Ayudame with your knowledge, amigos!
I converted my 94 vx from CA to Fed in 7/08. To my surprise, the conversion went off without a hitch. I went from low to mid 40s to averaging 51mpg in my mostly city commute. (me=very happy). When I did the conversion, I made sure to shield the wiring. I also left the original 4 wire plug intact so I could switch back if need be.
In 10/09, it came time to get smogged again. I wasn't able to pass in Federal mode. It came down to crunch time, and I swapped the ECU and o2 sensor back to CA versions, and passed no problem. I love the mpgs of Fed mode, but don't want to be a
gross polluter! Could you guys help me figure out what's going on?
Original test in Fed mode:
Tune up- cap, rotor, wires, plugs ZFR4F-11, air filter
Replaced Bosch L1H1 wideband o2 sensor with NTK L1H1 wideband o2 sensor. Ran tank very low then added a little 100 octane gas at Smog shop's recommendation.
Finally I ran out of time and put the old CA L01 ECU and 4 wire CA o2 back in and passed no problem
Subsequently, I checked my soldering/wiring, redid my ground with a nice gold ring term (not sure what it's called exactly), and tried an A00 ECU instead of A01. Just by giving it the sniff test, I can't say I've noticed any improvement in Fed mode emissions.
My only small suspicion is that there is about an inch of exposed wiring without shielding at both ends of where I did the new wiring. Could that be enough to mess me up? Lean burn mode is still working very well; I notice with pedal feedback and acceleration and also by my mpguino.
The car has 220K miles on it, but runs really really well. There is not suspicious behavior with the car that would make me suspect any problems had I not failed smog.
Also, does anyone have any recommendations how I can accurately check my emissions for cheap now that I don't need to get my car smogged? The sniff test I'm sure is very bad for me and also inaccurate. It was nice finding a smog place that wouldn't charge me until I passed, but I ran out of time.
Thanks in advance!