeze. Go to the inspection station and before you pull into line, add the three bottles of Heet to your tank. **** burns clean as hell. Also, turn up your idle a bit too, maybe 900-1100 after fully warmed.

Hopefully if you do everything except getting a new cat, shouldnt cost you $30 and you will probably pass. If you dont pass after that, most likely need a new cat.

hope that helps, keep us updated!

EDIT: Put the stock Intake back in if you have it as well!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by xenocron &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When you have high NOx levels, they will tell you at the inspection station that it is due to High Combustion Temp Levels (which generally equals Lean Conditions)

A couple things you could do or might be wrong.

1st, for your next inspection, go out an buy some colder spark plugs, $2 ea. at an auto parts store. 2nd, retard your timing about 2-3 degrees...if they check it in your state, stay conservative and only retard two degrees.

Your Cat may be defective. I bought a new Carsound highflo from Kteller and it dropped my NOx levels from 2500 down to 107 or some crap.

Also, try a bottle of that gaurenteed to pass additive stuff. its about $15 but i give it a lot of credit for helping me pass. Fill your gas tank up with crap gas, 87 or 89 if you dont already, add the GTPE and run it until you are almost empty (1/8 of a tank). Buy 3 bottles of Heet Gas Line Antifreeze. Go to the inspection station and before you pull into line, add the three bottles of Heet to your tank. **** burns clean as hell. Also, turn up your idle a bit too, maybe 900-1100 after fully warmed.

Hopefully if you do everything except getting a new cat, shouldnt cost you $30 and you will probably pass. If you dont pass after that, most likely need a new cat.

hope that helps, keep us updated!

EDIT: Put the stock Intake back in if you have it as well!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thanx for that info. But should I retard it 2 degrees from stock or from where it is at right now. According to the printout, my car is 15 BTDC.

Also, is this HEET stuff easy to come by? Not sure if I seen it on the shelves.

 

Hrm, well your HydroCarbons level seems pretty low, so that would say to me, that the fuel is burning very completely??

I wonder where the Carbon Monoxide and Nitrous Oxide comes from, in the theory of the combustion process. Do some research on that, see what it says.

Maybe if you had higer hydro-carbons, they would re-combine with some of the CO and NO, and lower the levels??

-PHiZ

 

You can pickup HEET at any Pepboys for $0.99 each. Hrm...I wonder if they stock it in warmer weather climates?

PHIZ...man you theorize too much Always thinking!

 

Ok guys, thanx for the replies. I picked up some Denso stock replacement plugs for NGK BKR6E-11. Autozone did not have the colder plugs available, NGK BKR7E-11. A friend of mine is gonna let me borrow his stock O2 sensor and see if that could help. Also im gonna buy some of that HEET, GTPE, Exhaust Manifold Gasket (reused the old one....see pic above). Timing Im gonna set back a few degrees from the current 15BTDC. But how would I go about checking the EGR? Not too sure if the SiR2 came with it nor where its located if any. I also have a B&M FPR but its not installed. Would increasing pressure help out at all?

Oh and one more thing. A day after I put the stock header back on, I got engine code 1 which was for the O2. I checked the resistance and manual said it should be from 10-40ohm. Sensor was at about 13, maybe its on its last leg.

Tomorrow friday I will have my second attempt. Wish me luck guys

 

Just and update...

I was not able to borrow an O2 so might have to wait til monday. But I did change out the sparkplugs. I was running on NGK PFR6L-13 for no more than 10K. They are laid out on the pic from 1-4 L-R. I replaced them with Denso K20PR-U11 which are the equivalent to the BKR6E-11. But since im going to wait til monday, maybe I can find some BKR7's.

Also, I put the B&M FPR and set it to 38psi from the 32psi I was running on.

 

According to reading - It appears you only failed the nox test. I looked over your HC, CO, and O2 reading they are low telling that you are not running lean or too rich. However, your HC is a little high generally it should be 10-20 parts per million(ppm) of idle. So, there is a slight possiblity of misfire occurring.
Bur far as your nox, I would try checking cooling fan operation, thermostat operation, ignition timing, or incorrect plugs(heat range).

Also check the operation of the EGR system. I vaccuum to the EGR valve and valve should stall. This might be your problem.

 

Well the CO is ok. The HC just got thru with 2 points to spare. But there is O2 in the system that should not be there. Im thinkin maybe the exhaust pipe gasket that goes to the cat is faulty. But I gotta bring down the NOX first. Next test is scheduled for monday. Stay tuned...

 

just retard the timing,take like 3-5 degrees out

 

What chip are you running? Could you go back to a stock program for the test?

 

Your chip may have pump up timing at light load maps , if you suspect the chip them take the cover off it and cut J1 ( jumper by rom ) , this will make it a stock ecu again . After the testing you can connect the jumper back if need to make it run from the eprom again .

 

haha, sucks for you all. oklahoma does not have required smog/inspections.

 

where are you located I have the hook up on where to get ur smog even if ur car won't smog anywhere else this guy will make it smog he's a little pricey but its worth it

 

Seriously dude, PM, use it.
-PHiZ

 

Well we-todd-did-racing is down. I was gonna post ANOTHER pic, lol. This one is of the EGR. It is not hooked up to any vacuum hoses. It does have the electrical 2 wire pluged in to it. However, the intake manifold does not have a place for the return of the EGR. B16's dont have EGR's

 

Installed an Autometer A/F gauge and im running lean like crazy. At first when the motor is at idle during warm up its rich. Then it would go between rich-stoich and a little lean. But the scary part is when im driving it would lean out. When step on the gas to gain speed it would barely see rich. Then when I reach the cruising speed I want (city or fwy), it would lean out and sometimes not even register. Damn this scares me cuz I dont know how long ive been running like this.

Still no O2 sensor replacement. But I did drop in some colder plugs, NGK BKR7E-11. I'll keep you guys posted, for those who care to know that is . And please keep the replies coming, all help is good help.

 

pop open the ECU, see if it has a socket, or if the chip is soldered to the board, and give me a shout, and I'll zip you out a stock chip, or something that will run a little better, etc. Gimme a PM, if you don't know what you're looking for.
Where did you get the chip that is currently in your ECU?
Pending the O2 sensor being completely spanked, it seems the chip is booty.
-PHiZ

 

Thank you phiz. I just got home from work (Graveyard ) and Ill check what chip I have. Its a chipped P28 I got with when I got the swap. The guy i boughted could not really remember what program it is. But he said it could be spoon. I opened up once and it said somethingSPEED I think. Ill PM you when I look at it.

 

Im keping tabs so keep us updated! Go with Phiz on this..he'll hook you up!

 

PMed Phiz. Chip is a "PROSPEED" chip. Thats all I know for now, im going to bed to dream about the perfect A/F ratio for my car