Discussion thread: Emission / E-test related issues
 

Please post all your emission test related questions in here. Thank you

Nova_Dust


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So I strolled into Honda fully expecting my 98 si to pass the emissions test. It came back with failing grades. My Hydrocarbons were above the limit.

So I asked honda what the problem was, and they told me they have to do a diagnostic ($98.00)

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ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS so they can connect my car to a computer and press a few buttons. I asked if they would waive the fee if I had the repairs done there and they refused. So I took my sheets and went to Green and Ross and ended up paying $78.00 (still a rip off, but what was I supposed to do?)

They run their test and tell me my O2 sensor is only picking up emissions from one cylinder, as the new header (magnaflow) doesn't collect data from all four cylinders (as does the stock) therefore it is throwing the results off.

I asked what my options were and they told me to replace my header with a stock manifold.

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HAS ANYONE ever had this problem before????????

Try replacing your o2 before you go replacing your header

ya went threw the same thing. Got a new header back system all kinds of headaches. Due to the car being obd2 you have to run 2 O2 sensors. You should have one at the top of the header and one in the cat. If you dont have one on the top of the header then get a O2 bung welded in. Make sure you have new sparkplugs and warm up the cat for at least 20-30min before going in. I failed a couple of times due to a cold cat, which no-one can really diagnose. Just dont leave your car waiting for a long time before the test.

go to a muffler shop, have an O2 bung put into the collector and one after wherever you put your cat (midpipe prolly)...

if that IS truly the problem, then ^^^ that will solve it. and save you from spending hella money on another header. this fix should only cost like $40-50 bux.

you should come to unity auto :) TCC affiliate.

do you have your stock exhaust manifold? if so why not just put it on or find someone with one and put it one just for the test?

i would also recommend you put the stock header back on.

I failed when i had my Mugen header. the piping material is thin so there wasn't enough heat to warm up the O2 sensor (near the collector) or the cat.

my friend also failed early this year because of his header. once we both replaced it with stock, it reduced out emissions by a lot.

I don't have the old manifold, it was actually broken, that's what prompted me to put a header on it.

When I went back to the guy who installed it, he told me the wire for the 02 sensor isn't long enough to fit in the collector pipe.

After looking at the issue, he told me he can send the car off to someone who he knows who is an emission specialist who will 'make it pass' ... whatever the heck that means.

The problem is now what will happen in two years when I have to re-do the clean test.

This entire emission test is bull S*&#. Just another tax grab!!!!

What he is offering you to "make it pass" is illegal. You will have to probably fork out some cash to pay for it.

I would do what Bbarbulo suggested or see if you can source out a second hand Manifold or buy an aftermarket one that will run you 450

try to find someone that you can borrow a stock header from, or buy one if it comes up (good to have around for smog etesting).

i believe the wires can be extended as well so that shouldn't really be an issue.

and yes, i hate the smog tests (failed 6 times in a row 2 years ago)...seems like a cash grab for sure.

it is a cash grab, if they really cared about the environment, there wouldn't be such thing as a conditional pass where you just basically buy yourself a $500 (or so) etest. And they would be targeting the heavy trucks/buses that are the real polluters.

I'm sure theres someone on here (djxquizit comes to mind) that would have a stock manifold that you could buy for dirt cheap to use for the etest.

Okay...but isn't that a pain in the ass... putting on a stock manifold everytime I have to do an e-test? It doesn't seem to be worth the hastle.

I'm sure what the guy will do is illegal... but i'm just pissed off at this entire situation. I don't understand what the rest of people do when they have to do an emissions test. For me, putting switching manifolds would be a pain.

ALSO...since my O2 sensor only sends the correct fuel mixture to one cylinder... what the heck is going on with the other two?????

I'd run the car real hot and take it in, as for the guy who says he "can make it pass" he'll try different things till it passes. there are alot of places that will do that for you. I'm taking my car in tomorrow, the guy at the etest place thinks the dealer that i bought the car from probubly just rolled it in and ran the test, he suggest I get new fuel in the car because it was sitting at the dealer for about a month or so, drive about 100km on the highway the "get rid of all the crap" as he said and bring it in hot for the test. He doesn't think there will be any issue, he's seen cars pass with bad O2 sensors.

it might be a pain in the ass, but you only have to do it once every 2 years so i don't think it's that bad in that sense.

as for the O2 sensor, it's only READING from one cylinder, which sends that info to the ECU. The ECU then uses the readings from that one cylinder and applies it to all 4 cylinders.

Mashimaro,

I didn't know that. The guy at active green and ross told me that one cylinder was working properly while the other three were running rich. (default level). I sort of suspected the info would be sent back to the comp. and then applied to all cylinders.

Thanks for all the info people.

OBD2 cars know exactly which cylinder is running rich/lean/misfiring based on the CKF sensor. it's smart like that y0

as for homoface telling you the O2 wiring is too short... well ****ING EXTEND IT FOO!! I mean if you're paying for a header install, that should just be a given that the wiring will get extended.

What he is offering you to "make it pass" is illegal.

^^ not necessarily.

Think You Can't Pass Your Emissions???
 

OK guys, I just got my etest done on my turbo dseries, running super rich, blah blah blah, I took my car into a shop to have it checked out. I was refered there by a good friend, anyhow, he took a look at the car, warmed it up real good, and ran the test. The first test wasn't the real thing, we were just checking to see what reading we would get. After the run he was confident that the car would pass no problem. BUT, when he entered all my info he put my car in as a modified Hot Rod. (Apparently this is a category) anyhow it bumped up all my legal limits. He said this is what you have to do, the car didn't come with the Turbo, so lets run it as a modified car. Keep in mind this has no effect on insurance. Anyhow i passed with flying colors. Just to give you an idea, i'll post the readings of the first etest done at the dealer that sold me the car as is, and then the results of my etest with the car warmed up and ran as a modified hot rod.

First failed etest, regualar unmodded civic:

HC ppm (Limit) 75 (Reading) 83
CO% (Limit) 0.42 (Reading) 0.76
NO ppm (Limit) 576 (Reading) 671

Now with the modified car Etest:

HC ppm (Limit) 363 (Reading) 54
CO% (Limit) 2.87 (Reading) 0.21
NO ppm (Limit) 3838 (Reading) 512

So you can see that the limits are greatly increased, you can also see that I would have passed regardless, We assumed the dealer that tested it prior did not have the car warmed up before testing. Now to all of you worried about etesting your car, get the damn technician to change your car to a Hot Rod modified classification, keep in mind there is also classifications for "Grey" market modded cars, not sure what the limits are on those, but as the technician told me why try and pass a modded car under factory limits when you own a modded car and there's a class for it. I hope this helps all of you guys out worried about etesting your cars. Goodluck.

i ended up running mine as a hotrod aswell, due to the high NO reading, im assuming caused by the lack of an egr system

i was worried at first that this could lead to some sort of insurance related problems, but so far i havent heard anything. Maybe someone here knows if there is a downside to using the hotrod approach to emission testing