Emissions Failure

[djailer]

I passed emissions with flying colors in 2010....particularly my HC it was really nice and low, either 9 or 90 I don't recall. This year I did my emissions three weeks ago and failed with 479. In the meantime I replaced the plugs - they were little more than stubs, it is a wonder it worked at all!! I cleaned the air filter and the day of the test I had less than half a tank of gas. I tried the recommendation to put a can of Seafoam in the tank as that supposedly would help. It did not. Actually they suggested running it almost dry but it was where it was when I needed to go in. I did the test again and everything passed but the HC - it was at 440.

The only thing that has changed since 2010 was the head...I threw a timing belt and had to have the valves redone. Being all rebuilt and new etc. I never figured this might be the cause, but...???? All the emissions stuff is still there and in place best that I can tell. Any thoughts? I now have two days to pass and get legal. $150 worth of work to waive it coming up!

Speaking of that....the emissions tech mentioned that even with a waiver it wouldn't pass the visual inspection...something to do with the K&N air cleaner. Ever heard of that in WA state?

 

[96 420a-t]

Your cat probably quit. I just had to replace mine to pass. Check your o2 as well. Thats a lot of unburnt fuel. How is your milage?

 

[Colt4G63 also]

If your plugs were that bad maybe they weren't working. Try changing the oil; it may be fuel contaminated. Make sure you have good wires, and clean fuel filter too. Beyond that, I would suspect a lazy O2 sensor and/or a bad converter.

 

[bombDSM]

you are suppose to have the stock airbox cover the k&n filter. Most places here in CA dont really care about that but you get some that follow everything by the book.

 

[Anubis_4_99]

I passed emissions with flying colors in 2010....particularly my HC it was really nice and low, either 9 or 90 I don't recall. This year I did my emissions three weeks ago and failed with 479. In the meantime I replaced the plugs - they were little more than stubs, it is a wonder it worked at all!! I cleaned the air filter and the day of the test I had less than half a tank of gas. I tried the recommendation to put a can of Seafoam in the tank as that supposedly would help. It did not. Actually they suggested running it almost dry but it was where it was when I needed to go in. I did the test again and everything passed but the HC - it was at 440.

The only thing that has changed since 2010 was the head...I threw a timing belt and had to have the valves redone. Being all rebuilt and new etc. I never figured this might be the cause, but...???? All the emissions stuff is still there and in place best that I can tell. Any thoughts? I now have two days to pass and get legal. $150 worth of work to waive it coming up!

Speaking of that....the emissions tech mentioned that even with a waiver it wouldn't pass the visual inspection...something to do with the K&N air cleaner. Ever heard of that in WA state?

I never even had them pop my hood in WA, as long as i passed the sniffer i was good. But each center can be different depending on who is doing the test and how much of a douche they want to be.

I would go with 96 on this though, check out your O2's and your cat, they dont have to be fully gone either, they could just be on there way out and causing you grief.

 

[greene3543]

Praise God TN doesn't have such strict emmissions laws, I feel sorry for you guys

 

[Anubis_4_99]

Praise God TN doesn't have such strict emmissions laws, I feel sorry for you guys

NE doesn't have any

 

[silicosys4]

It matters where in Washington you are. Here in podunk nowheresville, we don't have emissions, as long as I'm not violating noise regs by too much I can run a straightpipe, but 2 hours away in seattle they have strict emissions.

 

[Anubis_4_99]

It matters where in Washington you are. Here in podunk nowheresville, we don't have emissions, as long as I'm not violating noise regs by too much I can run a straightpipe, but 2 hours away in seattle they have strict emissions.

That regulates if there is emissions testing or not, same thing in oregon, portland has testing, but a buddy of mine who is actually on the site, lives in rainer and doesn't have any. What's being discussed is the strictness of the testing and inspection.

I think the testing is regulated by population? Could be wrong though.

