Failed Emissions today, BAD!

[Jarnutt]

Needed to renew some things since it has not sold as of yet, and thought it would fly right through, since its almost completely stock.

Hydrocarbons allowed (220) Mine were (962) FAIL!
Carbon Monoxide Allowed (1.20) Mine were (1.12) PASS!

Thats pretty much all they check in AZ, other than the normal gas cap and what not. I have a 160 stat, previous owner said it passed with it in, fuel pressure was 35 with vacuum line attached, 91 octane, drove it straight there after work, about 15 minutes driving and 30 idleing at emissions with the AC on. I looked up the history on the trucks emissions and it has always passed FLAWLESS, but I failed miserably. Only 4k were put on it since the last emissions test, could it be the cat? just not hot enough? bad karma? My buick NEVER gives me this much trouble, and its modded.

 

[supersports10]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

get rid of the 160 stat and put in a 195

also if it hasn't had a tune up in 8 or more months, do one, it will help.

 

[kentuc]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

You need a tune. New plugs and wires.

 

[Jarnutt]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

1000 miles on UR6s and new cap, rotor, plug wires. It stumbled alot when I bought it, all the above parts brought it to life and made it run like a raped ape. I just have never seen CO pass and HC be that far off from passing, usually hand in hand balance, one fails the other is close behind.

 

[cameronsclone]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

go run it for a while and get into boost, get the car real hot. Then right before you pull into the garage or whatever turn the fuel pressure all the way down so it barely runs. Some good tricks to reduce emissions:tup:

 

[strada]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

i had a problem like that high hcarbons,i did the same thing change the spark plugs,even change the atr cat this lower them like 50 hc,so then i checked the wires from the coil to the distributor,bingo rust in the terminal,so i went to inspection,jump from 950 to 19,belive it or not.

 

[SY2932]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Member Don W. had some trouble passing the sniffer out in cali recently. Check out the suggestions here to help you out.

 

[AUSyTyIN]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Pull timing, & run $#itty gas

 

[Don W.]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Another suggestion that's been mentioned, put some meth in the tank. Been very busy but today will be another attempt. Putting in stock AC plugs gaped to .035+, Putting the 190 stat back in, again. Pulling fuel pressure. Fingers crossed. See if you can get your test station to put their machine on manual so it doesn't keep going to the state. (At least that's what my guy is doing.) Good luck.

 

[KFC_Or_Bust]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Put about 3 or 4 bottles of dry gas in the sum bitch right before you go and make sure to fill up the tank with gas so you get a good mix. Obviously run as little boost as possible...Does your emissions station have an AWD dyne or did they just put the truck in neutral and rev it to a certain rpm? That's what we do here in CT and my frankenstein Bravada passed emissions no problems with no EGR system and a Catco HF cat.

 

[AUSyTyIN]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

You should'nt have any problems passing. I'm this clock --><-- to getting my Ty to pass emmissions without a cat with a fuel pressure regulator that is much higher than stock for some reason (52 PSI with the vac line disconnected).

I'm running -6* timing, 85 octane, and a 205* t-stat that the truck came with for some reason. I'm not by my numbers now, but IIRC, I'm ~ 240 on the HC (220 is pass), and I'm passing on the CO. I was originally @ 320 on the HC, and 1.8 on the CO (1.2 pass)

 

[Jarnutt]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

well I took it to my mechanic, as odd as that is that a mechanic has a mechanic, to see what he thought, he looked at the sheet and said right away, "you have a miss-fire somewhere, looks like you tested on five cylinders". I have noticed it sounds sometimes at idle like it misses once in a while, but im taking everything into consideration, like my fuel pressure, my FP gauge bounces at idle, about 2 PSI in tune with the motor firing, and smoothes when you rev it, the buick does not, its smooth as can be, both are fluid filled gauges, bad injector maybe or normal? Also maybe cheap cap and rotor? I did get the basic set with factory wires at Checker. All could be part of the problem, but again, these trucks are sort of new to me, so Im going through what I went through with the Buick for 6 years, learning what I can and cant do. This truck has been a learning experience, and Ive learned I would be better off selling it. I know the buicks back to front by heart, and thought when I bought the Typhoon they were similar, needless to say my Buick club laughed at me when they heard I bought one.

 

[SY2455]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Don't give up that easy. You can test each cyl to find out which 1 it is. Put the time in you'll be glad you did.

