YACT: got my car smogged today...

[ucdbiendog]

so i have a 99 saturn, not an old car by any means. but the max allowable HC is 66, and my car was measured at 66. Any things i can do to figure out why this is so high? the avg emission of a passing vehicle in calif is like 9ppm, so i dont get why mine would be so high. i read some crap online and said incomplete combustion leads to this. should i check my ignition system? or could it be in the fuel system as well?

 

[Zenmervolt]

Rich mixture. Can be any number of things. Could be as simple as fouled plugs or a failed O2 sensor, or there could be a fault in the FI system that's causing it to inject too much fuel.

ZV

EDIT: The car was fully warmed up when you tested, right? If it was tested before the temp guage was in the "normal" range it's possible that the car was still in cold start mode, which would cause rich running.

 

[ucdbiendog]

naw the car was running for 20-30 mins prior to the test, so that wouldnt be an issue. i would assume the O2 sensor is ok since that passed the test, as did the fuel injection system. though im not sure how thoroughly they check these or it a computer can do it accurately. but i think ill be replacing the plugs/wires this weekend. car has 80k miles on it and im not sure it has ever had those replaced.

 

[NutBucket]

How long was it sitting before it was tested? My last car was very touchy and the cat had to be really hot to pass. Course, the cat being almost 15 years old didn't help either

 

[Pepsi90919]

if it tested at 66 and the limit was 66 i'm guessing the inspector felt sorry for you

 

[Captante]

Most common culprit for failed emissions is that it needs a tune-up, which if its been over 25k since your last one you should do regardless so thats a good place to start.
At least you passed this time, so you have until your next test to figure out what the problem is.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Pepsi90919
if it tested at 66 and the limit was 66 i'm guessing the inspector felt sorry for you

Nah, no real way to fool it without actually tweaking the car. For me the key to passing was warming up the car more.

 

[Xyclone]

Oh God, the Prelude we were thinking about buying for $1700 failed miserably in the smog tests. Instead of <100(something), it was 258, and instead of <0.2%(something) it was 4.98%. Wasn't worth the headache, so we didn't buy the car.

 

[Gunslinger08]

I'm so glad I don't live in California.

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: joshsquall
I'm so glad I don't live in California.

Meh. Its not rocket science to pass smog. If you don't pass your car is fvcked up anyway.

 

[Viperoni]

It's nothing to worry about, pretty much all saturn's run rich out of the box

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: Viperoni
It's nothing to worry about, pretty much all saturn's run rich out of the box

..no?

 

[NutBucket]

Originally posted by: Viperoni
It's nothing to worry about, pretty much all saturn's run rich out of the box

Uhm, most cars run a bit rich since its need for the cat to operate properly (at least that's how I understand it).

If anything most cars run rich at the top to prevent detonation. Of course, emissions aren't tested at the top so it doesn't matter nearly as much

 

[JLGatsby]

Car smogging, lmao. Welcome to the Socialist Republic of California.

 

[zoiks]

I've had this problem before. I'm not sure what I did to fix it though.
1990 240sx with 230k miles. Once the cat converter was bad on it and it got registered as a gross polluter. As it turns out that the state wiped clean some vehicles records since there was a lot of protests going on regarding the new smog laws and my car was one of em.

Even with my experience, I do believe that if your car doesn't pass smog, it doesnt belong on the road.

 

[ucdbiendog]

Originally posted by: zoiks
I've had this problem before. I'm not sure what I did to fix it though.
1990 240sx with 230k miles. Once the cat converter was bad on it and it got registered as a gross polluter. As it turns out that the state wiped clean some vehicles records since there was a lot of protests going on regarding the new smog laws and my car was one of em.

Even with my experience, I do believe that if your car doesn't pass smog, it doesnt belong on the road.

yeah me too, which is why i wanna get it fixed now instead of two years fro now when my next smog is required. thanks for teh input guys

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: JLGatsby
Car smogging, lmao. Welcome to the Socialist Republic of California.

I find it amazing we went through the Cold War without blowing ourselves up, given the intelligence level of some members of society.

PSA: Before emissions tests, run your car hard for a few minutes to get it nice and hot.

Originally posted by: zoiks
Even with my experience, I do believe that if your car doesn't pass smog, it doesnt belong on the road.

I agree. The limits are certainly high enough that any reasonably running car should pass.