|
Daaaaaaaaaaaaang Ken, that has to be the cleanest running 240 on the entire eastern seaboard!! Good for you bud
1sciroccofarher, red engine cars failing for excessive NoX are a dime a dozen. Your car is late enough that I would think it would have EGR on it being a Cali car. The high Nox numbers come from a lean mix typically and that is exactly what the EGR is designed to combat. Remember, a lean mix is a hot mix and a rich mix is a cool mix. Take a look at some of the root causes that might lead to a lean mix like faulty pre-heat thermostats, lazy or slow O2 sensors, worn out EGR components, vacuum leaks, restricted fuel filters, and tired fuel pumps. All of these things can lead to insufficient fuel flow or excessive O2, either way it is a lean mix. I have seen 240s come in with over 200 psi compression, that is through the roof and typically caused by carboned up combustion chambers. With these higher mileage red engine vehicles rarely is it a "silver bullet" cure where there is just one fix that will cure all of it's evils but a cat and an O2 will make it "clean for a day" and that is about it. When you come around in 2 years for your next inspection you will fail for the same reasons. Usual scenario is the root cause was never fixed and the cheapo cat was welded in. Might as well go with the cheap one 'cause it will burn up the high dollar one by the next inspection too. Understand, getting your car fixed right and past the smog inspection is often times an absolute butt load of money. You need to fix it and put a new cat and O2 in it because they are burned up to, $$$$$$$!! I could give you a better analysis of what is going on with you system if I had all of the numbers off of your VIR but the simple fact that you failed for NoX on the low speed and past at 25 says that your cat is trying to work. It will produce more NoX on the high end but the cat is also hotter and working better so you can see that the cat works better the hotter it gets, chances are probably pretty good that you would've passed if someone cooked the cat off good and proper but this is not the obligation of the smog tech and if it is failing the machine will often put it into a pre-conditioning sequence to get it hotter.
Anyhow, have you heard of the CAP program? If you are test only directed, you own the car, it is a regular biennial inspection (not a change of ownership or intial registration from out of state, then you can mail in the forms and get up to $500.00 of assistance from the state. You have to pay the first $100.00, they pick up the next $500.00, and anything over that is yours to pick up. Should you decide not to spend more money you can actually get a waiver on it from the referee station. It is one of the options available to you.
Good Luck,
Mark
|
