i've heard that adding a small amount of alcohol to the tank prior to testing will make you pass an emissions test. any truth to this?

 

I dont know about alcohol but i know in CT we've had luck going with an almost empty tank of 94, or even 100 unleaded race gas and then put some dry gas in as well.

 

Well, I wouldn't say it Will make you pass. It can help, though.

 

well actually i meant BLEACH and not alcohol (i had happy hour on the mind!!!)
i just failed my emissions--No ppm way over at both 15 and 25 mph.
i'm running a ZC,ZC ecu,i,h,e,hi-flow cat, and MSDal.
anybody in the NOVA area know of any testing stations that give "the hook up"????????

 

I think its ur high flow cat

and I am working on it

 

you can also get a bottle of those gurantee pass smog stuff at kragen...good luck

 

i tried the smog pass stuff and my hi-flow is less than a week old. i was running a straight pipe and got the new cat just for this damn emissions test.i'm gonna drive to richmond and back tomorrow and reduce the fuel pressure to lean it out as much as possible before the test. hopefully all goes well....

 

My guess is the hi-flow isn't getting hot enough. But then again, I've always heard the ZC is borderline anyway on emissions. Mine passed. But barely. Honda Cats I here take a while to get hot the high flows probibley are even harder.

I have the ZC with the ZC 4-2-1 factory header, stock (slightly tweaked to fit) DX airbox, stock DX cat & exhaust with the ZC ECU.

[Modified by virginia_dude, 10:14 AM 4/2/2002]


[Modified by virginia_dude, 10:19 AM 4/2/2002]


[Modified by virginia_dude, 10:25 AM 4/2/2002]

 

Most people I know that have failed in this area have done so b/c their car wasn't properly warmed up or they let it idle too long before the emissions test...

 

yeah, i ran into that lil' delima today. i ran it on the highway for a good hour this morning and then leaned it way out right before i got to the station. there were 2 people ahead of me and i didn't know weather to keep it running to keep the cat hot or to kill it so it wouldn't be idling for too long. i ended up keeping it on for about 15 min. i failed the test worse than i did before!!!!!! funny thing is the guy told me maybe the problem is that i was running TOO LEAN. i've always read that leaning the motor would help with the emisions.oh well...i'm gonna make an appointment next time,up the fuel pressure a lil,and drive it richmond and back or something...

 

20 miles should be sufficient...

 

i'm in the same boat... Just failed emissions with a high NOx. i hear that it can also be because the cylinder temp is too high. Which means a lean mixture would be the reason why you failed! My 15mph NOx was well below the limit but my 25mph was double the limit!

i'm thinking of going 2 steps colder plugs (i have the stock ones)
retarding the timing
and driving for a good 20 mins to warm the car

any other suggestions?

 

what exactly is NOx, my dad tried to DEQ his old 84 Prelude the other day and everything else passed except for the NOx. I was just curious what exactly it is and what can cause it to be high so i can try to fix the problem. Thanks



[Modified by JDMspecEG6, 10:27 PM 4/3/2002]

 

NITRIL OXIDE. thats where i'm failing too. running lean,bad cat, cylinder too hot,dirty injectors; can cause it to be to high,atleast that is what the emissions guy told me.
i'm gonna retest this weekend. i'll keep ya posted

 

Oxides of nitrogen are formed by high combustion temperatures- so anything that causes excessive heat will increase NOx- so anything that is causing a lean situation, or excessive timing, too hot a spark or spark plug, excessive carbon buildup- etc. can cause this. Could be a converter too.

 

And that is what the purpose of the EGR valve is for. It lowers Combustion tempratures and as a result NoX emmissions. Of course that assumes everything else is working as designed.


[Modified by virginia_dude, 8:16 AM 4/4/2002]

 

hmmm... is that what EGR stands for? Exhaust Gas Recirculation???

anyway.. is there a way to test that the valve is working properly? does it only open up after a certain rpm?

 

EGR flow is dependent on engine temp, load, and RPM. Most hondas used a vacuum type EGR valve- more recent hondas use an electrical lift valve. You can test the older valves with a vacuum pump.

 

The EGR feeds back some exhaust back into the intake this has the effect of lowering the combustion temprature and as a result the NOX emmissions.

 

Many Civics and Integras are not equipped with EGR valves.92-95 Civic Ex's and SI's don't have them.94-01 Integras don't have them. Anything that raises combustion chamber temps. to 2500 degrees or more will raise NOX through the roof. High combustion chamber pressure will cause high temps. High compression pistons, carbon build-up, and advanced timing all cause the combustion chamber pressure to go up.Another thing that can raise the temp. in the combustion chamber is a poorly operating cooling system.Still another cause of high NOX is too lean a mixture. To top it off, your catalytic converter has to be working properly, especially on non-EGR vehicles. Keeping your vehicle well maintained is the key to passing emissions tests.
One thing to note:with all of the mods that some of us are running, it's almost impossible to get our vehicles to pass. The states are also dropping the cut points(the highest point at which a vehicle's emissions are still passing) so it's getting tougher every day.

 

i just checked w/ the dealer and he said that was no EGR for a 90civc si.
is there one on a ZC ? if so, where is it? and if so, i'm gonna assume that you can used the one for the 89 teg ??????

 

NOx as in NAAAAAAWWWWWWCKS????
lol

 

just an update... i took my changes and guessed that my problem to high cylinder temps was a lean mixture. I bumped up my fuel 10% for 1-3K rpm on my vafc and retarded my timing as much as possible (while keeping a decent idle). I then drove into the emissions station and retook the test (it was free cause i failed the first time.. but the station manager was giving me a real hard time basically saying i really shouldn't be trying to 'fix' things etc...)

ANYWAY... I PASSED!!! but just barely... i'm talking i was at 99.99% of the limit for all three.

*phew*... at least i don't need to worry about it for another 2 years!