Maryland Emissions HELP

[thereisnoyun]

Hey Guys, need some ideas here. Didnt pass Hydrocarbon, dont know what this means.

HC
Standard 1.0000 GPM
MYE30IC 1.3134 GPM

Question
#1 - is this alot? or is this just tiny litty bit?
#2 - I did the vacuum hose replacement ICV, PCV and check all others for leak. What else?
#3 - My idle is steady at 900ish, doesnt move, car idles' fine. Is this normal?
#4 - temperture sensor is between the quarter marker and half way marker - is my thermostat opening too early? Temp sensor bad? I notice my idle drops a hundred or 200 if the temp pins at half way point, aka if I drive the shit out of it for a while.

Any help would be appreciated.

- Yun

[silversleeper]

Seafoam FTMFW!

[jlevie]

How old is the O2 sensor? If it has over 80k it should be replaced.

Have you checked the fuel pressure at the injector rail? A bad FPR can cause excessive pressure and a rich condition.

Are the ignition wires, rotor, and cap original? If so change them. And are the plugs fresh?

How long since the last valve adjustment? If over 10k adjust them.

Have you checked the AFM to see if it has any flaky spots in the resistance curve as you move the vane?

Does the engine have good compression numbers?

If attending to those items doesn't cure the rich condition you might have a bad catalytic converter.

[thereisnoyun]

so is there an order to this?

Cant do this all at once and break my piggy bank, any order to this? Now with the o2 sensor,if it goes bad would I still be having steady idle? I think I might chnage that first. it would seem to be the easiest to do and the most overdue unit.

[ak96ss]

How did you do the test? Try to get there early after a LONG drive to get the cat up to temp and keep it hot. May help to keep the revs up a bit if you get stuck in line, but definitely don't turn it off. You want the cat to be as hot as possible when you get to the test.

O2 sensor first.

Seafoam may help - I didn't notice any difference, but others have. HC over is a result of incomplete combustion - how new are your plugs?

[jlevie]

Cant do this all at once and break my piggy bank, any order to this?

Then approach the problem in the following order:

1) O2 sensor
2) Adjust the valves
3) Replace the ignition wires, rotor & cap (and plugs if they are old)
?? retest??
4) Check the AFM for bad resistance pickup
5) Check the fuel pressure
6) Check compression

[Mr Deagle]

More like the free stuff first, AFM check, fuel pressure check, and compression/leakdown check

[e30_325es]

OP-not to be of little help, but lower your car. They will have you do just the sniffer test and not go on the dyno. This is how my cammed 2.7 passed.

[thereisnoyun]

Thanks guys

Lots of helps, thanks alot, I'm going to do o2 sensor first

The plugs are probably 6 month old, I say 6 month because the guy that sold it to me told me he just replace them a month ago, that makes it a total of six month since the day I bought it. Should I replace this? anyone try the e3 plug?

I use the e3 plug on my lawn mower, and it sure got some super kick and power, but I'm weary to compare those result with my car. Anyone has first hand exp?

So the order I'm doing would probably be

clean MAF
clean throttle body
o2
spark plug

anymore suggestions?

[thereisnoyun]

Update

So update on the progress to pass emission.

took the plugs out - running rich
change the temperture sensor for coolant - sensor was a little busted

finally I got enough brain to realize I could use my gf's ICV and just test it out... it turns out my ICV is a little broken. Running in the 900 rpms at idle. BUT I read on pelican thats actually normal. Her's is running at 700 which the the lower side of the equation. So I dont know if I should take her ICV to emission or just stick with mine? I dont konw which one would have a better probability of passing...

[bolognablake]

If you need to pass in a pinch, you could always dump ~8-12oz of denatured alcohol in your car, then go through emissions.