Re: Failed Emissions Inspection. AGAIN!!!!!

["Stragand, Dave" <dave.stragand@xxxx>]

Robert,

You say you replaced the "Plugs, wires, cap, rotor, ignition coil,
balast resistor" last year and again this year? Here's some advice --
don't just throw parts at the car hoping the problem will go away. Most
of the parts you just mentioned will do very little if anything towards
improving the emissions.

You have to understand how the fuel system works, and what HC and CO are
in the inspection. Before you replace a part, do the simple checks
outlined in the service manual to test its operation.

HC is unburned fuel, and is the primary indicator of how well the engine
is running. Having high hydrocarbons means that somewhere in the
system, an excessive amount of fuel is not being burned. This is
generally caused by one of two things -- a lack of a good spark, or an
excessive amount of fuel to one or more cylinders (or through the cold
start valve).

You can check the spark plugs one by one. They should be light tan in
color. If you have one that doesn't look the same as the others, that
is a good indicator. If it's all black and sooty, that means that
cylinder is running rich.

You also should check the cold start injector. Remove it from the mount
(but not the hose), put it in a glass jar, and jumper the fuel pump at
the RPM relay (purple/white to brown). Does it dribble or leak fuel?
That is a problem. No? Check all of the injectors.

You need six test tubes. Pull each injector out of it's mount, and put
a small test tube somewhere you can put the head of the injector in
while it's still hooked to it's hose. After all six injectors are in
the test tubes, jumper the fuel pump. Do any dribble? That is a
problem if one or more do. If not, remove the air cleaner and very
slowly push down the metering plate until the injectors open. Does one
spray much earlier than the others? That can be a problem. If not,
press the metering plate down about a half inch until one of the test
tubes is about 1/2 full. Stop, and unjumper the fuel pump.

Are all of the injectors spraying the same amount of fuel? If one
sprays more than others, you have a problem.

You have to remember this is a balanced system. If one injector leaks,
it is going to steal pressure away from the others. You can turn down
the CO adjustment until the car begins to stall, and still have one
cylinder too rich, and thus high HC.

These things would be the first things to check.

-Dave
VIN #05927


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