Any new tips on passing smog test?

[Z51JEFF]

Last time I got a smog check it was pretty close to the max Nox level even though the cars only got 25,000 miles. Other than a K&N air filter and open housing it’s bone stock. I’ve got a little help from our friend Mr. H,any other tips I should look into,stock air box or open housing,low power mode at the valet switch? I’m thinking about running e85 just to be on the safe side. Thanks for any help here.

[tomcat]

Hello,

To smog my ZR1, I drove on the freeway in 4th gear for a couple miles. Then I got off freeway and drove it 3 gear to the Smog station and she passed each time. In the stste of Washington.

Manfred E...
91 #906

[Ccmano]

I wouldn’t change anything of your setup. Valet mode only, remove the key for the test itself. Get the cats good and hot immediately before you take it in by running it hard for half an hour or so. A fresh oil change can help with hydro carbon readings. These cars sit so much, getting started and stopped constantly without much driving. The cats get loaded up and need to be blown out occasionally. Beyond that hope for the best. Not sure about the E85.
H
:cheers:

[viper107]

run some seafoam through it with a quarter tank of gas, a dirty combustion chamber isnt helping, then run some super in it, then do what the rest say- maybe some octain booster also, hot flashes to heat up converters

[Jagdpanzer]

I’ve had good results cleaning out combustion chamber deposits with running a tank of gas through mixed with Chevron Techron Concentrate Plus Fuel System Cleaner.


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[-=Jeff=-]

Any new tips on passing smog test?

find a state without smog Nazis and move there :)

[Ccmano]

find a state without smog Nazis and move there :)

Given the political nature of that states with the worst emissions laws, it’s probably more appropriate to call them commissar’s than Nazi’s. But then Nazi’s were socialists too...
H
:cheers:

[lfalzarano]

I agree with Jeff! Move!!!


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[gapl1953]

Don't use E85 it will only mess a lot of things up. These cars were not designed to run E85 and the components are not compatible to it.

[Corvettes White]

find a state without smog Nazis and move there :)

Jeff I need the money, and my kids are here. And I know of no place in the world with the weather.

George.

[-=Jeff=-]

Jeff I need the money, and my kids are here. And I know of no place in the world with the weather.

George.

George, I hear you. I want to move from Illinois, but my kids are here and in HS and my job is here..

It is always easier said than done..

BTW George, how is the 89 coming along....

[Corvettes White]

Jeff


Cleaning out garage the last few weekends to get back at it after a very very long delay.


Brett is helping with the body panels. Since this is a standard '89 being converted , a round tail light bumper is being sectioned and widened to fit wider body. New rear body surround and deck lid to match. Photos are of the molds.


And so that I do not hijack the thread, the smog sticker so I can get it to pass California Smog. The LT5 motor is listed in the California smog tech books for 1989.


Stay healthy! George

[DRM500RUBYZR-1]

I have been told bribery works well, but short of that do what others have said.
ditch the full power key
drive it harder than the typical babying to clean those cats.
get it hot before testing
pray
look at the stars
then if all else fails, move or register it elsewhere.
If everything is still correct and complete from an emissions perspective it should easily pass the "standards of the day of manufacture".
However some states require it meet current day standards, and those are tough for 1980's era technology.
Best of luck!
(in NJ we are lucky, no inspection of 95 or earlier)
While we might get nailed by Covid 19 at least we can legally drive our ZR-1's
Marty

[Z51JEFF]

Well I passed the smog test,just barely. The max Nox level is 502 and it passed @473,this was with an open air filter,a little help from our friend in Indiana and I haven’t changed the oil in awhile. Thanks to all for the tips.

[Ccmano]

Well I passed the smog test,just barely. The max Nox level is 502 and it passed @473,this was with an open air filter,a little help from our friend in Indiana and I haven’t changed the oil in awhile. Thanks to all for the tips.

Congrats! I’m curious, what advice did “our friend in Indiana” (Illinois?) give you?
H
:cheers:

[tccrab]

Congrats! I’m curious, what advice did “our friend in Indiana” (Illinois?) give you?
H
:cheers:


I'd heard that a certain "Specialist" had been working on a "Emissions Friendly" chip for us here in Smog Nazi land.
I've not needed one yet....yet.
That could change.


