Nitrous Oxide:

allowed: 799  ppm
measured: 794 ppm

88 Ford Taurus, boo-jah!

this may explain your cheese post.

Monterrey Jack, mozzerella.

High NOX = high combustion temps, plugged catylyst or engine overheating.

Or a lean condition in the engine. (More air then gas in hte mixture)

Might have been all three...got some wierd short in the electrical system, sometimes blower fan, radio light, turn signals won't work...so presumably the selonoid in the catalytic converter ain't kickin' in, I dunno...engine seems hot, but evertime I replace the temperature sender on the thermostat it lasts a week then dies the death, so the heat guage on the dash doesn't read right...

It's a Fraud Tear-Ass and it's more than a decade old.

What did you expect?

Time for a new car, man!   Newer, anyway...

If you want something that'll always pass the tests, get a Toyota or a Honda.   Pretty much unkillable.

CJ

Can't afford another car right now...just spent most of my spare cash on an M-14 kit (TRW) and ARMSCORPS reciever...

You should have your own smog license - like me [:D]

Well, you're good for two years. I once met a smog mechanic who claimed to be the only person (years ago) also licensed as an engineer in California. According to him, changing your oil before a smog will help because the oil will absorb hydrocarbons and then gives them off as the engine runs. Fresh oil hasn't yet absorbed them so you are that much cleaner.
I always changed my plugs and air filter and had good luck passing.


In Washoe county, Nevada, you have to start smogging a car after only a year or two versus five years from new in California. If I'm wrong correct me, I think you also have to have safety inspections here which if talk radio is correct, the government has admitted is only to raise revenues.

Only two posts were getting close...high combustion temps create NOx but the catalytic converter in conjunction with the Ford EEC-IV control system should oxidize the HC and CO while reducing the NOx.  EEC-IV has to be working correctly otherwise the HC would have been off the scale.  If the converter was going bad (they do not "plug"), elevated HC and CO would also be noted.  

This leaves only a limited number of problems...that being O2 sensor (not likely as HC seems to be under control), MAF sensor reading low(more likely as excess intake air IS a cause of the symptom) or a leak in the intake manifold (also include PCV valve).

On the NOx control subsystem, check the EGR...it can clog or become inop after thousands of miles, leading to abnormal NOx levels the 3-way cannot deal with...but 700+ppm is a bit excessive especially on the rather puny dyno's the emission checks utilize.

As far as the electrical gremlins, this could be connected.  Look at voltage stability, especially for low voltage conditions from bad grounds at the major consumers.  Low voltage in the MAF sensor could very well cause the problem.

The snide comments on this car plus the suggestion a Toyota or Honda could last longer are pure anal synthesis, that is pulling something straight out of your a$$.  At 15 years, ALL cars have these problems.  Even Hondas.  Put down that bong and your stack of Consumer Reports.  

Man, it sounds like Alaska.  Here, if you modify even 1 thing, such as increasing your airbox size for better milage & better emissions, they fail you on the spot.
I took my truck in a few weeks ago.  It has a micro separation on the exhaust behind the cat.  If I put a clamp on it, all would be fixed.  They failed me on the spot and said I'd need to get another inspection.  BUT FIRST, I'd need to have a mechanic sign off saying the vehicle was repaired, yadda yadda.  Good grief!  So, by the time all this was said & done, I have expired tags.  Oh well.  How many times have I been pulled over in the past 4 years?  Never.  That means I can get pulled over 3 times & get cited before I'll make the $ difference between the ticket & the repairs.

Last year, my 88 Mitsubishi pickup truck failed the smog test.  The machine at the smog tester is hooked up via modem directly to Sacto DMV, and before I knew it my truck was labeled a source of "gross polution".

I had to take it to a speciality shop where my catalytic converter was replaced.  This cost me over $400, which was on top of the tune-up I got before this all started, and then I had to pay for another smog test afterwords.

All of this to please a bunch of Leftist Democrats that obviously don't have enough of their own business to mind.

It will be fun to move away from here.

Crying shame you could have not parked that truck before it was fixed in the middle of the anti-Bush march they had in Kaliforniastan. [}:D]
I just saw a part of the march on CNN Headline news.  

That is bullshit what you guys have to go thru, but when I tagged my truck before the lady looked at the title info she asked what model it was to see if it had to be inspected in Ohio. I told her it better not it only has 500 miles on it. I really didn't ask or care I was in a rush and just wanted my plates.
I guess Ohio is starting some kind of testing now.

