Can't Get Past WA State Emissions Testing
 

So I went down to the Emissions testing for the first time in two years about a week ago knowing the car most likely wouldn't pass because it has a slight miss at idle, so I bought some of that "Guarenteed to Pass" stuff because it had worked for a friend of mine. After the first test it passed the cruise emissions no problem but the idle came up around 20 points over. So I pulled the IACV out and cleaned it up. It made a world of difference with the idle and was quite a bit more stable after that. So with the idle around 740 or 750 I took her down for the second test and it was only 16 points off of the idle limit. I took the EGR off and cleaned it, as well as my air filter which was filthy, cleaned that up too. Took it back down for the third test and it came up 100 points over the idle limit. So today for the fourth test I tried raising the idle back up and putting in a few bottles of Iso-Heet for the alcohol effect. Came up again about 8 points off from the idle limit. So I'm thinking it has to be an injector situation? I'm wondering what would be the cheapest route to go for a set of new injectors. I've heard that alot of aftermarket injectors fail shortly after installation but I also can't get them through Nissan because they want $165 each for them. I'm getting desperate because I recently lost my job and need to get the car legal again. Any advice or tricks on how to get around this test would be much appretiated. Thanks.

Yeah, not a good idea to try and pass DEQ when your car isn't running on all 6. I have a set of 3 new VE injectors that i'm starting to think i'll never use. Don't need or really want to deal with another VE anymore. Anyway, PM me an offer. You can throw the 3 new ones in the rear bank and keep 3 used ones up front for quick replacement if they fail.

hectic knows the difference between "new" and new. internetautomar has a site, http://internetautosupply.com, you can get them for about 110, new.
an injector is an injector, as far as I know, so regardless if the bad one is in the front, or back, they would work.
I would test the injectors by pulling the coil wire off while running for each cylinder. if one of the cylinders does not change the idle, you found you bad cylinder. if you can get to the injectors terminal, ohm test it with a multi-meter, should be 10-14 ohms. if its in spec, check the coil for cracks, etc, and the plugs for fouling, or whatever. if the filter was dirty, it may be time to check the spark plugs....

FYI, the car is running on all 6 cylinders and the ecu's led flashes code "55." It just sputters a little at idle.

? you know the OP?

He owns my previous maxima and he's a very good friend of mine. :)

ooooooooo gotcha. i love it when orgers sell to other orgers. that way we get to see how far they take it instead of being like "gosh i hope it isn't like, owned by some minimum wage loser that leaves pizza boxes in the back and spills beer on the seats or is running around on 2 donuts and accidentally broke the passenger side mirror off..."

my friend's roomie sold his dodge (which he loved, and cried like a girl after selling) to a dealer, and now it's owned by this ugly fat woman that already trashed it after like 2 months... me and my friend pulled up next to it on US1 at a stoplight and were like "omg it's his car!". we knew it was that one b/c he had a VERY custom pin-striping job that encircled the entire car.

and i am SO glad i don't have to pass emissions in NC because, frankly, if it didn't pass i likely would not have the $ to fix whatever was wrong within a month.

we saw this in the not-too-distant past...
"why 17 year olds...."

I had a similar situation several years back when I could not get my Camry to pass. I bumped up the idle a little bit as well. You can try to take the idle up to the limit, if you haven't already done so.

Otherwise, having the engine really warm helps. I drove all the way to the Marysville emissions testing station, instead of the closer Everett station. The engine was running for a good 40 minutes by the time I got there.

What?

I wonder if it's a bad coil? You can only bump the idle so much as the test has a rpm limit. I think Matt has advised that fresh oil has a postive effect on emissions. If you're 8 points off, that might be the difference.

But I'd try pulling coils until you isolate the cylider that's missing.

Yeah one of the times I went down there I had the idle at 1090 which was pretty close to the limit and it was off by 8 points. Also one of the times I was down there one of the emissions gentleman broke my parking brake handle as well. :mad: This whole situation really makes me angry. And it's barely even a miss at idle so It would be tough to figure out exactly which one is having problems. I'm almost thinking is a combination of a few cylinders. I'm sure a few of the coils are cracked because I electro-taped a few up front and the problem went away when I was having idle trouble a few years ago.

I'm almost positive that his injectors are causing the problem. It's common for the injector coil resistance to slowly rise as they get older. Think if one injectors resistance is higher than all of the rest.....

I think I have 3 rear coils laying around. It could be the injector though. I don't think I have any spare injectors anymore. I threw a ton of stuff away before.

If you're 8 pts off just chg your oil and filter and go perform the test. I've got a 1986.5 Hardybody pickup with headers, cam, hi-flow cat, ported intake, ported head, and 325,000+ miles on it. I've passed the load test with flying color for the last 5-6 yrs, by changing my oil and really making sure it's warmed up really well!

I will try changing the oil ASAP because it needs it anyway. Also I tested the resistance on the front injectors and cylinder 2 was 12.8 which is a little undesirable, 4 and 6 were low to mid 11's if I remember right. So as soon as I check the rear injectors I can get an idea of how many I need to replace I suppose. I would rather just do all six as soon as the funding for such an operation is available. Thanks for the help.

haa just think 5 more years and we can call these cars antiques then never worry about emissions (mystate laws sucksif their not yours)

Why not just clean them by pouring some injector cleaner in 3/4-full tank of gas and running it down with long trip somewheres that will consume the entire tank of gas...Don't ever leave fuel injector cleaner in your tank for days or it will destroy all your orings/seals inyour fuel pump and/or fuel injectors, or any other rubber items in your fuel system! A nice highway trip will really clean your entire intake system and smoothen out your idle!

Well thanks to some help from 505max hooking me up with some new injectors. I replaced all three of the rears which were running high 14's for resistance. I also replaced one of the fronts. I switched out the spark plugs and changed the oil and after taking the test for the fifth time she finally passed. The injectors have made a huge improvement in performance as well. I'm now able to run more timing without pinging. It's strange because I didn't realize over time how much power and efficiency the engine had lost due to defective injectors. It's like having a new motor. :D

I would have sold you mine for a lot less than you offered. I already got back most of what I paid for them when I sold the first 3. Try following up next time;)

Rob, you want to sell me the three that you still have?? SO all six of them can be together again??You got PM

Did you pass the emission test finally?