CZroe
Lifer
IIRC, my sister's 1993 Ford Escort failed the "HC" portion of the Smog Check testing. My sister just got a '96 Taurus that we also need to "get smogged" but that may pass without issue. The Escort, OTOH, just failed it and needs a few other things fixed before she passes it on to her daughter (horn, rearview, etc). Despite Ford's reputation, it's treated my sister well for many years.
I just moved to San Diego, CA from metro Atlanta, GA, so I'm not familiar with the extra hoops CA citizens have to go through with emissions testing ("Smog Check" - though it's technically not "smog" until heat combined with nitrates in the air to create particulates and ground-level ozone). All I know is that 50-state legal vehicles are different than 49-state legal ones because they conform to California's extra requirements. That said, my sister is having a lot of trouble and I can't really help much, so I'm turning to you guys.
When I arrived it was running like total crap... choking, shaking, stuttering, barely staying on/moving at low speeds, etc, until she had some 24yr Ford veteran take a look and tune it up. The difference was AMAZING. The car was so bad that we thought someone had sugared her tank but after the tune up it ran great. She brought it back to these same people when she needed her brake job (and rotor replacement) and they totally ripped her off ($680 after AAA discount).
AFAIK, my sister does not get the oil changed regularly but I would think that it would have been done during the tune up. Regardless, it's dark and I see the oil light come on when turning hard. I've checked the oil level while warm and it appears overfilled. The Smog Check guy said that an oil change would not affect the test, but if it has been neglected, I would think that it might. Heck, perhaps it's time to switch to full synthetic to preserve the engine?
Before failing the test I filled it up with high-test Chevron gas and added Chevron Fuel injector Cleaner like my sister asked (friend's suggestion) and rode it about 35mins on the freeway at high revs (kinda stayed a gear low most of the time). I told her that I wouldn't expect a cleaner to help if it's burning off deposits, and that's exactly what the Smog Check guy told me (too late). "No fuel additives." I'll get the actual numbers when I can.
OK, so the car had a lot of minor issues like a gas gauge that doesn't budge until you are almost empty, blown interior and dashboard lights, loose battery cable, stuck seatbelts, automatic seatbelt track stuck on the driver's side, broken rear-defroster switch, no horn, etc but I'm doing the few I can and it's the horn that I really need help with. I have no way to access it (no jack or tools), but I can still hear the relay "click" when I press the wheel. I found the relay under the steering column and could replace it if I had any way to know if it were bad. I'm told that the light is under the driver-side headlight but the Haynes manual says that I can't get to it without the appropriate jack and I couldn't see it when laying on the ground. They say that I should not use the included jack for anything that involves getting under the car.
I've already done the easy stuff (rearview, seatbelts, interior lights, headlight, etc), and we probably need to take it to someone for the horn and Smog failure, but any advice I can get from you guys would be much appreciated. We can't afford to get ripped off trying to pass Smog and the horn, being very cheap and commonly broken (according to Google), just seems like something that isn't worth paying to have fixed, though I don't have what I'd need to do it myself.
I am NOT a gearhead. never changed oil or took off a panel (until fixing the seatbelts), so even if I had a jack I'd be getting out of my comfort zone.
Thanks.
I just moved to San Diego, CA from metro Atlanta, GA, so I'm not familiar with the extra hoops CA citizens have to go through with emissions testing ("Smog Check" - though it's technically not "smog" until heat combined with nitrates in the air to create particulates and ground-level ozone). All I know is that 50-state legal vehicles are different than 49-state legal ones because they conform to California's extra requirements. That said, my sister is having a lot of trouble and I can't really help much, so I'm turning to you guys.
When I arrived it was running like total crap... choking, shaking, stuttering, barely staying on/moving at low speeds, etc, until she had some 24yr Ford veteran take a look and tune it up. The difference was AMAZING. The car was so bad that we thought someone had sugared her tank but after the tune up it ran great. She brought it back to these same people when she needed her brake job (and rotor replacement) and they totally ripped her off ($680 after AAA discount).
AFAIK, my sister does not get the oil changed regularly but I would think that it would have been done during the tune up. Regardless, it's dark and I see the oil light come on when turning hard. I've checked the oil level while warm and it appears overfilled. The Smog Check guy said that an oil change would not affect the test, but if it has been neglected, I would think that it might. Heck, perhaps it's time to switch to full synthetic to preserve the engine?
Before failing the test I filled it up with high-test Chevron gas and added Chevron Fuel injector Cleaner like my sister asked (friend's suggestion) and rode it about 35mins on the freeway at high revs (kinda stayed a gear low most of the time). I told her that I wouldn't expect a cleaner to help if it's burning off deposits, and that's exactly what the Smog Check guy told me (too late). "No fuel additives." I'll get the actual numbers when I can.
OK, so the car had a lot of minor issues like a gas gauge that doesn't budge until you are almost empty, blown interior and dashboard lights, loose battery cable, stuck seatbelts, automatic seatbelt track stuck on the driver's side, broken rear-defroster switch, no horn, etc but I'm doing the few I can and it's the horn that I really need help with. I have no way to access it (no jack or tools), but I can still hear the relay "click" when I press the wheel. I found the relay under the steering column and could replace it if I had any way to know if it were bad. I'm told that the light is under the driver-side headlight but the Haynes manual says that I can't get to it without the appropriate jack and I couldn't see it when laying on the ground. They say that I should not use the included jack for anything that involves getting under the car.
I've already done the easy stuff (rearview, seatbelts, interior lights, headlight, etc), and we probably need to take it to someone for the horn and Smog failure, but any advice I can get from you guys would be much appreciated. We can't afford to get ripped off trying to pass Smog and the horn, being very cheap and commonly broken (according to Google), just seems like something that isn't worth paying to have fixed, though I don't have what I'd need to do it myself.
I am NOT a gearhead. never changed oil or took off a panel (until fixing the seatbelts), so even if I had a jack I'd be getting out of my comfort zone.
Thanks.
