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This is the continuing saga of the 1992 940GL that failed emissions with a high NOx reading. The recommendation by the inspecting shop was to replace the catalytic converter and have the valve clearances adjusted to deal with the root cause. This sounded strange since the dealer had replaced the exhaust system from the manifold back about 13 months ago. So I started checking around, including posting on this board, and got some helpful ideas.
Today I decided to pay someone to give me another opinion, not necessarily to repair anything, but just to tell me where the fault was, whether catalytic converter, O2 sensor, air leaks, whatever. I would then make the decision whether to have them do the repairs or take it somewhere else. This decision would be partly dependent on parts cost, which I have investigated.
Well, just imagine that when they started looking at the car, it suddenly had a crack in the radiator up where the top hose goes in, and the crack goes down about 2-3 inches. This was described as a hairline crack that had been there "a while". Funny, but I have never added one drop of coolant to the reservoir, I have never seen a single drop on my garage floor, and the temperature gauge has never registered anything but totally normal, ie, needle straight up in the middle. I was also informed that the electric fan was not coming on, which is probably true.
Their contention was that with the motor running hot, as such a state would produce, this was likely the cause of the emissions failure, in that it probably richened up the mixture. But isn't a rich mixture synonomous with using more fuel? And wouldn't that lead to poor gas mileage? Funny, the mileage has been great, low to mid 20s around town, and even before I threw a brand new set of Bosch plugs in there, the deposits were light, grey and picture perfect. Doesn't a too rich mixture lead to imperfect combustion and black deposits?
What do you all think? I am at wit's end!!! Any ideas out there on what I should expect to pay for a new radiator, installation of same, and maybe also a new cooling fan? Thanks! Doug
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