failed smog

[Helirich]

?????

[glockworks21]

I may have had a s**t connection on cap to cylinder 5. Maybe not firing right under load? Maybe intermittent? Not 100 percent sure but runs smoother more consistently. I dont want to jinx it but Im hopeful that smog attempt 6 (i think) will pass... the cat may have been a waste although on one test the numbers were lower and the old one was hollow anyways. if there was incomplete combustion like dave T said then this would make sense if that cylinder was not firing. especially under load on the rollers when they test. (ive learned that part from Dave S.. Cant thank you enough)

fingers crossed.. maybe put an end to this thread on tuesday. Will be great for future owners to look at and know what NOT to do based on my mistakes!! )

Dave

[glockworks21]

What we have learned not to do.


leaning out or running rich made very minimal differences in smog- not enough to change results unless you are very close to fail with ppm or co possibly? - nothing with nox

The car was miss firing under load and had bad connection on plug- no difference in smog test results at any point.

It IS possible to burn out an original catalytic converter to a point where there is nothing in it. And its possible in less that 2000 miles. From bad tuning maybe? sitting for years without driving? I dont know.. This is what started all of my problems. I went down a rabbit hole and got nowhere. It seemed impossible that my oe cat passed here when i got the car 2 years ago and then 2000 miles later it was burned out hollow.. but that is exactly what happened and that shall remain the mystery.

The dgo cat will not pass ca smog. see attached tests... one is dgo and the other a good used original cat given to me by Mhanch. (i owe you big time and still waiting for your venmo) THE ONLY CHANGE TO CAR BETWEEN TWO ATTACHED TESTS WAS THE CAT

Injectors made no difference. plugs made no difference. valve adjustments made no difference.. Its all catalytic converter! which i will be removing again at the end of the week to preserve it for my next test in two years. I plan to run the dgo cat for now. The oe cat belongs to Mhanch and he did not want money for it. I will gratefully store it here. If anyone in california throws nox numbers like this and needs it I will pay it forward and loan it out for you to pass since we know it works.

I guess the positive out of all this is that the car is pretty well sorted at this point. forget the fact that im over 400 in smog tests and blew a head gasket in the middle of all this..

Now I can send $524 to the DMV to get a 12 cent sticker that says 2024.. the rest will be squandered away..

Thank you all. I hope this helps someone in the future!!!

Dave

[Bitsyncmaster]

What we have learned not to do.


leaning out or running rich made very minimal differences in smog- not enough to change results unless you are very close to fail with ppm or co possibly? - nothing with nox

The car was miss firing under load and had bad connection on plug- no difference in smog test results at any point.

It IS possible to burn out an original catalytic converter to a point where there is nothing in it. And its possible in less that 2000 miles. From bad tuning maybe? sitting for years without driving? I dont know.. This is what started all of my problems. I went down a rabbit hole and got nowhere. It seemed impossible that my oe cat passed here when i got the car 2 years ago and then 2000 miles later it was burned out hollow.. but that is exactly what happened and that shall remain the mystery.

The dgo cat will not pass ca smog. see attached tests... one is dgo and the other a good used original cat given to me by Mhanch. (i owe you big time and still waiting for your venmo) THE ONLY CHANGE TO CAR BETWEEN TWO ATTACHED TESTS WAS THE CAT

Injectors made no difference. plugs made no difference. valve adjustments made no difference.. Its all catalytic converter! which i will be removing again at the end of the week to preserve it for my next test in two years. I plan to run the dgo cat for now. The oe cat belongs to Mhanch and he did not want money for it. I will gratefully store it here. If anyone in california throws nox numbers like this and needs it I will pay it forward and loan it out for you to pass since we know it works.

I guess the positive out of all this is that the car is pretty well sorted at this point. forget the fact that im over 400 in smog tests and blew a head gasket in the middle of all this..

Now I can send $524 to the DMV to get a 12 cent sticker that says 2024.. the rest will be squandered away..

Thank you all. I hope this helps someone in the future!!!

Dave

Glad you got it to pass. I've not heard of a CAT blowing out hollow on it's own. If it did, those chunks are in your muffler.

