That cat is full of sh-t,change it.
Bigblock

 

fyi summitracing cat is cheaper than advance/autozone. and i ran for 3 years with a hollowed out catwhile getting sniffed yearly and passed clean. but that is in Ga. not Commifornia

 

We don't get nox readings here in AZ. Only CO and HC.

I need to start racking up the miles on this thing. I have 3 days before it expires.

 

hahaa, that's good. I'll remember that. Every time I go to the smog guy, I feel like I live in a communist state. Smog laws are the only reason I would out of this state.

 

Up here we can get temp insurance on vehicles that havn't passed testing. is there any thing like that in AZ? it would give you a little time to get the miles up and fix everything before testing it again

 

We can get a temporay op permit too out here. you just have to go to the DMV and bring your smog fail slip and tell them you need a month or 2. You get a nice red sticker for the window. Crappy part is, then you have to make 2 trips to the DMV.

 

this might now have nething to do with the topic but speaking about leaning out the fuel?, can you do this with out a fuel controller?, i have a SAFC 5 knob for my 22re and it seems to not be working very well

 

Check your fuel pressure regulator.They fail rich so you can continue to drive.you could also be stuck in open loop,so I would take a look at engine temp sensor.The best way to check a converter is temp differential.Usually there should be a 50 degree difference from inlet to outlet,warmed up of course.Without NOX readings its hard to condemn the converter,but at that age its probably not functional

 

The cat will mostly affect NOx and if you're not tested for NOx, changing the cat is unlikely to help, in my opinion.

From what I can tell, high HC is typically either a problem with ignition (like poor dist cap, plugs, etc) or O2 sensor. I think it could also be with leaky injectors and the like. Plug condition may shed light on some of this. I know you said the O2 sensor is recent, but it probably should be looked at. 20mpg on a fresh 22RE doesn't sound so good to me. Maybe for a 6cyl with auto that would be real good.

 

Yeah, in addition to the temp sensor, check the engine temperature. I know it might sound like a stupid question, but do you have a good 180 to 190 thermostat in there and the coolant is full? You might want to shove a 190 degree thermostat in there for the test -- that's what the truck probably came with and it will minimize the possibility that you're being tested with the engine not sufficiently warmed up.

 

Lots of good discussion in here. Gives me lots of stuff to look at.

I think I fixed a vacuum leak I had that caused the idle to stay high. I don't have a tach so I don't know how high for sure but it seems to be gone after I switched out some crusty looking vacuum lines. (could be a major part of the problem) I also ordered like five various lines from the dealership that are real old and hard, maybe split.

I already tested the 02 sensor and it's fine. I have an OEM thermostat that was new when I built the motor. I need to check the engine temp sensor. Am I missing something here? It says to check it with an ohmmeter but doesn't give any specs?
EDIT:
Nevermind, I found it and it's in spec

 

Just tested it warm. The ohmmeter says .5

 

If you want to throw the diagnostic dice gut the cat and retest.If #'s are same then you know you need a cat.A cat will clean up a surprising amount of HC's.I once tested a cavalier with a plug wire off.It was missing but it ran clean enough to pass.Good gm converter.I think you are way rich.Vac leaks can cause trouble.FUEL PRESSURE REGULATOR is also vacuum controlled.Usually first place I check when a car smells super rich.Since your numbers at idle are really bad,but your load numbers are not so bad {2500 rpm I assume}I would say its the regulator.At idle you have way too much fuel pressure.BTW,the two speed idle test is pretty antiquated and the easiest to pass.Good luck.

 

I think I'm going to get a new cat regardless. The original is old and it couldn't hurt anything. I definitely need to check the FPR, I just need to get a pressure gauge. Thanks for the help/input

 

Don't put a Cat on until you fix the actual rich problem. 3% CO is way too much. The elevated HC readings are probably just a symptom of too much fuel. You need to start by checking the O2 sensor operation, even if it's new.

Since this engine uses a airflow meter as its primary means of calculating fuel needed. A new , unbroken in engine will not effect fuel control. A mistake on install could cause an issue ie missed engine ground, fuel return line pinched etcetc.

Just a note, the stock Toyota Cat is far superior to any aftermarket cat, so I'd certainly wouldn't replace it unless you can prove it's not working.

 

As for replacing the cat, it's probably a good thing to do, since were are all soldiers in one corp or another these days. But, do wait till you figure out what is causing your high HC. High HC shortens the life of the cat.

 

Checked the cat today and there is about a 60 degree difference between the inlet and outlet temp. Looks like the cat is functioning like it should. Hopefully I'll have some more time to trouble-shoot tomorrow or Friday.

 

im dealing with same thing on the 4runner but my tps is bad wich is causing it to run rich and some m _____ stole my cat rite off the truck! so i had an aftermarket put on. i would rather have an old yota cat to replace it they are really better old than most aftermarkets are new.thats why they stole it the platnum was at the time really high$$ a yota cat was worth 150 as scrap it was like an epidemic in socal for a while especially toyota trucks.even people going shoping come out an start up the suv an wtf loud exaust cat gone. check your tps its the least expensive thing if its not adjusted or bad it will run rich

 

Yea, I do need to check my TPS. Unfortunately I don't have the proper feeler gauge for the job and my el-chepo crapsman muti-tester is missing like three sections of numbers so it's hard to read what the numbers are. It did drop the rpm down when I jumpered the diagnostic box to adjust the timing. I also need to re-time it also because I didn't have a timing light with a tach and my truck doesn't have one either. I think when we set the timing it had a higher than normal idle, if that matters much.

Things on my list I still need to test:
Fuel pressure regulator
TPS
AFM
timing.

 

X2 Went through this on my Jeep...ended up converting it to Fuel injection because I was tired of having emissions issues. I too thought it was the cat, turned out I found 2 crusted and leaking lines when I pulled off the miles of vacuum lines. Can't prove this was the issue, but the truck had never had a problem passing before that year....I had it tested 3 times and each time it got worse. Smelled so bad I could not stand to drive it with the top down. It ran just fine! I can't prove it was the lines because I never fixed them and retested, but that seems to be the most likely thing.

In my case I converted to fuel injection, and the HC hardly registers now...I could probably pass with no cat...it is an '86 with 125K miles on the original engine...I know the cat is shot!

BTW, in my experience most emissions test people are idiots! They have no idea what to tell you. If you go ten places you will get eleven different answers!