Crazy Eddie

I kinda did that but there was a few minutes were the car was just idling... When the tester was setting things up ...

FRporscheman

Yeah, it's been near freezing! brrrrr

When I use a little E85 (actually, denatured alcohol) for smog tests, it lowers CO and HC while raising NO.

Maybe it's a little lean. Can you try tuning it to be richer?

Crazy Eddie

We originally leaned out the car from where it was, (before the test thinking that might be the cause of the high HC numbers I got on the orig. passed smog test below ??
i.e. instead of leaving it at 14.7 and 14.5 we changed it to 14.7 to 15... ish
And I failed with hight NO numbers
So now we went back to 14.7 - 14.5 ish thinking it was too lean hence causing the high NO #'s

On the e85, Oh crap ... I thought it would do the inverse ( by cooling the exhaust )
I didn't put it in yet ....
Right now I am now changing the plugs ( they don't have a 1000 miles on them )
I am trying to do whatever I can to eek out a pass...
Also I am changing the oil ( same mileage as above )
Below is the latest smog test ( which I failed ) and the one from a little over a year ago ( which I just passed notice the HC was pass by one !) That was with a different cat ( orig stock ) vs the new one I am using
None of this **** makes sense ....

Laust Pedersen

A well-functioning cat likes to have a little HC (stoichiometric or a little richer) to work with in order to heat up.

I would suggest installing a WBO2 system and put a switch on the narrowband O2 sensor blocking the signal to the DME on demand.
With the wideband you can get a good estimate of the probability of passing the smog test (good if it is near stoichiometric) and the switch can be used to see how close the base map is to stoichiometric. If the base map is too far away, the closed loop configuration (NB connected) will not be able compensate.
When the NB sensor is disconnected the DME internally creates a 0.5V signal, so it does not do any compensation.

I can also recommend training your nose to detect a well-functioning cat … seriously. It has saved me a couple of times by smelling the need to go for a brisk ride before the actual test.

Laust

FRporscheman

I'm no expert but I think if you go back to the richer setting (which resulted in 0% O2 on your previous test) you will pass with your newer cat. Get a pretest!

And good luck with this retarded California smog rubbish.

PEvans

I checked my records, and after 18 months my DEC cat was at 795 ppm NOx at the low speed test (but plenty of room at the high speed), so maybe they just don't last very long.

See if the NOx comes down with AC on (so all the radiator fans are running) and the hood down to channel the air through the engine compartment. Or go see Jeff.

PEvans

You've got that right. I thought I had it figured out and have posted here a lot on the smog topic. Now I realize I didn't and don't have it figured out.

Crazy Eddie

As Murphy would have it my AC is disconnected ( need a new compressor ) so I can do that
Pete, did you use your cat just for smog test only, or do you run it all the time .. Reason I ask is that this CAT was only used for one test, so I was expecting no issue ...
I was obviously wrong

Yea sadly the idiots are running the show here ...

Crazy Eddie

Hi Laust
Sorry I missed this post
Hope all is well
Actually I have the ZT2 wideband and have it tuned to 14.7 bouncing to and fro to 14.5 now .. The failed test it was a little on the leaner side so I am hoping with the new plugs, richer mixture an oil change, and a litte E85 I may squeak by
Regards
Ed

PEvans

I ran the cat in my example.

Crazy Eddie

Wow ... that is crazy ,,, I could be in big trouble ...

odb812

Eddie, I'm trying to get my car through CA smog too and I've got a lot of the same stuff as you(I'm the guy with the Baltic Blue car that was FS at Parts Heaven this summer). How did you get through visual? It looks like the VR MAF doesn't have a CARB cert on it.

Crazy Eddie

The tech was Stevie Wonder
How are ya ....? I guess you didn't sell your car ...
I am adding to my list of changes ... now I am going to change the O2 sensor as well
So I did
Plugs
Oil and filter
O2 sensor
going to heat the cat up more
and maybe e85 ...

Dougs951S

As already stated earlier in this thread, e85 will raise NO, seems counterproductive to what you are trying to do. Have you checked for any small exhaust leaks, such as by the waste gate and where the collector meets the crossover?

lejams

To pass in Georgia w Vitesse Stg.ll, Have done a couple things over time; goal to reduce combustion temps producing crazy high NOX. Lowered the fuel pressure w/ the AFPR and passed for many years. But in 2012 for some reason, that wasn't working even w/ a new CAT, so the guy running the machine ran the test in a higher gear/lower RPM to reduce combustion temps & it passed.