Failed Smog - 92 Civic DX - High HC, CO, and Super High NOx

[AaronMartinSole]

Originally Posted by Rusty94cx

I though it's been a long time since I lived in Cali that you could go to somewhere and if it was over 500$ to fix you got a waiver. It could be a bad head gasket are you using any coolant? If so then it's going somewhere. Cats usually get to plugged and melt. They clog. See if you get good pulses of exhaust out the back. Check you vacccum you might have a tired motor. So happy no smog check in my county. If you have black smoke out the tail pipe it's not lean its rich. In complete combustion.

Coolant is full. Read a trick somewhere saying to hit the cat with a mallet to get some stuff loose, then go full throttle to clean it out. Don't know if that was serious or a joke, but I'll try anything.

[!!!] Found an exhaust leak. Put a rag in the tailpipe, checked under the car and under the hood, and found an exhaust leak right after the cat where it connects, where the gasket should be. Looks like I'm going to be replacing that gasket. But would that exhaust leak really make a difference, and also it being after the cat? I know nothing about anything.

I read somewhere on the internet (lol) this person replaced their cat and still failed. They found an exhaust leak, changed a $3 gasket, and then passed. Boggles my mind. I don't know if an exhaust leak can cause 3000+ NOx readings, but I know I've got one, and I'll be changing that gasket.

I've got to read up on checking vacuum. I'm planning on doing a compression test and putting the tester where the O2 sensor goes. I have no idea what I'm doing. Yeah!

[some_other_dave]

Did change the plugs/wires/cap/rotor? Misfires can send your emissions through the roof...

-soD

[AaronMartinSole]

Pull plugs. One was cracked. Wire for that one was stuck on and messed up too. I'll be getting new plugs and wires tomorrow, but I doubt that'll help my NOx readings, lol.

Did a compression test and it was good. 160, 165, 162, 161. Pretty happy about that. Should I have kept my foot on the pedal? because I didn't do that. Lol. I'm curious if you could estimate the number of miles on a car based on it's compression test results. Because that's the heart of a car, the most expensive and most important right? Engine and transmission. If I could have one thing it'd be a good, healthy engine with high compression numbers. I don't know the true mileage of this car. Did a VIN check and there's some weird exempt stuff and one past reading is like ten or twenty thousand miles higher than what the current odometer is showing.

Going to try to do some testing on my catalytic converter. Knock it with a mallet to see if anything's loose. Check to see if it's clogged somehow, might need to buy a gauge or something ;(. Going to replace the thermostat, it's $8-20. Still have no idea what's causing the white smoke. Maybe I'll do some radiator tests and check for bubbles and stuff like that. I'm running out of ideas. It'[s all over the place.

[some_other_dave]

Does the white smoke smell sweet? If so, it's coolant. Which means a blown head gasket or possibly worse.

Compression numbers sound good. Yes, you should have kept the throttle open, but don't stress too hard on it.

-soD

[Rusty94cx]

Yes white sweet smoke is bad. Coolant. You aren't using any? Hmmm hook a vacuum gauge up. Tee it off of any vacuum line after the throttlebody. It will tell you if your valves are adjusted properly among other things. Your compression is good and as long as the test was done all the same. throttle Always floored or always closed. You do have a new air cleaner in there right? Yes a new cat won't make you pass if it's not the problem.

[AaronMartinSole]

So I replaced the thermostat, and the car seems to warm up much more quicker now. Lol, or it means that the gauge is working properly or something I don't know. Pretty sure my radiator fans aren't working. I checked the connections hoping it was just corrosion and that I could clean it and be fixed. But they were fine.

Is there a way to rig the fans to run on all the time, like shorting it out with a paperclip or something? Or at the very least, use a paperclip or multimeter to test it? I guess I gotta do some more reading on that. Fuses seemed fine but I know nothing.

