Another 3.2 Fails CA Smog
 

My 84 Cab just failed bad. Like most of us in CA and elsewhere that a cat is required, every 2 years I get the original cat out of the cabinet, run it for a few weeks and it usually passes with lots of margin.

Not this year..... Have you noticed we all get sent to the test only station because we are tagged as a "High Emitter Profile" WTF! Check out the .pdf on thread #18 where at the top of the page as Inspection Reason it has listed "High Emitter Profile". Thats right, CA has our number and it's called FU CA wants you off the road.


The car has the original Cat so I guess it was time. 26 yers is not bad for an original part to still almost work. I also was hoping someone could educate me why a cat that passed in '06 with NOx levels ~200 ppm, went up to ~600 ppm in '08 and 1000 ppm in '10?? Did the cat get oxidized or something like that sitting in my inside garage? Why did the NOx level go up?

They did drop the max limits from '08 to '10. In '08 the NOx limits were 1148 ppm at 15 mph and 978 at 25 mpr they decreased them in '10 to 804/685 ppm. Thats a 40% reduction........

So it was either pay the mechanic $500, that's right $100 for his time plus $400 for the bogus smog or buy the aftermarket job from Pelican for $600. The factory part is $1400 and I think takes a few weeks to get in from Germany.

So now that I have a new $600 cat that helped pass smog off the car again I'm concerned that just sitting in my dry garage it will go bad after few years.

Should I vacuum bag it or pressurize it with dry nitrogen??

I'm calling bullshyt on Cali for this also, it's federal regulations that regulate cat converters. At a minimum they should last the life of the car. And there is a limit on how much you can spend on a repair. I think there just cracken down on repair staitions who pass the fun to you.

Your engine could have developed some vacuum leaks that could cause it to run leaner resulting higher N0x. Typically intake manifold gaskets leak or get sucked in are the usual culprits.


Cheers,

Joe

I can't give you any relative emissions levels, since my 911 is a '75 (yea!). But from the test results on my '86 Toyota truck, the Max NO levels allowed have decreased from 2 years ago: 1136 to 795 ppm @ 15 mph; 1222 to 855 ppm at 25 mph. HC and Co% have remained the same. So it does seem California is putting the squeeze on the emissions.
While the cat on the truck is on the ragged edge for passing, I've got a fresh one standing by that gives consistently good numbers for the test. I don't think it's your cat going bad in your garage, it's got to be something else. For NOx, have you checked your EGR?

There is no egr.

How old is the O2 sensor?

Have any friends with a working Cat? Use that one. I got one. Where in Cali are you?

I wonder when the last time a Goverment vehicle had to pass smog,... ??? of course they can just buy new ones as they pls if they dont....FM

So the qusetion I was asking really was; Why did my old cat not work after storage in the garage?? I've only use it about 6 weeks over the past 6 years, every 2 years I put it on for 2 weeks and pass smog (or so I thought)

Do they go bad sitting around on the shelf in the garage? Do the catalytic elements go bad in the air? Should I vacuum bag my new one so it stays fresh in the future or should I pressurize it with dry nitrogen?

Highly unlikely your cat went bad on the shelf. Check for other issues.

yeah. The cat goes bad. Check the "born on" date.

Either that, or the O2 sensor wears out from being in your hot exhaust mile after mile, and needs to be periodically replaced.

The O2 sensor was replaced in '08 because I was failing other test parameters.

I guess I'll double vacuum bag it

Did you test and re-set the CO% in '08?

A converter that lasted 26 years? Nice.

Definitely time for a new one. Some people have to replace them every 4-6 years. Yes, vacuum bag the new one and shelve it for it's next use date. That's what I'm doing with mine... Until I can get a complete header system, then every 2 years it'll be time to remove the whole shebang, install the OEM and let it ride.

02 sensors are a wear item, so are cats...less so, but they still wear out......you should always pre test at shop prior to going to the smog nazis,,,,,,

There is a 'brown wire' at the ECU under the seat for CA cars. It is suposed to lower emissions when pluged into it's self.

I do not know if this will help or not.