Hey guys, went to get my truck smogged today and I failed.

Here are the results:

---Max allowable----Vehicle reading:

HC---141.00ppm-----22.00ppm
CO---0.69%---------0.15%
NOx--1122ppm-------1301.00ppm *FAIL*

IDLE TEST

----Max allowable----Vehicle reading:

HC----205ppm-------58ppm
CO----1.52%--------0.01%


So I went and talked to my mechanic, he thinks its the egr. We are going to pull it out and clean it out on monday, im hoping this is the only problem. At first I thought it was my old o2 sensor ( I know its going back) but all my other readings are so low, it doesnt seem like it.

I have noticed that each year the NOx has been getting higher and higher. Last year it was around 1050ppm.

Any other ideas guys?

on a side note, these people can't drive standards worth a crap! She just HAD to rev my truck up to 5,000rpm to shift into second.... poor truck.

 

It's the EGR system. The only other thing that causes high NOx is lean air fuel mixture but your not misfiring and your HC looks good. You should be able to idle the truck and manually pull up and the EGR diaphram and the engine should stumble and possibly die. If not the EGR passage is plugged.

 

I thought you disconnected your EGR

 

I reconected it when I left my house to go get tested. Took 30 seconds

Hey "bwhyit" Think you could explain that a little more? How exactly do I "pull up on the diaphram" ?

Thanks guys.

 

If you apply vacuum to the vacuum line that you disconnected while idling it should kill the motor. If not it's stuck.

 

Well, I'm not 100% sure about an old Toyota EGR but I know Honda, GM, and Ford. under the EGR there should be some type of opening to where the EGR diaphragm is exposed. If you can get your fingers in there you should be able to push up on the diaphragm and cause the engine to stumble. If you can't get your fingers in there then hook a vacumm pump up the the EGR port on the valve and pump away. This should also cause the engine to stumble.
Sorry for my lack of knowledge on old Yotas but I do understand EGR very well. Hope this helps.

 

Oh okay, that sounds easy enough.

I am dreading pulling this thing off and getting rid of all the gunk in it!

 

I got a printoff of the results from the last few years.

Aircare is the biggest waste of time in the world. I can 100% guarrentee that NO modifications were done to the truck untill I got it and had it tested in 2007 ( second to the top) And that was with a 1 hour old exhaust system.
only thing that was different was when it popped a hg in 2001 (or 2002).



I can't wait for aircare to be gone!

 

u and me both man

 

Retarding your timing will decrease NOX, but this is a last resort I would check your egr first.

 

The smog tech is not totally wrong about reving the motor. Yota EGR's dont open at a low enough rpm to burn clean on a smog machine.

 

5,000rpm sound very unreasonable. Especially since she pretty much floored it. I can tell by the note of the exhaust.

The dyno goes at 40km/h in second gear ( about 3,000rpm ). The reason I think its the EGR because all my other results are perfectly normal. If the o2 sensor was being a dink it would effect my other results. Non the less my o2 sensor is old and in need of replacment. Need a new mid pipe though ( my excuse for not swapping it in).

 

Your problem is the EGR system, but it may NOT be the EGR itself.

Story Time!!

My 1984 22re passed everything with flying colors but NOX, 1,425 PPM

Checked all vacuum lines. Passed

Checked EGR valve, EGR Modulator per FSM. Passed

Ripped off upper plenum, EGR valve, and EGR pipe between EGR valve and Plenum. Cleaned everything!! Rechecked NOX in test mode. Results? 1300 PPM. WTF?!?

Ripped off EGR valve, grabbed test tube cleaner and carb cleaner. Cleaned and scrubbed passage from the head to the exhaust manifold (was a royal pain to get the test tube cleaner around the passage to the exhaust manifold). Slapped it all back together and ran the smog test in "test mode." NOX went down to 124 PPM. Re-smogged truck for the real deal and passed with flying colors.

Celebrated by washing truck and eating pie.

 

I wonder how hard you would take out the fans if you accidently dropped it into 4 HI before you shut off your truck and gave them the keys?

I think air care is the biggest waste of $$$.

 

oh man... this doesnt sound very fun at ALL. I guess I will just clean as much as possible when I have it apart.. I wish I could just remove it and be done with it!


hahah!!! Amagin the look on the "tech's" face if that happend.

To be totally honest you guys, im actually considering loosening a few clamps on my exhaust just to get passed all this.

I can't wait for aircare to be GONE!

 

Hey Jay - if you ever have some time to kill, go on bc4x4.com into the general section of the discussion board and type in air care into the search function. There is a big long thread there several pages long from a few years ago that is basically just a big long BS about different 4 wheel drive guys experiences with air care (especially relating to guys running huge tires, or having gears that are way off, etc.). You will literally pee your pants as you read it it's so funny. One guy talks about how he has 40's or 42's and almost everytime he goes through air care the thing jumps the tracks and takes out the fans so he always tells the tech's everytime he brings it in and they don't believe him, but sure as it happens. I think the thread was from 2005. Another guy talks about how he took his car into an air care shop, they told him they would get it to pass no problem, and I guess they just leaned it right out, and when it was testing it was leaned out so bad that the engine caught fire mid test! LOL.

 

I read that thread I laughed my arse off!! Apperantly the shop promised the guy the car would pass no problem after they worked on it

I remember reading somwhere that you can call ahead and drive your truck on the dyno yourself.. I think I remember seeing it on bc4x4.. no luck finding it. I even emailed aircare! Bastards!

I don't think my tires are a problem, seeing as I got 4.88's now.

 

Hey Jay, I was just looking at your printout and was just curious when you had your cams installed?

Jason

 

My story.
I failed the NOx test 2 days ago. My CO and HC were well within limits for my 85 4runner.
As I drove away from the center I noticed a bit of a miss in the engine and after a few miles it became worse and I ended up pulling over to have a look at the engine. I discovered my battery cables were loose. Loose enough to affect the ignition system. Tightened everything up and ran the truck back through yesterday and passed easily.
I had hastily installed the battery and didn't properly clamp it down or tighten the terminal clamps. Haste makes waste.

 

I had them installed around may 2007 IIRC.


All bettery connections are good, tight and clean. Only a 3 month old battery too.