Just took off my catalytic converter. Here's my sweet Catalina:





Turns out this is my catalytic converter, which is aftermarket, for $100 on this site: http://www.maxautosupplies.com/CATCO...rs-65004R.html

So... what do I do now? Can I clean it with a garden hose? Or uhh, maybe hit it with a mallet to see if anything comes rattling out? Or buy a new really cheap $50 one if that exists? But of course the question is begged, what if my cat is fine, and replacing it does nothing, and I still fail? Lol, I'm an idiot.

One question, what does 7/12 mean? Because if it means what I think it means, and if those things are weld marks, I'd say the previous owner just had this put on. This car failed smog in May and July of last year, then passed in September of last year, 2012, just 4 months ago. So if my suspicions are correct, either A.) The cat is fine and there's another issue or B.) The cat is bad because the cause of the emission problem was never solved, or C.) The cat is bad and the cause is also still there as well. I just don't know, but I'm willing to blow a $50 cat onto the car if I can find one that cheap. But that'll probably need welding which is something I don't have the means to do... I just don't know.

[AaronMartinSole]

So I just finished doing 4 tests.

1st Test - Infrared Thermometer before and after cat. (good cat should be around 100F hotter after the cat.)

So I just temperature tested my cat, right before and right after it. It was pretty consistently getting about 30 degrees F cooler after the cat. Maybe I wasn't pointing at exactly the right place, but I think I'm right in saying it was generally cooler after the cat.

So I think the cat is bad and I'm very likely going to get a new one.

2nd test - Vacuum Gauge where the PCV valve goes into.



19 inches of Hg (mercury). Gauge says that's good, and Holley Performance says a steady reading between 16 and 22 inches Hg is normal for most stock engines.

3rd Test - Vacuum/Pressure Gauge into O2 Sensor at exhaust manifold?

This one I'm not sure about. Maybe I didn't do it properly or use the right tools or just did it wrong somehow. Tried both my pressure gauge and my vacuum gauge, with the car idling and with some throttle. No change at all. I read that it's possible that if there's little or no change in readings, the converter may be plugged. But I'm not sure at all.

4th Test - Check for vacuum leaks

Again, maybe I did this wrong. Basically I sprayed carburetor cleaner all over everything under the hood, lol, and tried to see if the engine reacted at all. It might've, it might not have. I have no idea. Probably did this wrong too, but I don't think I have any vacuum leaks. Maybe this test is redundant with test #2, but like I understand anything I'm doing.

I can't imagine what else it might be. Maybe it is just the cat. Maybe my new oxygen sensor is bad or I need to drive more to reset it. But I don't know, I think maybe the car is running rich or lean or both somehow, lol. And a new cat won't fix that, if it is that. Next test I'm going to do is fuel pressure. Because I might have read somewhere that weak fuel pressure can cause the car to run rich or lean I don't remember. Which makes sense. Still what in the world is causing me to smog so badly? Is it simply NOx? Or is it coolant burning? Maybe the car is overheating and high temps cause high NOx. I know my radiator fans aren't working. But it's like 40 degrees F outside. Ah who knows. Really really glad my vacuum gauge reading came out good though. Yeah! Good compression and good vacuum gauge reading and I'm happy. That right there's a keeper. Except for the smog failing thing, that right there is not a keeper. I have mixed feelings about it. One part of me hates CA, hates that I can't buy certain cats because of some fascist CARB law. But the other part of me loves a challenge in trying to pass smog. Lol it's weird, I kind of feel guilty because this doesn't feel like work. It's so much fun. I like the challenge. California. I still think I'll look for other places to live, lol no I'm kidding. How can I leave this horrible horrible place.

So I'm totally going to try this before I replace the cat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5icTmYItwiE

-Soak the cat in soap and water overnight.

-Also, lacquer thinner in the gas tank. Heck yeah.

