I went to get my smog check and my 83 firebird 2.8L 2BBL fail, on the HC-PPM it was 2000 and the technician said that it was to be below 100 or 100, on the rpms it was 1325 and it has to be at 1000 or below, and the check engine light is always on, doesnt anybody have a clue of how can I fix that?

 

youll never pass smog with a CEL on, pull the codes with a paper clip and post them up here, ill keep checkin on this thread to help you once you get that CEL off you can cheat with some alchohol in the tank, works wonders thats how i kept my RS on the road in AZ

Keep me posted

 

I already try that, but it didnt work on my car, or maybe i didnt wrong, i follow each step as told to but the check engine light stayed solid, it didnt blink

 

Take a paper clip and put it in the two holes on the right on the top line, then put the key in and turn it forward

 

I did that already

 

id start looking into the possibility of a bad ecm, a solid light means youre not getting a reference code, normally this happens when the prom goes to crap, can you take a pic of the aldl port and show me where youre plugging in to? im not trying to be a douche but id rathercheck everything before telling you to hunt down a new ecm

 

get a new cat

 

thats not gonna make a difference if he has the light on, theyll fail you anyway. not only that but IF the ECM is indeed shot then that would be a cause for the ridiculously high numbers. I ran emissions with no cat and still almost passed his numbers were way to high for a cat to fix it.

 

Excessive hydrocarbons in your exhaust would suggest that you have an ignition misfire or are running excessively rich. BluFBdy is 100% right about you not being able to pass with that light on, and that a bad ECM is a possibility. If you can not figure out how to pull the codes yourself try a local parts store in your area. Most of them will scan it for you at no charge, but that is if they do it and if they have OBD-I compatible scanner.

 

When you check the codes, the Ignition has to be Off, insert the paper clip, then turn the key on. And make sure you sure inserting the clip into the correct 2 spots, A & B.



http://www.austinthirdgen.org/index.php?pid=27

 

True, they need to be using a good tool and not the overpriced jumper setup, it'd have to have a digital readout that I'm sure would say bad ecm if that's the case, check your local store and go from there, id check all connecttions at the aldl port and the ecm to make sure they're not loose

 

I thought the earlier ones went from A-M? At least that's what the guide says on the FAQ board. Of course, it also doesn't specify what "earlier ones" really means.

 

I see A-M (some ports have no connector in them, so they are left blank), so I'm not understanding your confusion. As for "earlier ones"...I don't see where your talking about in my link, but my suspicion, would be the carb'd 3rd gens vs the TBI/TPI/SFI V6 3rd gens....

 

here are the pics that I took, before and after putting the paper clip

 

MY CAR IS REALLY BAD ON GAS RIGHT NOW ALSO, ITS BEEN EATING ALOT OF GAS

 

Am not sure about other states but here in TX if the car is 95 and below that MIL on does not mean nothing they might pass they might fail, unless it's 96+ aka OBD-II it will defenitely fail. A new cat would help reduce NOx emmisions the most but will help reduce CO's and HC's as well.
At the shop where I work at, we put a new cat and haven't seen any car fail yet, I do emmission tests myself, unless it's a V8 and it's running on half the cylinders LOL.

 

I also notice that I'm missing this fuses right here, would it matter to the perfomance of the car?

 

...thats very odd, youre definitely missing a few fuses.... did someone do a hackjob on your harness?

and 2bfeard; he may reduce his numbers putting on a new cat but he will STILL fail for his check engine light regardless, the damn thing could put out lower numbers than a prius but it wont matter. Fact of the matter is there is a serious issue that needs to be addressed, a boo boo sticker isnt gonna fix this one.

Berto id suggest getting your computer looked at to start with, the paper clip looks like its in the right spot and im assuming you pushed it in far enough so the next step is gonna be checking your connections at the ECM and getting it tested. A solid light is either from user error or from a junk ECM. IF you have a local yard id suggest finding a bird from the same year with the same motor, and swapping them out, as far as those fuses go.... im slightly confused maybe someone can chime in because i cant tell if theyve got pins in the slots or not, if theyre blank then oh well but if theres wires runnin to it youve got a rats nest to sort out

OH! and check all your fuses! i forgot to mention that, also make sure none of the lights in your gauge cluster are burnt out

 

wait, your 83' 2.8 is a carbed one. So i dont think it needs the crank fuse. Ever wonder if you have some incorrect carb tuning? You need to make sure your egr is working properly, you need to make sure the catalytic converter is still function, and that someone did not hollow it out. You need to make sure the ignition timng is as close or set to factory spec. I suspect a carb issue or something, those numbers are crazy high. any dtcs, by any chance?

 

That still doesn't explain the cel tho

 

Hi everybody I wanna thank everybody for all your help, I really love this car, and I wanna rise the bird again, cuz it look like the previous owner didn't care about it, I never work on a car before, so I apreciate all of u guys for all your help

 

Its a labor of love, believe me, its taken me 3 years of busted bleeding hands to get mine where it is and its not close to where I want it lol

 

I'm sure, alot of people say that I should get rid of my firebird, but I they dont understand, for me is more than car, I really like, I love the t-top, there are alot of wires that look cut and tape by the carburetor

 

You can look for a new harness, might save you some trouble, used or new both would work

 

If there are a bunch of wires cut, you are going to have to get a chiltons book or some other book to get the wireing diagrams and start tracking them down and see were they go and start fixing them. All of the wireing has to be right in order for everything else to work right. Period. Sorry but there is no getting around that. And just like BluFBdy said you can also try to find a harness at a local junk yard.

