Failed Inspection.
 

My car just failed the inspection. He said my emissions was too high. Any ideas why and how to fix it? He put a bottle of some cleaner into my gas tank and said to run the tank down and then refill it and bring it back in. The stuff he said is "guaranteed " to pass inspection. We shall see. He did not charge me so no loss here. Just wondering what would cause it to fail? Thanks.

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

Do you have a print out saying what specifically was too high? HC count, NO2 levels...?

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

Yeah a printout would be helpful, theres many things that could fail you, and the particulate level indications could narrow that down a lot.

If not, start with the basics, spark plugs, fuel system cleaner (thats the guaranteed to pass), check for vacuum leaks, etc. The worst it could be is a bad catalytic converter...... also did you drive it a while before the smog test to get the engine and cats hot?

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

I am kicking myself because I left the printout there. I did not drive it very long. Maybe a 10 minute ride to the shop this morning after sitting all night. The plugs and wires were changed not very long ago by YT. Probably less than 1 year ago.

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

I am going to take a ride back to the shop and get the print out. Stay tuned. :)

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

OK, Here are the numbers: The test was given 3 times and all 3 times failed:
1. HC 266 ppm CO 0.45 Pct. CO2 13.5 Pct. NOx 102 Pct
2. HC 250 ppm CO 0.53 Pct. CO2 13.7 Pct. NOx 98 Pct
3. HC 258 ppm CO 0.52 Pct. CO2 13.5 Pct. NOx 108 Pct.

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

my advice is drive the piss out of it to get the cats real hot, this way u'll pass no prob, I failed the first test so he reved my car at 2500rpm for 3 minutes and then i passed

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

Paul did he give you the state standards??

Tom

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

Hi Tom. If you mean The "Test Limits" here they are:
HC 220 ppm CO 1.20 Pct.
So if I am reading it right, the only thing that is "Over" the limit is the HC

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

A high HC count is due to a bad converter typically. You can try and do a "regen" and beat the snot out of the car to super heat the cat and essentially clean it so it does a better job filtering. If this does not help and neither does the bottle of your bottle of pass, I would suggest a main cat converter replacement

Tom

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

This reminds me of when I had old fuel in my truck. Basically I use only 87 octane in my dodge ram but I rarely drive it. I took it in for inspection and it failed. I took it home put some seafoam in the fuel. Drove that till I needed a fill up and then filled up with premium took it back and it passed. So I would go with what the others said, basic service, then drive it hard and hot to clean what you can of the CAT fill it up with a good quality fuel mid grade or better and let them run it again.

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

I did not need my cats replaced until after 200,000 miles. I did have a problem this time but my subaru tech put something in the intake manifold and let it sit overnight. In the morning they cranked it up and it blew a lot of smoke for a long while. The next day I took it to the test center and got better readings than when I had the cats replaced. But with 275,000 miles on her she does have a tendancy to sit in the garage and not get driven a lot. The tech suspected carbon build up was the problem.

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

HC count can also be raised by burning oil. Has your PCV valve ever been replaced?

Re: Failed Inspection.
 

Update: Failed again after driving for 100 miles ( 2 hrs). After it failed I was talking to a guy I know who said he can " get" it to pass for a "nominal" fee. Well, 1 "C" note later and a 2009 car, "my" car passed! I didn't have the time to do the fixes since my inspection expired today. So Tom, I guess we know what we will be changing before my next inspection:). Thanks for all the input guys.
And Chris: you may be right about the PCV valve. I have not replaced it in the 3 years I own it.
And Tom: You may be right about the Cat. That also has not been replaced since I own the car.
Fixes that will be done before next September!
Thanks again guys!