JerseyMark

iTrader: (2)

Hey guys,
I failed the sniffer a couple weeks ago. Its probably because I pulled off the AIR equipment on my car. Anyway, I was hoping you guys know some tricks to bring it down so that I can pass. I didnt fail by much. In addition to my mods below, I have:

-The timing advanced 8*
-The fuel pressure raised above the factory level
-A BRAND NEW High Flow Magnaflow cat.
-127,000miles
-I know my valve seals are going bad. On startup, I see a puff of white smoke come out the tail pipes. I am not getting in trouble for the smoke, cause its not visible, but mabey the small amount that is getting into the engine while its running is hurting my emissions.

I was planning on droping the timing & fuel pressure back down to stock. Using a thicker engine oil for the test to stop any oil from getting into the combustion chamber. And maybe getting a new O2 Sensor. (I have to show a reciept for something when I bring it back to get tested) Any other tricks to help in passing?

I can bring it to a private testing center and "Pay a Fee" to get it to pass, but I would like to save a few $$ if possible.

RB83L69

I'm not even going to answer this one again.

The chemistry is so obvious, it's amazing that the question even has to be asked.

vernw

iTrader: (2)

To RB83L69 ---

How so? I fail to see how "the chemistry is so obvious", would you please answer his question if you actually have a good idea? Maybe I'm just too stupid to understand this....

Or my post about the baffling fuel mixture and related emissions failure?

Jeez, why even post an answer like this one? It helps no one, and if anything sheds a negative vibe your direction and on the entire forum...

RB83L69

He keeps posting this same question; twice I can recall so far, I've pointed this out. The job of the cat is to combine CO and unburned HCs, with oxygen. In order to do this, it has to have {drum roll please} oxygen! That's the job of the AIR system: it adds a bit of fresh air, complete with oxygen, to the exhaust; that way, the catalyst can do its job. Without oxygen, it is powerless. You could put 5 cats on there, and if there's no oxygen available in the exhaust gas, no catalytic conversion will take place. The cat can't just miracle up a bunch of oxygen out of nothing. It needs the AIR.

So the bottom line is, Mark needs to un-hack his car, and put the AIR back on. He can post this question from now till Doomsday, and the thing that the car needs will not change. It will be unable to pass, or only able with an extreme stroke of luck (or bribery), as long as there's no oxygen reaching his cat so that the cat can combine the CO with the O and make CO2.

Sorry if I seem harsh, but sometimes the truth isn't what you want to hear; and most likely, whatever it is you do want to hear, won't help you pass anyway.

vernw

iTrader: (2)

Sorry, I didn't know about the multiple posts --- my bad!

JerseyMark

iTrader: (2)

Hey RB83L69,
I understand the problem that I am having. Like you said, its very simple to understand. The Cat doesnt have enough Oxygen to convert the CO into CO2. But I posted this question hoping to learn some tricks. Like something I can add to the gas to make the car run cleaner in the first place. Since it doesnt seem that anyone has any tricks like that, this is my idea:

Right now, the cat has not enough oxygen and too much CO. I can drop my fuel pressure so that the car runs on the lean side. By doing this, I (in theory) will lower the amount of CO that the cat has to convert & increase the amount of oxygen it recieves. With this change, I am hoping that I can get throught the test. Im not failing by much, so even a little change can help me right now. Here are the readouts on the test:

Type______Standard__________Reading

NOx________879_______________78
HC_________117_______________75
CO%_______0.65______________0.89
CO2%________-_______________13.6

RB83L69

Well, if you've still got the AIR tubes and check valves, particularly the one that goes to the cat, you can probably just stick them on, and get enough O2 into the system to make it work, even without a pump. The car will make a disgusting whoopee-cushion kind of noise all the time, but the O2 that gets in during the short "bursts" of vacuum that exist in the exhaust system, might be enough to get you over the hump. The main one would be the one for the cat, because the ones that go into the manifolds, if you inject O2 there, will be read by the O2 sensor which is downstream of that point, and will affect the mixture that the ECM calls for. Specifically, since the ECM will "see" the extra oxygen, it will want to add fuel, which will cancel out the extra O2.

Let this be a lesson to all, as to why not to arbitrarily hack stuff off of your car. I'm guessing that in your case it made little or no performance improvement, when it was done; and has done nothing but cost you time, trouble and money ever since. I always find it amusing to hear people talk about how it "looks" "better" with stuff gone and how they want "room" under the hood, both of which are about the dumbest reasons to render a car illegal that I can think of; the inability to license your car seems a pretty steep price to pay for something so trivial as engine compartment "looks", that makes no difference in the long run.

Not to imply that you did your car like that for that reason; only that we see that one given alot.

Streetiron85

It's more than just "looks"
All those extra pieces in there have a tendency to bite your hands when you're doing things like plug readings/changes.

DENN_SHAH

iTrader: (1)

JerseyMark, also along with what RB83L69 said, be sure to drop the fuel pressure back into specs, around 11 pounds or so should be good, replace the O2 sensor, preferably with a A/C Delco, set the timing 1 - 2 degrees lower than the factory setting. if you lean it out too much the HC & NOx will go up, the NOx will probably go up anyway but should be ok as it is pretty low now. make sure the engine is fully warmed up before you go back in.
hopefully they won't fail you for an exhaust leak without the air pump.
what was the O2 reading when you failed?


Streetiron85, just think, there are alot of people who deal with "All those extra pieces" & even worse than what a third gen has under the hood every day, some even choose to work on fords for a living .