Advise on passing needed. Emission #'s inside

[Tori]

Definitely going to pull all the plugs, probably swap them out for the proper 43TS, and see if they tell me a story at the same time. Will probably do at the very least a compression test and maybe a leak down test while they are out.

I'm not sure i understand how to read the settings from the label and translate them to the Translator. Can you help me here ?

 

[RmvBfrFlght]

Note that the dark splotches on the plug is from oil. Likely being pulled through the PCV system. Could also be an intake manifold leak at a runner. If it is occurring at idle that will increase the HC level.

RemoveBeforeFlight

 

[Tori]

I think those are from the removal. I've got a sizeable oil leak from that valve cover, and there was oil pooled in the well of that plug. Most likely i bumped the sides where oil was. I'll be dealing with the leak AFTER the car is legal and driveable. If it were getting that much oil thru the system, i think the plug would show more of a build up. Plus, i get ZERO blue smoke. ( i realize the cat would be cleaning the exhaust, but there's not even any smoke on start up when the cat isn't working yet.

 

[ravege]

Not sure what all the different types of Translators are, I thought I had the basic version, and it takes a screwdriver to turn the dials. Yours looks like you can just grab and twist the dials. The dial on the left is base or idle, the right one is WOT. Your idle dial has the notch showing "4". Looking at the left picture you see that Base V6 Turbo column, 4 equates to 3" MAF, 10% rich. Twist the dial to show 3 to get it to no change or 5 for 10% lean at idle. You could probably leave WOT alone for now.

 

[Tori]

okay, i see that now. Thanks. But since i have the LT1 shouldn't i set it at the 3.5" setting for 10% lean ? #2 ?

 

[ravege]

I thought the lt1 was the 3"?

-Edit- Yes, LT1 is the 3", LS1 is the 3.5". If you do have the LS1, then you're settings could be really off, which is what happened to me.

 

[Tori]

Bloody hell, i'm my own worst enemy sometimes. Measuring the OD of the MAF, i get 3.25 So guess it's not 3.5 Okay.... moving right along.... I'll flip the switch for 10% lean and see what that gets me. Thanks for the help.

To Be continued....

 

[Tori]

Alright, i had the chance to take another reading today at lunch. Getting better, but still way away from passing at idle.

HC @550 which is way less than the 1200 we were at before switching the Translator to 10% lean.

making progress......

 

[Tori]

Pulled the plugs tonite. Nothing damming here. #6 is only slightly darker than the rest, but its slight.

Compression test has all cyls @165, and #5 @170

The only real thing i found here was the gap on these plugs is too narrow. most were about .030"

I'm going to swap in the proper R43TS plugs and gap them correctly at .035"

 

[Tori]

The Other thing I'm not too sure about is the fluctuation in the O2 reading from the Scanmaster. I don't know if this is normal or if the swing should be closer to the 441 all the time. I took a video of it and if you could watch this real quick, it's pretty short,let me know what you think please.

Sent from my iPhone

 

[ravege]

The smog chip will do that with your SM O2 readings compared to a non-smog chip (open loop vs closed loop thing, I think). How are your BLMs since adjusting the translator? IAC readings?

 

[Tori]

BLM's 148-150
IAC's 54

Checked fuel pressure tonite after work... dead nuts on at 38psi. (stock reg.)

 

[Tori]

Thought i'd swap on the stock MAF tonite and see what that gets me on the smog machine tomorrow. I'm getting desperate here, and am grasping at anything possible. It'll barely run with this damn thing. So i put in a stock chip thinking the emission chip wasn't compatible and that made no difference. Idle is rough, erratic and very low. Exhaust smell burns my eyes, O2 reading on SM is 100 and below at times. My K&N CAI won't fit with the longer MAF so i had to run it without a filter. Didn't seem to like that either, I put my hand over it which helped the RPM, but it still ran bad.

What's your thoughts on this ?

 

[ravege]

I feel your pain, it took me about 8 months before mine would pass. DMV will send you a nasty gram once then pretty much leave you alone until you pass. What was frustrating was I changed just about every fuel and ignition component on the car, costing a chunk of change, and probably didn't need to swap a single thing out except for the cat.

Couple things to try, and it might sound counter intuitive, but change translator to base setting and lower spark plug gap a little. Might be having a lean miss. O2 is a fairly cheap and easy thing to do as well. IAC still seems a bit high, are you still idling 950? Mine typically idles 800-825.

Have to ask, that fp reading is vac line off? Your LT1 MAF looks nothing like mine, I didn't know they came in different casings.

 

[Tori]

That FP testt was with the vac. line connected. Since my issue is at idle i wanted to make sure it wasn't getting too much fuel pressure. With it disconnected it was 47#

As for the MAF, that's just what the previous owner told me. I've put everything back on now and the car is back to running proper. ( TT Emission chip, LT1 MAF, CAI, )

Back to the drawing board....... If i could just keep the CAT hot at idle, i'd be good. FML right now!

 

[ravege]

That FP is too high. Normal TT chip is like 43 vac line off. I had Eric burn me a smog chip for the stock FPR, which is lower still.

 

[Tori]

This is a stock FP regualtor. Do you recommend i buy an adjustable one so i can bring the pressure down ?

 

[ravege]

That's way high and that might be your problem. My smog tech did not want an adjustable regulator on mine when he tested it. I ordered a smog chip from Eric and told him it was to be used with the stock fpr. If your tech is ok with an adjustable one, go ahead and put it on. If you didn't specify what kind of regulator you were using when ordering the smog chip, you might verify with Eric what fuel pressure you should set it to with line off.

-Edit-
I've read where people had problems with their return lines, kinked or some other sort of non-leak damage, and that will restrict flow back to the tank, raising fuel pressure in the rail regardless of what the fpr wants to do. It will be worst at idle and become less of an issue with rpm.

 

[Tori]

Thanks for the help here Ravege. I did in fact tell Eric which regulator i'm running, which is the stock GN Bosch unit. I think it says 208 on it. ( but i don't remember what his instruction was for FP ) I did some research here on regulators and see that a #237 is a common regulator to switch to. I can have a new one of those here by the end of the day, and was thinking of swapping that onto the car and see what that gets me. Your thoughts ?

 

[ravege]

The 233 is what came with the Buicks, the 237 came with TTAs. The 237s are more fuel pressure (33 vs 37?). That might be better than what you have now if your regulator is bust, but it would be best to have a chip to match the fpr, or vice versa.