Passed fine on NOX this time, but just barely squeaked by on HC.
Max limit is 130ppm, and the car tested at 129ppm.
That's a bit too close!
The test tech agreed that the converter should probably be replaced, based on the numbers out of the tailpipe.
SO....I now have until next April to get a converter, and install it.
Magnaflow never replied to my emails, and never called back like they said they would, so even if they make a converter that actually fits my car, I won't be buying one.
Walker makes one, and I'll probably get that one.
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What I've Been Up To....
Started this post on Monday, then came down with a head cold, which is now progressing South. Feeling better, but still a bit woozy...... To...
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A close pass is good enough to get you on the road to Colorado...
ReplyDeleteShe'll have to get smogged one more time before we move, and again in Colorado....
Delete"Hey Joe! I got a guy on the phone who wants to buy a catalytic converter!" (The guy was me. The year was 1982, when everyone was replacing their CCs with "test converters" that were hollow pipe.)
ReplyDeleteBack in 1975 and 1976, a common trick on GM cars was to remove the plug in the bottom of the converter and run the engine.
DeleteAll the pellets would blow out the hole, and then you'd put the plug back in, and have a low restriction exhaust.
The newer converters with the honeycomb cores aren't nearly as restrictive, so removing them doesn't "help" as much as most people think.
Glad you got that EGR mess fixed, sounds like it was a real bitch.
ReplyDeleteGotta love those fittings that have been on there for twenty odd years and through countless heat cycles.
I have destroyed several over the years trying to get them off.
As for the HC issue, Let me give you a five dollar trick for that.
Back in the 90's when I was at the dealership we used to get squeakers like that. Some that would fail by just a little bit on the HC.
I got many of those to pass by simply dumping a bottle of STP oil treatment in them.
I think it's a whole pint bottle, I didn't even drain any oil out.
Do this just before you drive to the testing station, it helps with the blow by past the valve seals and rings I guess.
All I know is that it worked repeatedly.
Now go drive the wheels off the damn thing!!
Oh, the parts came off just fine, which shocked the living sh1t out of me.
DeleteI figured the BIG nut on the inlet pipe to the EGR valve was going to be a real b1tch to get loose, but it broke loose with less than the expected amount of grunting, and came right off.
I should have pulled the studs out of the manifold before I pried the valve off, but hindsight is always 20-20!
Putting it all back together was fairly easy, too. The only fiddly bit was getting the BIG nut lined up with the threads on the valve to get it started, as there's not a lot of room back there. Once I had everything aligned, I put the studs back in, wiggled and jiggled things until the nut got started, then tightened down the nuts on the studs, and the BIG nut threaded right back on.
Not sure if the STP in the oil would help any. I doubt there's much blow-by, as it has 170psi compression in every cylinder, which is pretty damn good for an engine with 167,000 miles on it!
The plugs come out clean and dry, and it doesn't appear to burn any oil, although I haven't had new oil in it long enough to tell. I've barely put 1000 miles on it in the two years I've had it, but I've changed the oil and filter FOUR times now, each time running some Marvel Mystery Oil (great stuff) and/or a can of "crankcase flush" through it before I changed the oil.
Sounds like some cruising is in your future !
ReplyDeleteOh, YEAH!
DeleteSome serious cruising!
Thank God we don't have any of those inspections here. I doubt either my jeep or truck would pass one.
ReplyDeleteKommiefornia *used* to have a "rolling exemption", where after the car was so many years old, it didn't require a smog test any longer.
DeleteNow, the exemption has a cutoff model year of 1975, which is when catalytic converters came into wide use.
And one other really sneaky thing they did was to tighten the limits on older cars.
1985 cars like mine are now held to stricter limits than they were when new!
Frikkin bastards.....