Smog gods frown upon me - gotta be minor...

[yurtle]

Here's the deal - trying to get my 88.5 project on the road. Got all the minor stuff done, it is up and running fairly strong except for a few annoying slaps and rattles. The last time it was registered for the road expired 4/97, so it sat around for a looong time before I started in on it.

So far, basic tuneup, valve adjust, general cleanup, etc.. Passed everything but idle HC - came in at double the allowable emissions, 8 times average. 241 HC at 984 RPM idle.

Compression is low at 140 but even across all 4. I just want to get the reg straightened out to avoid hassles mnoving it around as I build.

I am thinking that I should:

Drain the tank and make sure fuel is fresh
Check coil and make sure spark is hot
Check all ignition components (again)
Replace cat (hate to do that before header is on)

Any other tips for reducing Idle HC?

Thanks,

Brian

[drtfun4x]

not an expert but i had a toy that faild bad all i did was replace the cat and o2 sensor took it back to the same place that it faild at this time no problem all clean just like a new one. just food for thought <IMG SRC="smilies/jeep2.gif" border="0">

[MICK]

New Cat !!! Make sure they smog it as a truck not a car.

[yurtle]

I think you are right, Mick. Can you expand on the difference betweeen smogging it as a truck vs. car? I was thinking that the class of vehicle is pretty well established by computer system they use.

[wenchin]

you may want to check timing. make sure it is not retarded.. but it think that if your cat was needing replaced it would have failed more than just idle test. but make sure you arent robbing it of air... if you have a fram air filter throw it out and put like a penzoil or something else in it... fram breath harder than most others..get more air into the motor....

[suzuki w/the HEAT]

you guys come up with the funniest shit. retarded timing drops h.c. turn idle up to 1100rpms exactly and don't go over. take a can of carb cleaner and run motor up to 3000rpms and spray in carb throat.then recheck idle.set timing to 7deg.befor tdc and recheck idle.if that dosn't work replace cat. it has nothing to do with not enough air. not enough air would make it so it wouldn't go above idle. you can suck enough air through my pee hole to idle a sammy. if it was restricted air flow it would be low hc and high co. also when you are sitting in line for a smog run the motor at 2500rpm's until they do it to warm the cat. tell the tech to keep it on the throttle stick to keep it hot.not my 2cents just facts.

[fatkid]

"keep it hot" right, thats why you have the heat......... <IMG SRC="smilies/rolleyes.gif" border="0">

[Azrckcrawler]

Had problems getting mine past smog despite having a rebuilt engine and all sorts of new emmisions related parts. First time I failed it was by .05 NOx, and then after some "fixes" I doubled the NOx. What worked for me and one other guy was to put 2 bottles of Heet in a half tank of gas and then back out the screw under the gas pedal so you can't floor the car. It'll still drive fine but it keeps the secondaries in the carb from coming on and cuts down on all emmisions big time. Mine were almost nothing after doing this, same with my friend. They tested mine for 22 seconds and then stopped, it passed easily. previous tests lasted for 3-10 minutes of driving.

[scottz]

read this: http://www.visi.com/~rhayman/smog_fa...reconditioning

if you don't understand it you probably shouldn't be goofing with your emmissions equipment

[blksammy1986]

I don't know where you are having your sammy smogged but putting a new cat in will not help. I have a straight pipe through my cat and I pass just fine. If you have 140 PSI across the board you bottom end is proply not the problem. Check you idile circuit on your carb. make sure the switchs are are working correctly. A factory shop mannul will give the numbers you need to test all the curcuits on the carb; and if that checks out ok. have a pressure test done. you may have a leak in the head throught a value steam seal. if all else fails take out your airfilter that helps some. and also test you o2 sensor the numbers for that curcuit are also in the shop mannul

[scottz]

"keep it hot" right, thats why you have the heat.........

by keeping the RPMs high for a few minutes before the test will help to keep the cat at operating tempature and burning. Your cat doesn't do $hit until it reaches operating tempature. Some vehicles that are borderline will pass if you do this, I've stood next to a dude with a smog licence and watched this make my junk pass.

I don't know where you are having your sammy smogged but putting a new cat in will not help. I have a straight pipe through my cat and I pass just fine

smog check in nevada is a joke, my freind that moved up there recently took every one of his not-passing-the-cali-smog vehicles up there and was able to smog them in reno without any trouble. They lower the allowable limits constantly here in order to keep a certain percentage of the vehicles failing. Some cars that would have passed as few as 2 years ago will not pass right now.

[fatkid]

I know I'm just being a clown. <IMG SRC="smilies/smile.gif" border="0">