help! failed smog check - car running too lean

[peanotation]

well it's been two years and my registration is up. went to get smogged today and i failed in two areas: engine rpm out of tolerance (guy said i was at 510rpm even though tach showed 800), and i'm running to lean - nox is too high.



so what gives.....any way i can add more fuel to my a/f mix? any ideas to make it run more rich? i'm pretty screwed here.....

the engine rpm i'll fix by just bumping up the idle, even though the tach says its at 800 :-/

could it be o2 sensor? injectors? i know my fuel filter's clean.... what if my timing was under?

[mko]

Hey man, do u still have your SAFC when you were turboed? Also, i failed NOx a year ago, and the reason was the same - running too lean. Then i took it to a private facility and they pulled the pcv valve out and let it suck fresh air and it passed. i really dont know why it runs lean. Did you have the CEL on before you went to inspect it? I have all O2 sensors replaced and I still got CEL for the pre-cat sensor. Im trying to fix it now with a 10 ohm /25W resistor in the O2 sensor heater circuit. So far so good, but ill know for sure in a couple of days. Do u have an A/F gauge?

[peanotation]

right now the car is bone stock. 100% oem. no more safc.

i had a CEL about 4 months ago, but it turned off about an hour later. havn't checked it yet....should probably do that LOL

yeah i have an autometer narrowband a/f gauge. i was goign to pull it anyways, will do that tmrw. i've read on here that some people think it interferes with the signal to the ECU, and right now i need all the help i can get.

i'll try screwing with the pcv valve, i remember buying it brand new and it still didn't pass the mouth-blowing test.....

this car is just destined to run lean forever....even when i was turbo i had the safc +50% across the board and the wideband a/f never budged....

[mko]

Theres nothing you can do bout the PCV. What i meant was that the pcv was pulled out of the valve cover while it was passing emissions

[peanotation]

i can hallow one out....lol...run it to the amtmosphere but fake it like it's going back in...ugghh idk what i'm gonna do. i'm tempted to play with the infamous mas screw now

[mko]

Clean out the EGR too, it affects the Nox

[peanotation]

oh wow, good call, totally forgot about that.....thx man

[evil-G-nius]

thats my problem...my car threw a code for an egr system malfunction. I am gonna clean it out when I get a chance...but until then I have failed too! Hey Matt I am gonna call you to have you walk me through where that egr is so I can clean the shit out. Also try running a fuel cleaner and some premium fuel...that runs cleaner. As you said...every little bit helps

[kolio]

damn guys, they put your cars on the belts? they just hook up the sacanner and i'm gone 2 minutes later.

[skrap]

haha i pay 100 bucks and i get a sticker slapped on lol. But you should try putting in 93 cuz when i ran that i was rich. Now that i am back to 87 im lean. you could try it. Its worth a shot lol. Good luck

[peanotation]

haha if it cost $100 i would be all over it, it costs $65 for a regular check anyways go figure. i'll try the premium fuel as well, thanks guys

[skrap]

Well get in good with a shop man. Next thing you know you just ask em if they would turn their head at a few things... lol seriously he gets in my car take it in the shop scrapes the old sticker off and puts the new one on. I dont even have a seatbelt!!! its broke. Dont bitch at me guys im getting 4 pionts lol

[evil-G-nius]

we dont have 93...91 is it. Should work. But we have very strict emissions...the pay a guy aint gonna work most places here. They can lose their license real easy here.

[BGR]

haha if it cost $100 i would be all over it, it costs $65 for a regular check anyways go figure. i'll try the premium fuel as well, thanks guys

Are you going to have to pay for a re-test? I had my 91 Sentra smogged back in December. It failed because a small tube or plastic valve was damaged (They showed it to me, but I didn't know what the hell that was, or if it was from my car). The shop replaced it and it passed. A $21.99 advertised smog check (turned out that only pertained to cars 1994 and newer, +8.95 Cert), ended up being something like $120, plus parts and labor. Fuckin' racket.

[DOHCstunr]

do not run premium fuel. it will cause you to pollute MORE.
unless your ecu can take advantage of the higher predetonation threshold w/ advanced ignition timing.

just run some plain old 87 octane from a reputable fuel vendor.
I'd definatly reccomend some complete fuel system cleaner.
I always use the big bottle of shell v-power for SUVs

a bad o2 will typically cause you to run richer as opposed to leaner.
but nonetheless I'd run get a new o2 if yours is ancient. No Bosch garbage. Get a Denso or NTK(by NGK)
Are your spark plugs new? Are they gapped to the factory value?

you could always make a small pinhole vacuum leak post mass if you want to run a little rich.
try drilling a 1/8" hole in the bottom of your breather line(out of sight obviously)

[peanotation]

Are you going to have to pay for a re-test? I had my 91 Sentra smogged back in December. It failed because a small tube or plastic valve was damaged (They showed it to me, but I didn't know what the hell that was, or if it was from my car). The shop replaced it and it passed. A $21.99 advertised smog check (turned out that only pertained to cars 1994 and newer, +8.95 Cert), ended up being something like $120, plus parts and labor. Fuckin' racket.

no, i get 1 free retest. sucks, cause if i fail that then i gotta shell out $60 all over again.

do not run premium fuel. it will cause you to pollute MORE.
unless your ecu can take advantage of the higher predetonation threshold w/ advanced ignition timing.

just run some plain old 87 octane from a reputable fuel vendor.
I'd definatly reccomend some complete fuel system cleaner.
I always use the big bottle of shell v-power for SUVs

a bad o2 will typically cause you to run richer as opposed to leaner.
but nonetheless I'd run get a new o2 if yours is ancient. No Bosch garbage. Get a Denso or NTK(by NGK)
Are your spark plugs new? Are they gapped to the factory value?

you could always make a small pinhole vacuum leak post mass if you want to run a little rich.
try drilling a 1/8" hole in the bottom of your breather line(out of sight obviously)

good to know,....good to know. i probably should get a new o2, since it was the same one from when before i was turbo....when i was turbo, and after/now. LOL, it's probably pretty fried. money money money.....

if i made a hole post-mas, wouldn't it suck in more unmetered air and run even leaner? MAS reads X amount of air, now it's getting X+1 amount.....

[skrap]

SO like i said if he is running too lean it means that he is getting too much air and not enough fuel. So if you put it premium fuel or maybe mid grade it will make him run more equal..... correct?

[seth98esT]

If its after the MAS, the ECU calculates for X amount of air at the MAS, after the MAS you have X-the leaked air out the hole, so it will run fuel for air thats not actually getting pushed through the motor.

[DOHCstunr]

On ebay, just type in like denso o2

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/_Car-...1%7C240%3A1318

all you need is a universal 4 wire o2 sensor.
when I actually ran my car off a narrowband(lol seems so barbaric to me now lol)
i ran one of these denso universals.

a new o2 will heat up faster, and cycle faster as well helping you get better fuel economy while in closed loop mode.

I've installed these on my sisters 8g, and 4 of these on my dad's diamante(the damn thing has 5 o2 sensors lmao)
work perfectly.

[peanotation]

If its after the MAS, the ECU calculates for X amount of air at the MAS, after the MAS you have X-the leaked air out the hole, so it will run fuel for air thats not actually getting pushed through the motor.

but.....it's vacuum. it's sucking air in through the hole. why would air be coming out of the hole if the throttle body is sucking in, it's going to suck from everywhere....filter, the hole i just made, etc.