NOR-CAL General Chat.

[kronus]

it needs something. the t-stat isn't opening, so I'm thinking it's too rich.

[Cabriolet]

passed visual, failed the sniffer. running too cold.

please post the #s.
if you need, I have a new cat at my dad's that i use to pass every year.

[kronus]

please post the #s.
if you need, I have a new cat at my dad's that i use to pass every year.

idle:

HC - 219/120
NOX - 0.47/1.02

2500 rpm:

HC - I forget but significantly less
NOX - 0.37/??

would be interested if my attempts to fix it don't work. it's possible that my cat might just be toast. I have a wideband I can make a backprobe out of.

[Cabriolet]

shoot me via text the actual photo of the the fail and i will be able to tell what is bad.

you need chevron 91, bosch super copper plugs, valve adjustment, cap and rotor and new air boot.
else can be bad o2 sensor, bad afm or cat if all 3 are iffy.

[kronus]

you need chevron 91, bosch super copper plugs, valve adjustment, cap and rotor and new air boot.

check, OE-spec NGK's, check, check, check, check.

I'll grab a pic of the results on weds night, but I'm fairly certain that motor temp is the smog issue, so the question is, what is the motor temp issue.

[McGyver]

Awesome, I was going to fail too! The smog guy is a friend of mine, so he lets me do a free check before the actual test. HC at idle got up to 5xx and the NOx got into the pass range. Once he tested it at 15mph NOx went to 18xx and HC fell to about 2xx. He blipped the throttle to test the cat's ability to soak up HC and it just sat at like 5xx forever, so probably a bad cat.

I had a small amount of questionable gas mixed with 76's 91, new Bosch WR8LC+ (may have been damaged in shipping), valve adjustment, new bremi cap, new bremi rotor, old air boot.

It feels like I have a misfire, which would help to explain the terrible numbers. Once I sort that out, the next culprit is either the O2 sensor or the aftermarket cat. Fun.

Also, any thoughts on why the car would run High HC and CO at idle, then extreme NOx with still double the limit of HC under load? I feel like that's switching from rich to lean?

[Bimmerman325i]

Are you sure the Tstat isn't opening vs isn't closing? Tried replacing it?

[ziggysmoov]

Anyone here in South Bay wanna get my ac retrofitted to r134? Or know a place?

[Cabriolet]

check, OE-spec NGK's, check, check, check, check.

I'll grab a pic of the results on weds night, but I'm fairly certain that motor temp is the smog issue, so the question is, what is the motor temp issue.

a higher temp t-stat may fix your issue. i've had to drive my car (mtech2) hard to get it to pass. a bout 20min of driving hard got it to temp, even with a low temp t-stat.

[mbonanni]

Whats the general opinion for CABs: OEM rubber, OEM m3 offset, treehouse style OEM, treehouse offset, Poly OEM Spec, or Poly offset??

I just cant make up my mind, my car is pretty much strictly a daily driver.

[2mAn]

I think rubber is the way to go with a daily, but others will disagree. I have a set of E30 M3 offset solid rubber cabs waiting to go on. I missed my chance recently when I did the steering rack, so they are just sitting for now. Eventually I will install them

[McGyver]

For a DD with shitty CA roads, I would go rubber all the way. For stock suspension, I would use the stock CABs that have the holes. For a lowered car, I would suggest at least solid centered CABs, but the solid off-center e30m3 bushings will help to add some castor (helping the car to track straight at speed).

I use rubber off-center e30m3 bushings on my cars, especially since I have a z3 rack. It's smooth enough for the roads around here and helps to reduce twitchyness of the rack at highway speeds.

[wworm]

^^ I would go with solid rubber CAB's just because I had OEM swiss cheese ones and it was pretty wiggly/wobbly. Granted, they were in shit condition and I had solid rubber e36 m3 ones to go in but sold the car before I could install those.

[mbonanni]

Okay thanks guys. I will go with solid centered to see if it helps my problem, unless anyone has a different opinion given my issues...

I think my passenger side CAB was pressed in slightly off. I can’t remember, I do remember the control arm being at a different height/angle than the drivers side when installing everything though. I am having trouble with a shake on that side around 60-75mph and my car does not track straight, it pulls to the right. I’ve had it aligned twice (Big O Tires) and it still tracks to the right. I’ve also rotated the tires and that hasn’t helped so not an unbalanced tire situation. Could a bad wheel bearing cause this at all? I have this weird little squeak/metal scrape sound when braking, its constant, same spot every rotation of the wheel, mainly happens at low speeds.

I just got my first engineering job that I’ll be needing to commute 15-20 miles one way to and dont want to deal with this anymore.

[bernzpeed]

hello, guys!!! I'm baaack! Looking for an S52 motor or s54. Pm if you got any.