Failed test (Houston). Help!

K

KeithB

New Member
Joined
Jan 5, 2003
Just failed my ASM emissions test in Houston. This is my first test as I bought the car last year. HC is double the standard, CO and NOX are okay. Here are the numbers:

------------------25 MPH--------------------15 MPH---------
-----------Standard---Reading---------Standard---Reading---
HC------------148-------292-------------152--------328
CO------------.94--------.61-------------.86---------.58
O2----------------------14.2------------------------14.2
NOX---------1047-------721-------------1146--------512
Dilution-------->6-------14.8-------------->6--------14.8

The car has a stock turbo, intercooler, and engine internals. Mods include blue tops, Red Armstrong 93 chip, Kirban regulator, Walboro 307 pump, 3" downpipe, 3" cat, and Hooker dual exhaust. The regulator is at 40 psi because the O2's were high (880) at full throttle with 45 psi fuel and 17 psi boost. In the last year I have put on new plugs (NGK UR5), new plug wires, new used coil and module (from RedRegalT), and a new crank position sensor. It had new PCV and EGR valves when I got it a year ago.

The engine has 138,000 miles and has never been into as far as I know. It uses about a quart of oil every 1500 miles but a lot of that goes on the ground (oil leaks). The car runs smooth on the road, but has always idled a little rough. I haven't run a compression or leak-down test, but the vacuum numbers look okay (16-18" at idle, 12-14 at 70 mph, 24"+ when closing the throttle from highway speed). I use WinALDL as my scan tool, but I haven't had it on the car in while. The last time I looked the O2 cross counts and BLM's were reasonable.

A couple things do bother me. The exhaust smells rich even when the car is good and warm. And the cat converter just doesn't feel much warmer than the surrounding exhaust.

Help !!!
 
More info

I forgot a few things. The car has a Translator and LS1 MAF. Also, within the past year I ran a can of Top Engine Cleaner through the engine and replaced the O2 sensor with a Denso unit.
 
Start with checking the tune of the car and proceed to O2 sensor speed (either verify crosscounts are correct or use a lab scope to verify speed). Also check the cat temps with a pyrometer. Will provide additional assistance Monday.
 
Been out of town for a few days, so no time to test. I decided to pull the spark plugs when I got back today. Four of the plugs were loose enough to unscrew by hand and had carbon buildup on the plug shafts above the threads (definitely not right). Five of the plugs had good color for a daily driver (slightly tan), but the rear one on the passenger side (#6, I believe) was almost brown. This was one of the loose plugs. The plug wires (MSD Heli-Core) all measured about 2.5 Kohms. That was after I repaired one, as the spark plug connector came off of #3 when I was trying to remove the wire. I will put my laptop on the car tomorrow and check O2 and other stuff.
 
Keith have you tried a emissions chip?

It made the difference in my car.
 
Emissions chip

No, I haven't gone the emissions chip or GTP additive or lower fuel pressure or any other trick route yet. I was trying to get it through without a bunch of changes. The car is not that highly modified, so it should pass. I do have someone that can burn me an emissions chip as a last resort.
 
I have one for a stock turbo and injectors, if you want to try it?

Let me know I can mail it to you and you can mail it back.
 
Cat info seems good. But a review of scan data looks like the car is running lean. I never see the readings go beyond 450mv, or even 350mv for that matter. Also from the looks of the BLM, the system is trying to subtract fuel, based on the low BLM numbers. Have you fixed the ignition probems yet? If not, that would explain the odd results.
 
Sorry, I forgot this was RAW scan data from WinALDL. The O2 readings need to be multiplied by 4.42 to get actual mV.

I don't think I have an ignition problem, other than the one plug wire I broke removing it. Just for grins I put in new plugs (AC CR43TS) and new plug wires (Morosso Blue Max 8mm). Also put in a 180 degree thermostat (it had a 160). Didn't help any on the WinALDL scans.

After looking at the average BLM table I posted, plus a couple other ones I ran this weekend, there is a general trend to be less than 115 for MAF below 24 and greater than 135 for MAF above 24. The average O2 reading for all MAF/RPM cells is runnng around 470 mV. I put my ATR Pit Bull chip in and the average BLM's were better (120 to 135) and the average 02 was closer to 500 mV. I am beginning to think the Red Armstrong chip is burnt wrong for my car (I bought it used).

Anyway, I got my hands on an emissions chip so I am going to try to pass with that.
 
Latest update. After the changes above, I also ran through a bottle of CRC Guaranteed To Pass, put in a smog chip burnt from files on GNTTYPE.ORG, set the fuel pressure to 30 psi, and used 87 octane for the second test (hoping it would burn faster). Failed again! Here are the latest numbers:
------------------25 MPH--------------------15 MPH---------
-----------Standard---Reading---------Standard---Reading---
HC------------148-------250-------------152--------259
CO------------.94--------.61-------------.86---------.58
CO2---------------------14.0------------------------14.1
O2-----------------------0.7-------------------------0.7
NOX---------1047------1295-------------1146--------589
Dilution-------->6-------14.6-------------->6--------14.7

HC went down a little, but the NOX doubled at 25 mph and is now also failing. The CO, CO2, O2, and dilution are basically unchanged. In my original post I had the CO2 numbers listed as O2. The O2's in the first test were 0.7 and 0.8.

Even with the emissions chip, the exhaust still smells like raw fuel at idle. This is my daily driver and the end of the month is tomorrow. I need to get this thing passed.
 
Passed! YES!

I replaced the cat and tested again today. It passed with flying colors! In fact it was so clean the machine stopped the test after only about 15 seconds. Here are the numbers:

--------------------25 MPH------------------------15 MPH---------
-------------Standard---Reading------------Standard---Reading---
HC--------------148--------24-----------------152---------35
CO--------------.94--------0.0-----------------.86---------0.0
CO2-----------------------14.9----------------------------14.9
O2-------------------------0.1-----------------------------0.1
NOX------------1047--------49---------------1146----------68
Dilution----------->6------14.9------------------>6--------14.9

The O2 is much lower number now, which is what you suggested. So at least I learned something through all this. Thanks for the help.
 
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