My car failed me!

[rlux4]

Well, my car failed smog for the first time.
It's HC was high (15 mph was 174 with 152 being max. allowed) and at 25 mph it was at max. allowable at 123. The CO was way high at 2121 with 1191 allowed at 15 mph. The CO was barely OK at 25 mph it was 969 with 1021 allowed. I'm hoping someone here will be able to tell me what caused it to show these numbers. Time for a new cat maybe? It runs so well I was very suprised that it failed.
1982 FI; Californicated.
Ron

[bobplyler]

When I replaced my cat, the emissions went way down. Before replacing the carb, I had to fiddle with it to get it to pass. After the carb change, it always passed, but was close. After I replaced the cat, the emissions weren't a problem any more. And since it's older than a '''96 model, it doesn't have to pass emissions in NC anymore.

[Gunsmith]

That sucks Ron, move to Florida!

[rlux4]

It'd be too close to where my inlaws retired. My Mother in law is gone now, but my father in law still lives in Venice.

Ron

[Adam]

You can always move to Ottawa and not have to worry about emissions testing; though your driving season is only 6 months long unless you invest in a toque.

[So Cal Mark]

I think you posted your readings incorrectly. The CO numbers look more like Nox numbers and I don't see any that look like CO readings

[rlux4]

Crap! You're right Mark. The CO numbers were high, but passed at .56 @ 15 mph, and .37 @ 25 mph. So, sure enough, I looked at the NOX numbers and called them CO. (CO is measured as % and NO as ppm. So that would have been 2121%. Duh.) I'm still trying to figure out how I did that.
To recap: HC #s failed at low speed with 174 (max allowable 152), the CO #s were high but passed. The NO failed big time at low speed with 2121 ppm (max allowable 1191). It passed at high speed, although just barely.
One thing, I had to wait in line for about 20-25 minutes after a 10 minute drive to get there and the tech just took it in and hooked it up. Would that contribute to the high numbers, seeing as the cat may not have been up to temp?
Thanks,
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

lack of warmup will almost guarantee failure, especially on an older catalyst. If your CO passed, the reading isn't high. It could be considered high for a new car, but actually quite low for a car of that era. Nox is created at high cyl temps, so a lean mixture or overadvanced timing causes Nox to skyrocket. Since your timing is supposed to be set at 10btdc, I'd retard it to 7, the maximum amount of tolerance. If your vacuum advance is working, plug the hose with a ball bearing but make sure the hose is connected otherwise you'll fail the visual

[rlux4]

Gotcha. Thanks Mark.
I'll do as you suggest and also let it run if I'm waiting on the re-test.
You're help is greatly appreciated.
Ron

[rlux4]

Sure enough, my ignition timing was off. I set it as you suggested Mark, and it got much better. For a while now I've had to run it with the idle at around 1400 or it would lope and stall. Now it idles great at around 900. I still need to get a cat though, it looks like the original is on it and my car has 108M miles, so I'll just do it and the numbers should be terrific.
Thanks again.
Ron

[So Cal Mark]

[ga.spyder]

Ron..we are still waiting for you to make the move down South. Here in Ga. the only cats are the big ole' yellow dozers.