 

[Jarnutt]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

So I dropped it off at the mechanic yesterday (tuesday) and got a call this morning that after they drive it really hard for about 20 minutes they put it on the smog machine and it blew clean as a whistle. I know this guy pretty well, and he takes payment from me in the form of 18 packs, and he swears up and down that they tested it twice after driving it and it blew clean.

So I took it back today (wednesday) to be emissioned, and didnt change ANYTHING, didnt even add gas to the tank, and drove it hard for about 30 minutes, got straight up to the front of the line right away, and BAM, failed again.

Hydrocarbons Allowed (220) I had (440) FAIL
Carbon monoxide Allowed (1.20) I had (.01) PASS with flying colors

Why such a drastic change but still no dice, I seriously didnt change a thing since monday when it failed. Hes going to put it on the scope tonight and try to replicate everything, I stayed in the car with the tester and he started it up, held it at 2000 RPM for about 45 seconds and that was it, done. Is he doing it wrong or is that the proper way to do it?

 

[MadPSI]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

You have two options since you're in AZ...

The first is a gallon of this stuff from Home Depot. Throw it in with a 1/4 tank of 86...

It'll bring your hydrocarbons WAY down. It's the only way I could get my truck through for years...

or...

Call up your insurance company and have them change your coverage to specialty vehicle coverage. The bill goes into effect on May 1st, and at that point you can get rid of your cat, EGR, vacuum canisters, and run rocket fuel for all that the state cares, since you'll be exempt from any more emissions. You have the required daily driver VW, so you could, in effect, do both your truck and Buick in this fashion...

I called my insurance agent up and it was simple to do. All I had to do was take pics of all sides of the truck and give them an estimated value. They flagged my coverage to change on May 1st, and my premium is going down considerably...

http://www.azmotornews.com/

Don't give up on the truck so easily. Yeah, they're a PITA, and nowhere near as robust as the Buicks, but they're still fun nonetheless...

So what Buick guys are giving you crap about the truck? I pretty much know all of them, so I'll smack them around if need be.

 

[Jarnutt]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Well I run denatured alky in the Buick for emissions, but thats it, I dont have to do anything else to it besides put the cat back on and put in my stock chip, and it flies through, injectors, fuel pressure and all. I showed up at Nick Micales house with it and the first thing he told me was "That was money that could have rebuilt the buick from the ground up." So needless to say, he though it was a poor investment, as well as some of the others telling me I should sell it while it still runs. I took it in stride until the transmission govornor flyweights came off while I was driving, then I started to think maybe they were right. Its starting to look like the truck is something I dont have time for, I already spend my weekends under the buick, I dont need ANOTHER vehicle that isnt meant for daily abuse. Who the hell needs Cap and Rotor sets anyways.

 

[MadPSI]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

That's funny. I was going to say in my previous post, "You didn't talk to Nick, did you?" but I refrained. The AZ Buick guys are kind of a divided group as far as philosophies go. Nick and his 'older' crew (Dick, Jack, Woody, etc...) are more Buick purists, whereas the guys I run around with are a more diverse bunch. They're a younger group that tends to take interest in anything fast with a turbo, but they all started out with, and still have turbo Buicks...

Your priorities with both cars depend on your monetary situation and your goal for each car. If you want your Buick to be a 10-second car you're going to spend 10-20 grand on it easily (just ask Nick how his "10s for 10 grand" project went). If that number is an intimidating figure, then go ahead and sell the truck. If you're happy with the Buick as-is and want to make the truck a little faster and have two 12-second vehicles, then I'd say keep both.

 

[Jarnutt]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Well Nick is a buddy of mine, He actually sold me the GN I currently own. Im happy with it as is, its fast and gets good gas mileage, and still runs pump gas, so its still semi dependable as a daily driver. The truck on the other hand, I dont think will ever be as much of a priority as the GN, Im a buick guy when it breaks down to it, and until I bought this truck, I always thought they were similar in design and mechanics, other than the obvious all wheel drive difference. I may be in over my head, and Im not patient enough to learn all over again.

 

[Andreas]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

Hydrocarbons allowed (220) Mine were (962) FAIL!

Thats indicates unburned fuel.

 

[BigBadSmoosh]

Re: Failed Emissions today, BAD!

i say sell the truck to someone that cares about it and is interested in it..