 

what do u guys prefer caburetor or fuel injection? and why

 

I prefer fuel injection over carbs because of precise fuel metering. Your air/fuel ratio is constantly being adjusted based on temp, load, RPM, and many other factors. This must be done manually with a carb and, for obvious reasons, cant be done on the fly while you are driving. Carbs are excellent examples of engineering still. They are much cheaper, far simpler to install, very easy to calibrate if you know how they function, and are less prone to failure (ex. low voltages, bad injectors, ECM failure, bad O2 sensors, etc.).

 

About your car, I would still be focused more on finding out why your HC readings are so high. In plain english, why is there so much raw fuel in your exhaust?

 

stay on point untill you have everything else fixed.

 

IF he puts out numbers as low as a prius he would've already passed emmission test long time ago, the MIL aka Check/service engine soon light does not matter on vehicles below 1995, as a matter of fact I had 4 cars today below 1995 with the service engine light on and all of them passed LEGIT, as long as there numbers are below the emissions limit they will pass....but then again what do I know, I only do this for a living....

Like someone said before the catalytic might be hollow since the car has been running so rich it overheated the cat, melted, broke it and if lucky enough the catalytist material went out the muffler.

I'd say check your firing order, check spark plug wires for cuts and make sure they all making good contact with plug, adjust your carb, replace 02's, check all those cut wires, then whenever you feel car runs nice and smooth, replace the cat(s) and am pretty sure the thing will pass no problem. Make sure car is at normal operating temperature before test.
Good luck.

 

I agree with 2bfeard. However not all states check for the check engine light. Here in texas if it is a 96 or newer and the light is on it is an automatic fail. So not knowing were this guy is they may not care. Still there is something wrong and it needs to be fixed.

 

Regardless there is still a problem that needs to be fixed, any updates?

 

I've been busy with work and other stuff and I haven't had a chance to work on my car, is there a way to test the ecm, to see if it is good, if its working properly?

 

The fast and easy way would be to go to a auto zone or orilleys and have them try to pull codes from it they will do it for free. But before you head out to them check and make sure that the fuse isnt blown if it is then the ECM will never work. The fuse is marked ECM or COMP

 

I already went to autozone and kragen, and they said that they got a lawsuit from shops here in california so they are no longer allowed to do it, and I already check the fuse and it work, I have a fuse tester so is good

 

This is the back of the fuse box, I can see or think that some cable are missing, am I right?

 

and this is the back of the ALDL

 

It is hard to tell. The photos are blurry. Anyway. Does the check engine light come on when you start the car? If so does it stay on?

 

yeah it turns on and stays on, I try getting the codes with the paper clip but doesnt flash like it should

 

then your car is running in "limp mode" it is flooding with fuel to get you to a shop.
Then that tells me you have a problem with the ecm itself, you could have a burned out prom or the whole ecm itself is burned out. I would pull it out and take it to a junk yard and try to find another one that is from the same type of car that has the same engine and transmission that you have in yours.

 

I already pull it out, imma about to go to the junk yard and search for one, what is the prom

 

The PROM (programmable read only memory) is the "chip" plugged into the circuit board itself.

 

As the post above me said. It is the chip that dictates how the engine runs, like timing and other engine functions. It is the brains of the car. A must have thing. There should be a sticker on the ECM that tells you what model it is YOU HAVE TO GET THE SAME ONE!!!
If you find it remember to disconect the negitive battery cable before you plug it back up, or you run the risk of burning it up.

 

Isn't the a test you can do using a dvom? Like test the pins and look for a short

 

I guess you could,As long as you know what the voltage should be and at least see if voltage is getting to it. The noid lights just flash at each pulse of the injectors making it plane and simple to see if you are getting power to it.

 

is there a way to test the ecm, not so expensive

 

how can I fix it?

 

The only other way I know is for you to either get a new prom or burn one for your car. In order to do that go here and look.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/diy-prom/

Or here.

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/dfi-ecm/

These are the threads that tell you how to do it.

 

could this affect my emissions? the carburetor base gasket, is an electronic gasket

 

I've never heard of an electronic gasket. Can/will you take a picture of your engine and identify the wires near the carb that are cut? If you are running an electronic Qjet (which I will assume you are), then it's a good possibility that many of those wires need to be fixed.

Second, in the picture you took with the fuse box, upper left hand corner is an "ECM" fuse. pull it out and see if it's good. If the fuse is bad, your ECM won't run run at all to control the timing or anything. This will also cause your check engine light to stay on and will make you unable to pull codes. I put a 15amp fuse in it because it's all I had but I've not had any problems since. (Pulling the 4-pack connector will blow even a 20 amp fuse if the car is on). Lastly, if you pulled the 4 wire connector to set your timing without first turning the car "off", this fuse WILL blow...I went through 4 before I figured it out.

If the fuse is good, disconnect the battery for 10 min. This will reset the ECM. If the ECM is STILL on after this, then I would definitely say you probably have a bad ECM.

On the next note, I would hazzard to guess that you're Qjet isn't tuned properly. If you look in the carb forum under "Dwell--It's greek to me"...it's a thread I had about checking the dwell on my carb...it's fairly long, but it's got basically the step by step instructions on how to tune your carb. If you want, PM me and we'll go through it that way.


However, reading all of this, I noticed something that I thought was missing.

Plugs, wires, cap, rotor...have all of these been replaced?

Have you checked your timing? I believe should be 6* adv or so? (not terribly sure on the V6 models, someone else chime in?) This is done with the 4-wire connector from the distributor disconnected. Once that's done, we'll go from there.