[AaronMartinSole]

If I were to buy a new catalytic converter, I think I'll probably buy from this website, unless someone has a better suggestion. http://www.maxautosupplies.com/Catal...onverters.html

Problem is, how do I know which one will fit my car? I want to get a direct-fit one that I can just bolt in that doesn't require any welding.

edit: It looks like I'm going to need to weld and a direct fit isn't going to work, judging by the cat and the awesome weld on it. But this site is awesome anyhow: http://www.showmetheparts.com/

This is an awesome troubleshooting/flowchart if you've failed smog: http://www.catcoglobal.com/assets/fi...ionsPoster.pdf

[x]Oxygen Sensor
[]ECT
[x]Thermostat
[]Fuel Injectors
[x]Sparkplugs/wires
[]Throttle Body Injector (TBI)
[]Throttle Position Sensors (TPS)
[]EVAP System
[]Mixture Control Solenoid
[]Idle Speed Control Motor
[]Manifold Absolute Pressure Sensor (MAP)
[]Air Charge Temperature Sensor (ACT)
[]Idle Air Control Valve (IAC)
[x]Exhaust Manifold(s)
[]Canister Purge Valve
[x]Vacuum Hoses
[]Ported Vacuum Switch (PVS)

Well I've got a lot to do.

[AaronMartinSole]

EDIT: Nevermind, the car is smogging again. Back to square one. Just did the same test again, and again the car stopped spewing smoke and is running clear again. Maybe it's just the cat is fully warmed up and working now?

I'm going to try the same test next time without spraying in water, just to see if maybe it's just the car warming up and then the cat kicking in or something.

---------------
My car is no longer emitting smoke out of the tailpipe. After endless random wandering and searching on the internet, I, by happenstance, came upon an ancient secret carried down and yet lost and forgotten by our motoring forefathers. Injecting the engine with a secret, and ancient ingredient, as ancient as the mountains and oceans. And that secret ingredient, sprayed directly into the engine, is...

Water.

I couldn't believe it myself. Water decarbonization. Old trick from old-timers. This my friends has been talked about here before, for performance and fuel economy gains, and this most certainly can help your fuel economy, some claiming up to 5%. Some swear they've never had their car run so strong and good after a water treatment. Man, it reminds me of hydrotherapy, and real water treatment, the use of hot and cold water, in the treatment of people and health problems. The many interesting benefits of cold showers for instance, jolting your body's immune system into overdrive, and many such other things. It is nothing new. In the past, in black and white days, water treatment was standard at every hospital. But pharmaceutical drugs are so much more profitable than water, which is free. Everything old becomes new again.

My car was just spewing smoke, like it was chain smoking phone pole cigarettes. I read about this water decarbonization on this thread: Just did water decarbonization on Mazda 3 - Bob Is The Oil Guy

I disconnected the line from the brake booster to the intake, or fuel injection, or whatever that thing is. Hooked up a hose, and my $11 HABBA vacuum gauge. Boiled some distilled water in a pot, maybe 4 oz worth, and poured it into a spray bottle, but they recommend something other than a spray bottle, I forget what it's called. It's like this humidifier kind of thing. Went really slow with very very little water at a time, because you can risk putting your engine in hydrostatic lock, and that could be disaster, and thousands of dollars. Put a stick on the accelerator and I think the car was at roughly 3,000 rpm, I've got no tachometer. Car was spewing smog as usual, until half-way through, and it slowly started to go away. I could not believe it. I didn't want to believe. I don't want false hope thinking this solved the problem, only to go fail another smog test. But I am going to get another smog check, and we'll see how that goes.

A lot of guys do the same thing with seafoam. I have no experience with that so I cannot say. Few guys have said they routinely use those fuel system cleaners, all sorts of brands, but this water treatment made the most difference. I don't know, I can't say. I really like Seafoam, and I wish I had another smoggy car I could try it out on. All I know is that my car has stopped spewing smog.

They say do the cheap things first. Don't throw parts at the car. Still learning. This was by far the cheapest thing I've done, lol. But I don't want to get my hopes up like I did last time. I might still be a gross polluter. Going to go get another smog check. Wish me luck.

[Rusty94cx]

Yes it's always cheaper to diagnosis than throw parts at it. I commend you for getting compression and vacuum readings. They tell you so much. Cats don't fail there is always some problem that makes them fail. Glad you passed. Seafoam is also goo for decarboning I used to use castles fireball stuff. Man.