Failed Smog - need help
Chronic Tool Dropper
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Lifetime Rennlist
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 20,506
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From: Bend, Oregon
Not so wierd really. CO is a telltale of combustion efficiency, where a richer mixture makes more CO. If you take samples in front of the cats, you can easily use CO to set tuning ranges. Adding a little air via the cracked hose changes CO as the mixture leans out. NOx is formed when combustion temps reach a threshold around 2200º IIRC, and it's like opening a floodgate when you get there. The cars generally run with mixtures and timing programmed to stay just below that critical temp, so a small air leak may be all that's needed to push temps a tad too high. One weak injector can cause NOx to go way high, while the change in mixture at that one cylinder, diluted with the exhaust from the other seven, is barely a ripple in the CO reading upstream of the cats. Downstream CO readings are not usable as raw data, and only help if you know the history of readings and the cat doesn't deteriorate any between tests.


