CAN'T PASS CALIF. SMOG, IDEAS/HELP!!!!

[tpr60]

90 zr 63000 miles, changed plugs, wires, one coil, changed 6 injectors[rest ohm OK], fixed vacuum leaks, updated GM prom. Has high hydrocarbons at idle, over 300[needs to be under100] 2500rpm reads 120HC, o2 at tailpipe is 5[should be zero]. My understanding is the car is running lean. Any ideas, comments, or do I need to register it out of state[Calif].

[Kevin]

1: call mark haibeck
2: search for another members thread here and contact him....i think the title is "failed cali smog' or something like that
3: move out of that nazi hell hole

[tpr60]

Thanks for all the links, some I had seen before, took a couple hours to read and refresh my memory. I will run my Snap on scanner and check the o2 sensors and try wrapping the cats. Have a pair of used manifolds/cats coming from Pete in ILL. I am in a rural test zone so my test is a static one at idle and 2500rpm. Thank goodness my smog tech is a car guy that I used to deliver parts to, my pre-tests have been free, he is interested to see what it will take to get the Z to pass. He never seen a ZR before smog testing my two cars. Hope I don't have to do the NLA part routine with the referee.

[Bill]

The referee thing is not all that bad. I was able to handle the whole transaction on the phone, except for the actual emission test. I am now able to run headers and high flow cats with the blessing of the smog Nazis. Good luck and keep us posted

[zr1don]

You should be able to pass the idle and 2500 rpm tests. If your HC,s are high that is an indication of a rich mixture or bad cats. If the cats are bad, both HC and NOX will be high. Post up all your test results for idle and 2500 rpm. I'm sure someone here can help w/the diagnosis.

[rhipsher]

Texas is real bad to. Mine runs real clean. These are the results of mine every year.

But mine might not pass California either I don't know what the max limits are out there.

[tpr60]

Thanks for the interest guys.

Last pre-test readings, at idle

HC............ppm 387,,,,,,,,Limit 120 HC reading at 2500rpm 110 limit 140

CO.............%0.49,,,,,,,,,,Limit 1.00

CO2...........%10.8,,,,,,,,,,Limit ? [15.2 will pass]

O2.............% 5.4,,,,,,,,,,,Limit ? [1.6 will pass]

P.E.F...........0.496,,,,,,,,,,,Zero Required {I do not know what this is?]
Will try and change both o2 sensors this week, and wrap the converters.
Check for any new vacuum leaks with a propane torch.

[mike100]

less than 11% on the C02 is WAAAY too low. when the cats light off and have a decent fuel mixture, you will have 14.5-15% depending on Catalyst health and fuel mixture accuracy. There isn't a limit on C02, it is just easy to measure and used for diagnostic reasons to see if the catalyst is 'running'.

CO is too high..I only had .35% with a big vac leak that wouldn't idle below 1300 rpm. .10% when I fixed it.

That cat did not light-off. It could be bad if you ran with bad injectors for a long time.

[tpr60]

Thanks Mike, when I got the car in Jan. it had a dead coil 1&6, vacuum leaks[mice] 5 low oms pri injectors and one dead sec. injector, dead plug wire. So the cats were trying to clean up a rich engine. All have been fixed or replaced. Left cat is in the cool side on a thermal temp scan. I have a set of 1990 manifolds/cats coming from Pete in Ill. Thanks for you thoughts.

[mike100]

Here's a really good reference for emissions reading analysis:http://www.ratwell.com/mirror/interro/techgas.html