 

[ConcowTSI]

hey there, im in the same boat (cel is on, and thats an automatic fail in ca), but i may have provoked it, what areyour thoughts on this: i cut out my cat so i'd have open exhaust(im puttin on an electric cutout) after doing this my car ran like shit and wouldnt make any power. i was told to unplug the rear o2, they said cel would come on but it would run fine.

did this with no results (other than cel), then i figured out the ic hose was off , hooked it up and car ran great plugged the o2 sensor back in, and a week later the cel was off.

nothing has changed and its a month later

NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN: my cel is back on and the car is running great... i have no idea . do these cars have onboard diagnostics? i have a manual but my buddy has it at the moment. im thinkin o2 sensor

it has bosch plugs in it now, (NOT platinum), i have a fresh set of ngks for it, only other mods are msd wires and 14b, oh and i have the bov hose unhooked from the intake, and the intake side plugged. (i know i know, but it sounds sooo awesome .)

 

[Anubis_4_99]

hey there, im in the same boat (cel is on, and thats an automatic fail in ca), but i may have provoked it, what areyour thoughts on this: i cut out my cat so i'd have open exhaust(im puttin on an electric cutout) after doing this my car ran like shit and wouldnt make any power. i was told to unplug the rear o2, they said cel would come on but it would run fine.

did this with no results (other than cel), then i figured out the ic hose was off , hooked it up and car ran great plugged the o2 sensor back in, and a week later the cel was off.

nothing has changed and its a month later

NOW ALL OF A SUDDEN: my cel is back on and the car is running great... i have no idea . do these cars have onboard diagnostics? i have a manual but my buddy has it at the moment. im thinkin o2 sensor

it has bosch plugs in it now, (NOT platinum), i have a fresh set of ngks for it, only other mods are msd wires and 14b, oh and i have the bov hose unhooked from the intake, and the intake side plugged. (i know i know, but it sounds sooo awesome .)

If your OBD-2 go get the code read and find out. Autozone and advanced autoparts does it for free. IIRC mitsubishi started instituting OBD-2 in 95, so there is a chance you are.

If you are, just tell the parts store your 96 otherwise they wont even bother.

 

[sincitydru]

Make sure the car is at temperature. I had a similar issue not to long ago. I just idled till warm and boosted on the way there and passed. In second chance mode. It's probably the cat or o2 sensors

 

[shavo_lagu]

Hey guys,

Im also in the same boat. I passed last year but failed this year. Only in the HC stats...i changed my spark plugs and threw in some seafoam into the vacuum line. As the smoke began to exude, i noticed smoke was coming out of the connection between the catalytic conv. and the center pipe. Could this have been the a reason why I didn't pass?

Thanks in advance for the help

oh...here are my stats

15mph_max_56_meas_63
25mph_max_39_meas_41

 

[ConcowTSI]

thanks for the tip on obd2, ill check it out in the morn. to the post above: sounds like your cat is hella-clogged

 

[djailer]

Yup - right on the money. I took it to an emission repair shop and they said the front O2 was toast. I am getting between 22-25 mpg - unless I am enjoying watching the gauge touch on 15 lbs of boost too much. Then it is more like 18 - not all that bad considering.

The tech at the emissions place was sympathetic and really appreciated that I found the Executive Order allowing for the K&N air injection system kit. She said no one had ever come in that prepared before. Never mind it didn't look totally like the picture of the kit the Order specified when I checked it out online. I didn't bother bringing that up. It was 5 PM and I assume everyone else wanted to go home too!!! Props to the emissions station in Fife.

I found two places which had great prices on the sensor. Regular price is $60-70 but RockAuto had a Beck-Arnley for $39. Sparkplugs.com had a Denso for $40. I found both of those sites elsewhere on the boards - although I have heard of RockAuto before. Supposed to be a cinch to put in but are there any gotchas? I figure it can only help mileage and maybe even performance to have an operating O2

I had heard from a few friends that emissions in WA might be going away. This news was dashed when the tech told me that Appriss had just signed a new 5-year contract with the State. Oh well, maybe Tacoma will just get rid of it and we will live happily ever after.

Thanks to everyone and I hope this topic helped a few others as well.

Cheers