Failed California "STAR" smog check @ 195k miles. Failed HC(PPM) @ 15mph...109 measured, and max is 95. @ 25mph was OK...58 measured and 81 is max. Tech said ignition timing is off, but within spec, on the side that might increase HC. I figure I need a cat converter anyway based on age and miles, so I expect to have that replaced. Since its California it's $500-$700+ at Rockauto for the part vs less than $200. Welcome to the land of fruits and nuts

 

I have. Check LC Engineering for a catalytic converter. That's who I bought mine through and it was about ~$300.00

EDIT: LC Engineering isn't even showing 22re/3vze catalytic converters on their website anymore.

 

Just from experience, it may be that your truck wasn't warmed up enough. My smog guy always tells me to drive on the freeway for about 30 minutes and get that cat real hot, then come to the shop and don't turn the engine off, leave it idling....then he test it.

One time he noticed that the new guy he was training didn't warm my truck up enough and said that is why my numbers were so high at low rpm's and good at the higher rpm's.

Just something to consider, I'm not a mechanic or smog tech....so just some info to get some more input on.

 

Thanks for the advice. I prepared for this by changing the oil and running a Chevron Techron gas treatment and put a 300 mile trip over to the coast range, and down through the boondocs to San Luis Obispo and back to Fresno last week. I ran it about 10 miles down the freeway on the way to the shop. I did shut it down for about 30 minutes waiting my turn. I'm taking it in Friday am for the repairs. About all I do anymore is oil changes. The tech today asked me if I had a timing light to check the timing. Heck, I was going through stuff over the weekend to see what I can donate away. I have five timing lights and a half dozen dwell tachs and a million screwdrivers...

 

For smog checks I run Chevron 91
makes sure the engine is hot
have the smog tech do the idle test with the rpm as high as allowed.

if anyone has a genuine Toyota 22R cat they want to sell please contact me.

 

Thanks for the tip. I didn't think about fuel. Unfortunately It's got a 1/2 tank of Sinclair 87 in it, but I'll keep your tip in mind for next time. I watched the screen while he was running on the chassis dyno. He held the speed steady on the screen at 15 and 25 mph +/- a few tenths. Speedo indicated 20 and 30 respectively.

 

Im in Ca, too. I’m not sure of the rpm parameters the BAR allows at idle, but I do remember watching my HC’s during a manual test. We started out at 750 rpms and HC was bad. As we bumped the rpms up it slowly improved, but at somewhere near 900 rpms the HCs dropped like a rock. Both the 22R’s and 22RE’s just burn cleaner at idle with higher rpms. The 2,500 rpm test was a nonissue.

FWIW, I had pulled my much hated Magnaflow cat a few years ago and was running a straight pipe. Fortunately no one noticed. The rest of my emissions system is stock, intact, and fully functional.

 

Fixed (sort of). I was expecting to have to buy a new cat converter, but my new mechanic adjusted the timing, inspected all, cleaned up the induction system with spray cleaner like Scotty Kilmer says to do on his video. Since he, the mechanic, was not the original inspector where it failed, I paid full (very reasonable) price for the re-inspection. Hundred-fifty bucks out the door. I suppose I could have done the same at home. But here in my advancing years, I'm less skin flint and more more resistant to skinned knuckles and grease under the fingernails. The HC @ 15mph on the test was OK but toward the upper limit for HC. I did find online that lesser spark advance, in reason, tends to give lower hydrocarbons in the exhaust.

 

Hi:
I reside in the San Francisco Bay Area, and had my 95 3VZE Runner smogged on 8/10.
The car passed the tests OK with a fair amount of room to spare.
Your post raises a question to me.
My results sheet shows the following for HC/PPM, @15 MPH- 62 MAX 22 AVG 33 MEAS, and @25 mph 37MAX 14AVG, and 12 MEAS.
Why do you think there is such a large difference between the MAX HC in the city versus down in the valley where you live?
It appears that my car is held to a higher standard than yours is.
Just askin......
Art.
Forgot to ask, Is yours a 22R, or a 3VZ

 

and there lies the problem with so many of the questions posed here. If I can give general help that applies to most models I will, but lately I just close my iPad and don’t bother.

 

*****

 

Hi
Wouldn't your seeing that the hydrocarbon value dropped like a rock all of a sudden, raise a suspicion that maybe a temporary condition (injector, misfire, wandering timing) cleared at the higher R.P.M.
Since that was a manual test, was that condition repeatable?
In my carb. days, I used to spring for a manual test ($25.00 extra) every once in a while, if I was worried about passing. This was before they invented STAR smog stations.
If the numbers were bad, we would beat on it a little till they were in spec. The guy I went to all the time would let me work with him to pass it.
Now the price for a manual test is around $65.00 in my neighborhood, too rich for my blood.
The price to test my V6 Runner was $165.00.
What are the test prices like in your neighborhood.
Art.

 

I can’t speak for V6, and my initial post mistakenly assumed the OP had a 22Re.
I have no misfire, and my timing is pretty rock solid. New OEM TPS, new Factory (from Toyota) short block Assy, chain set, etc.

it’s just something we saw on the 22R, either carb or EFI. They just ran cleaner at idle when at the higher end of the rpm limit. If I had a factory catalytic then maybe things would test differently.
the shop charges me $50 to do a pretest. I’m in a Basic test area, not enhanced, so we don’t have dynos.

 

Mine is a 22RE. My guess would have to be that the higher standard would apply to perhaps the different engine. Later design; improved technology? Also a newer engine. I don't know if all vehicles are held to the "new car" standard or not. Test cost varies with the shop. My '08 Corolla back in March was $40. At a dealer back in 2019 it was $58.20. The shop I am using charges less than most shops around here. This re-check was $48, and might have been lower if he was the original shop where it failed.

 

Apparently, in California all you need is a sawzall for a new Cat

 

Too much noise, pipe cutter better.