Failed CA emissions test
11-06-2010, 11:04 PM
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Failed CA emissions test I Failed emissions test today; the tech told me the car needs to run hot. I am trying to pass CA emissions with my lt4 hot cam lt1, but ended up with a fail today. I was told to swap out the 160 thermostat with a 195 and then it should pass. What do you guys think? Will the 160 thermostat cause the car to run a little rich even if it was dyno tuned, and will a 195 get it to run more on the lean side?
11-06-2010, 11:52 PM
#5
I'm thinking you probably haven't passed some monitoring tests. Car needs to be in closed loop to be able to pass the test, if your car is staying in open loop then your car will run rich and not pass. If the car gets a little hotter it's going to go in closed loop and cause the O2 sensors to function and pass the o2 monitoring system
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11-07-2010, 03:51 PM
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that cat is going to be your problem. Mine blew out and I was going to get a magnaflow welded in and the guy told me it would fail. So I just gutted it for now I don't want to spend 300 on one untill I have to
11-07-2010, 07:50 PM
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Yes the CA cats are expensive, that's why I went with the magnaflow. I think I can get it to pass with a hotter thermostat vs the 160 and a few other things; clean the tb, maf and seafoam the motor.
11-07-2010, 08:46 PM
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As long as the cat is OBD II compliant it won't be a problem. I did the same thing, ran a magnaflow odbii cat on the pass side and stock on the drivers and the car passed with plenty of room to spare on a 96 355 with a cc305 and 1.7rr's. It even passed with mid lengths headers and a single 3" magnaflow cat. Since LT1's still have an active EGR the cat plays less of an part on the NOx, but seeing as though the CO and HC were both high I'd be suspect of the tune or tune-up. I won't rule out a convertor as I've seen weirder things happen but I'd definately look at the tune or at least put it on a scanner and see how much timing is at that point and where the LT trims are.
11-07-2010, 10:46 PM
#16
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When the dyno was performed the car ran like crap and when fuel was added it smoothed out. I know if I were to get a retune it can be leaned out, but for some reason it wants to run rough when leaned out. The dyno tuner was scratching his head wondering why it needed more fuel; then the other tuner said ,"sometimes you just have to give it what it wants", so quite a bit of fuel was added at idle.
11-07-2010, 11:58 PM
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no somethings wrong then, the last time I had a car that ran better with more fuel it had a small vacuum leak on the intake and mismatched injectors. Did it make good power or was it off? Was the tuner a reputable person?
11-08-2010, 12:11 PM
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This is the place that did the dyno http://superiorautomotive.com/. I am thinking about ordering a mail order tune to see what happens. It only put down 305hp through a A4 with the hot cam shorty headers, electric water pump, 1.6 rrs and I am sure I am missing a couple small things.
11-08-2010, 09:08 PM
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This is what a lot of people are saying. I am going to try again on Friday, this time I am going to run all of the fuel out of the tank and then fill it with new fuel. The car has been sitting for a long time; I bought it as a roller and it has not been registered since 2006. It had 1/2 of a tank in it and still a little of the old fuel in there when it failed smog. I also swapped the thermostat so it run around 180 to 190.