what a crappy day....

I've been having trouble with the blower cause the belt seemed to be slipping. I went to tighten the belt the other day and then tension rod was missing from the tension pulley (GRRRRRR). So, I ordered the part and it came in today as I was going to get inspected.

The car idled horribly today and kept stalling. Finally she just died I was across from a gas station so they helped me push her in. After all the Ooooooing and awwwwing they came up with a bad alternator. After looking how the hell they can do it I explained the belt problem and showed them the pulley and wanted them to try that first. Hoping the belt wasn't turning the alternator correctly. So they slapped on the new pulley, tightened the belt and Pooff.... the alternator was kicking out the correct charge.

So, onto the inspection. Everything ws ok except they were not getting an emissions reading. They blamed it on the muffler. Long story short, I thought it was there equipment and took it to another shop. They got a reading but I failed.

HC 1.53 gpm
CO 80.70 gpm
NOx .64 gpm

State limits are .8, 15.0, 2.0 respectively.

I had a check engine light last week but cleared it and it didn't come back (i didn't get the code). I recently replaced a stock O2 sensor with one that came with my Tomei A/F guage and wonder if the connections are shorting.

Sorry for the long post (venting) and need some help from the true gurus.

 

Sorry to hear about your horrible day. As for it not meeting emissions, those numbers are a huge difference compared to the state. I would make sure the O2 sensors are working correctly. Next, would be the cat. How old is yours? That could be the problem too. Also, with the supercharger, are you running rich on fuel(more fuel) than normal? This could be a problem. Is the supercharger supposed to be 50 state legal?

 

I wonder if you can dial back the fuel pressure regulator slightly to get a leaner read on the instruments?

 

How is the gas milage?
Also, how many miles did you drive after resetting the ECU? Usually, it takes around 40-60 miles for it to return. Ossuming you drove a lot more then that, how many mods have you put on since the inspection a year ago? Exhaust mods can have an effect on emissions.

My catalytic converter was in bad shape on my 3rd gen, i failed the inspection as well, but with high NOx readings...



I don't know much, but it can be hard finding the problem because of all the upgrades.


poor fuel/air mixture can be a cause, or maybe fuel pressure... If your car is running fine, maybe it's easier to find a shady shop which will pass anything with 4 wheels for 50$

 

I thought it was difficult to pass emmissions with an SC w/o some tweaking.

 

I passed fine last april with a SC and y-pipe.

Confused, I think it's time to put a RT cat on, unless you already have one?


Jeff, sorry for the dumb question, but what fuel regualtor are you referring too? I am getting a SC again I think and I want to tune the car perfect this time . Could you maybe shead a little light on tuning the fuel pressure and all? I am qlueless in this avenue. Thanks

 

I don't know how a sc will affect your emissions. But based on your readings, your car is running way too rich. CO is used to determine your a/f mixture and yours is 5-6 times over the state limit.

Your car detected a problem and turned on th mil. You reset it, but that doesn't fix the problem. That just turned off the mil. The problem is still there. Hope the light comes back on so you can get the code to help in your diagnostic.

 

The Vortech Super FMU allows you to fine tune the fuel pressure. You can set the base (idle) fuel pressure as low as 25psi, the stock pressure is 36psi. it also allows fine adjust ments of boost to fuel pressure ratios. Look at Vortechs web page for info, read the faqs too. To tune it for performance you need to spend a few hours on a dyno with a wide band O2 sensor.

 

Doesn't the sc kit come w/ a adjustable fuel pressure regulator? If it's set too high, it will be rich. I would think you would know. You have more experience than me.

 

Kinda, The "standard" Vortech FMU is in line after the factory FPR. The factory FPR controls the fuel pressure at idle and vaccume operation. When the boost rises the standard FMU takes over and raises the fuel pressure according to the boost, but relative to the installed adjustment disc ratio. Standard is 6:1 or 6psi additional of fuel pressure for every pound of boost. When you go to more boost some use an 8:1 ratio disc. Vortech has detailed info on their web site about how this works too.

The Super FMU replaces the factory FPR and the "standard" FMU.

Confused, do you have your "boost" fuel pump wired to be on all the time or is it still switching on and off with the hobbs pressure switch? If its wire on all the time the extra fuel pressure is probably too much for the factory FPR to contain and your fuel pressure might be a bit to high.

 

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I never knew I could tune my fuel pump when I had a SC, what a dumbass I am .

 

ethan you are worse than me. no 2k2 now. damn you.

 

Wired Direct, no hobbs switch with a 3.33" pulley and an 8:1 disc in the fmu. I just got an mil but screwed up pulling the codes and accidently cleared it out

I'll drive around tomorrow and try to trip the code again

 

this is why i'm sick of modding the car and want something way fast stock.

 

 

Youve got too much $$$ Ethan...

 

I spend all of it though .

 

No advice here as I failed my test also. No S/C though. HC=1.15 (must <.60), CO=4.6 (must <10.0). Anything I hear bout superhigh CO I'll pass on (besides just running rich).

Good luck.

 

Move to a County where there is no emmissions

 

Turn the boost pump off when you go for the check, I bet thats what it is.

 

I was thinking about that since they only bring it up to 50mph on the rolling emissions check. NO boost, no extra fuel, hmmmmmmmm.

I'll post up again when I get the MIL code.

 

When you lower the co, the hc will will go down also. A bad front 02 sensor will cause a car to run rich. Check that first.

 

Thanks gabuchu! Your in the pool for the front O2. Other guesses are rear O2 and a sticking TPS. Winner get's the bad part

 

ok, I didn't try and trip the code first but rewired my 02 sensor that came with my A/F gauge (Tomei) instead. Drove for a half an hour with no MIL.

Off to buy my insp. sticker,, i mean do some diagnostics....

 

Question about the flag on your antenna. Do you have to like remove the flag before you turn off your stereo? Or do you have a separate controller for your power antenna?

 

i'm gonna say that pic is photoshopped.

 

Ding, ding, ding... we have a winner

 

I am having the same problems. Did you figure out what the faulty part was?

SuDZ