[r00b]

Is the registration $524!? Here in Colorado, my car's registration was $60 something last time I payed it. Good idea to take it off and save it for the next smog, maybe put on a test pipe until then. It sucks though that you even have to do that.

[Helirich]

Maybe you had a backfire at some point and it blew the cat insides out. That cat material is kind of like a China plate. Once it starts cracking up, it might not take long to disintegrate. Maybe one cylinder was not firing at all and the fuel was all burning in the cat. (It is suppose to get hot, but there?s limits)

In any case, good that you got the nazi?s off your tail.

[mhanch]

What we have learned not to do.


leaning out or running rich made very minimal differences in smog- not enough to change results unless you are very close to fail with ppm or co possibly? - nothing with nox

The car was miss firing under load and had bad connection on plug- no difference in smog test results at any point.

It IS possible to burn out an original catalytic converter to a point where there is nothing in it. And its possible in less that 2000 miles. From bad tuning maybe? sitting for years without driving? I dont know.. This is what started all of my problems. I went down a rabbit hole and got nowhere. It seemed impossible that my oe cat passed here when i got the car 2 years ago and then 2000 miles later it was burned out hollow.. but that is exactly what happened and that shall remain the mystery.

The dgo cat will not pass ca smog. see attached tests... one is dgo and the other a good used original cat given to me by Mhanch. (i owe you big time and still waiting for your venmo) THE ONLY CHANGE TO CAR BETWEEN TWO ATTACHED TESTS WAS THE CAT

Injectors made no difference. plugs made no difference. valve adjustments made no difference.. Its all catalytic converter! which i will be removing again at the end of the week to preserve it for my next test in two years. I plan to run the dgo cat for now. The oe cat belongs to Mhanch and he did not want money for it. I will gratefully store it here. If anyone in california throws nox numbers like this and needs it I will pay it forward and loan it out for you to pass since we know it works.

I guess the positive out of all this is that the car is pretty well sorted at this point. forget the fact that im over 400 in smog tests and blew a head gasket in the middle of all this..

Now I can send $524 to the DMV to get a 12 cent sticker that says 2024.. the rest will be squandered away..

Thank you all. I hope this helps someone in the future!!!

Dave

So glad it worked! a true Festivus Miracle! - Now, the Feats of Strength...

[Rich]

Is the registration $524!? .....

The owner didn't say exactly that.
"Now I can send $524 to the DMV to get a 12 cent sticker that says 2024"
The reported fee to get the sticker prob included some one-time charges since it went non-op?

The CA registration fee for our '81 D (without a vanity license plate fee and not Hist. Vehicle) is currently $172 per yr.

[glockworks21]

The owner didn't say exactly that.
"Now I can send $524 to the DMV to get a 12 cent sticker that says 2024"
The reported fee to get the sticker prob included some one-time charges since it went non-op?

The CA registration fee for our '81 D (without a vanity license plate fee and not Hist. Vehicle) is currently $172 per yr.

They base registration on county, price paid on vehicle, length of ownership ect ect. Nice that yours is that low.

Mine was $386 for registration - that is with custom plate ($50 I think)
The rest was late fees.. I never non oped it mainly because I dont know or want to deal with the process to get it off of non op.
I was happy to pay the late fees to get this behind me. at least for the next 2 years..

Sorry for the negative cali talk. Its just seems to be a money grab ( the smog testing i mean) There was talk of raising the vehicle smog year up to mid 90s but the bill didnt pass. I really want the stage one setup and would have got it right away when all this started. Danny at DMC said it passes emissions but will fail visual because for whatever reason the state wont approve it They are working on a california stage one that passes visual with correct stamping... Seems they dont really care if a stage one passes or maybe even runs cleaner(idk) but since they didnt approve it you dont get it. Thats where the negativity comes from )

Thanks again for all the support.

[DMCMW Dave]

If it did, those chunks are in your muffler.

Good catch - when you take it apart again, shake the muffler. If there are converter parts inside it will be pretty obvious. I've seen them break up inside and the chunks are pretty significant.