'Crabs

[Z51JEFF]

Congrats! I’m curious, what advice did “our friend in Indiana” (Illinois?) give you?
H
:cheers:

He -told- me about a smog chip he sells that -might- help with the smog test.😉

[Paul Workman]

find a state without smog Nazis and move there :)

Yeah, I wuz gonna say that! (http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31571):-D

[Z51JEFF]

find a state without smog Nazis and move there :)

Yea,if only it was that easy,when I retire I will do just that.

[dmaclennan]

Last time I got a smog check it was pretty close to the max Nox level even though the cars only got 25,000 miles. Other than a K&N air filter and open housing it’s bone stock. I’ve got a little help from our friend Mr. H,any other tips I should look into,stock air box or open housing,low power mode at the valet switch? I’m thinking about running e85 just to be on the safe side. Thanks for any help here.

Just got CA smog testedy - passed with flying colors. Here's what I did based upon input from Marc H.

1. Replaced O2 sensors - even though no codes.
2. Changed oil and filter. Might have helped hydrocarbons a bit.
3. Put CRC Emissions Systems Cleaner in 3/4 full tank and drove it in 4th gear for about 100 miles (about 3500 rpm) with some WOT exercises. Then normal driving for another 100 miles to finish off the tank of fuel. Filled her up and drove to the smog station. Passed with no problems. Originally failed both Hydrocarbons and NO.

Item #3 is what made the difference I believe.

History is here:
http://www.zr1.net/forum/showthread.php?t=31407&page=3

[GOLDCYLON]

Last time I got a smog check it was pretty close to the max Nox level even though the cars only got 25,000 miles. Other than a K&N air filter and open housing it’s bone stock. I’ve got a little help from our friend Mr. H,any other tips I should look into,stock air box or open housing,low power mode at the valet switch? I’m thinking about running e85 just to be on the safe side. Thanks for any help here.

MOVE off the Left Coast

[Vette73]

Get a late 60's early 70's muscle car with a stroked motor, lumpy cam and flowmasters ......Drive it and annoy the crap out of everybody.....Anybody complains just say " hey its legal"....

[Hib Halverson]

Last time I got a smog check it was pretty close to the max Nox level even though the cars only got 25,000 miles. Other than a K&N air filter and open housing it’s bone stock. I’ve got a little help from our friend Mr. H,any other tips I should look into,stock air box or open housing,low power mode at the valet switch? I’m thinking about running e85 just to be on the safe side. Thanks for any help here.


Getting the 1G LT5 though the "enhanced" Smog Check can be tough.

Questions:
What model year?

One reason why the California Smog Check has become an big problem for 2G ZR1 owners is that the State, though the its Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR), has been tightening up the standards for older vehicles. With respect to the standards that apply to '90-'95 model year vehicles, the oxides of nitrogen limits have been lowered at least twice that I know of.

The reason for this is to force old cars off the road. The Demokratik Peoples's Republik of California has been running the Smog Check since the early 1980s. With the tens of millions of cars on the road in since then, the State has a s&&t-load of data on real-world exhaust emissions.

It knows it can force a certain amount of old cars off the road if it simply lowers the cut lines on the various pollutants it tests for, one being NOx. Further the State has data showing what cars typically test near those limits even if they are "legal". The cars it most wants off the road are the ones which pollute the most but are still legal. The LT5 engine's weakness is NOx production and that's why, with California gradually lowering the cut lines, C4 ZR1s flunk when they used to pass. Eventually, when you can't pass you either have to sell the vehicle, scrap the vehicle or sell it out of state. There are some exceptions but many old cars which are in the Smog Check get black-balled because of that.

When I owned Barney, my dearly-departed Purple '95, back in the early '00s I ran up against that problem. After flunking a pre-test three times because of NOx, I decided to find out why a good running LT5 with stock cams and new cats kept flunking the low-speed part of California "enhanced" Smog Check which is used in areas of the State which have the most air quality problems.
Well, after doing some road testing, I found that the EGR valve, used on '93-'95s was calibrated to enable at 17-mph. The low-speed part of the Smog Check is done at 15-mph. Once I knew that, the solution was simple. I had Ron Zimmer, who used to do my cal work back then, burn me a cal with EGR turning on at 14-MPH.

I never had trouble with the Smog Check, again.

That said, people with '90-'92 cars still have a tough time. There are some strategies to help get engines in good condition through the test, but E85 is not one of them.

In any event, The OP's problem was eventually solved with a pass of the test and that's a good thing.