I had a car with high NOX levels and it was the PVC valve that was bad.  I was able to get the readings down quite a bit before changing the PVC valve by adding a pint of alcohol to the gas tank and getting the converter hot before I tested the car.

StormSurge, at least you passed. How long is a CA emmissions sticker good for? In NY we get one every year at $35 each pass or fail. My old car would never pass without putting a lot of money into it. Unfortunately they are making it harder to pass older cars. It seems like they want to make it so expensive to fix up your old car to pass that you can't even afford it or the car won't be worth the expense. I run the NY state inspections at our shop and once you scan the registration info the modem connects and there is a video camera that 'watches' the inspection on the dyno. Over the years I have learned a few ways to help cars pass without spending money on repairs, but sometimes a second run does the trick. Changing the oil does help a little.

We have to renew every two years in Cali.  I think cars 25 years or older are exempt though don't hold me to that for sure.
Friend that lives in Singapore tells me that cars older than five years carry extremely higher registration fees causing most people to sell them at that time.

My truck needs one this month and I'll tell you, I'm a little worried.

SMOG CHECK I and II are heavily lobbied by the automobile manufacturers lobby here in CA along with some others. Why does Troy ask? Well, it is because autos are all about depreciation, gas mileage is far less costly. So if you want to maximize the ROI on your auto, keep it as long as you can. Alternately, you can buy a bottom-prices gas guzzler and still be well-ahead. The trouble is auto manufacturers don't like buyers who like to keep their cars for the full depreciation period. It hurts sales. So, some MBAs have figured out it is best to side with the liberal wackos who desire to ban autos on this issue of SMOG CHECK and turn it into nothing more than to our auto refresh rate (rate on how fast we replace our autos with new ones).

Amen Keith_J!  How many of the above mention brands have 15+ year old cars even on the road?  Around here they all rot apart within 10 years.  I really don't trust Consumer Reports, any magizine that supports gun control and sides with liberal/socialist ideals is suspect to me.  Glad to hear that you passed and didn't have to spend a young fortune StromSurge!

YES, THEY DO.

I know this for a fact since I once was saddled with the piss-poorest excuse for a car that I think was ever made...a 1985 Mitsubishi Mirage.  That was one mirage I truly wish I'd never seen.  What a TOTAL piece of shit.

It got to the point where it started to slow down and wouldn't rev high.   When this deterioration happened,  it happened quite rapidly.  I had to drive home from a two hour trip at 45 MPH because that's all she had. (Really!)

I started inspecting it and found a crack in the exhaust manifold, near the oxygen sensor.   A few calls to junkyards and mechanics revealed that ALL of these cars had the same problem.  The cost of replacing the manifold was prohibitive.

I just KNEW I had an obstruction of some sort, so I dropped the catalytic converter casing, which bolts directly to the underside of the  manifold.

What did I find?

The catalytic converter core had MELTED DOWN.  There was a large slug of solidified, recently molten metal sitting right in the middle of it.
It was most assuredly plugged, at least 50 percent.

A few whacks with a hammer and a chisel fragmented the core and I dumped it out.

I replaced the core and JB-Welded the manifold crack.  (That's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

I put it back together and guess what?   With the restriction gone,  that sucker ran like a scalded  ass ape.   It was actually fun to drive it for the first time ever.  It'd burn rubber, and it hadn't ever done that before while I owned it.

Analysis of the problem suggests that the crack in the manifold, being near the oxygen sensor, caused an abnormal oxygen level reading by that sensor,  which caused the ECC to change the fuel mixture, and in this case, EGT climbed to the point where it was able to melt the converter core.

No more problems out of that for the rest of the time that I had the car until it finally gave up.

Still, the car was a total piece.  At 104,000 miles on the odometer, it went to the junkyard with a knocking rod and I happily transitioned into (and bought) my parent's '78 Caddy, which was a creampuff and served our family well for almost 25 years in total.  Now THAT was a car I really loved.  It'd always get you home and do so in comfort.

Don't tell me that catalytic converters don't get plugged.   I know better.

By the way,  did I suggest getting a Honda or Toyota that's more than ten years old?  No, I didn't.   But one that's just a few years old would be a fine choice, and affordable.

You sugggest I put down the bong...why don't you get your face out of your crack (pipe)?   Start insulting me and we've got a flame war, pronto.

Consumer Distorts?  I wouldn't read it.  They're so fucked up they actually think Bose speakers are good.  Anybody with functional ears knows better.   Their word is NOT to be trusted.


CJ

You might just need a new catalytic converter.

I just had an 84 Jeep go through a test only station, which it failed.  Took it to a auto repair, and after some $$$ it passed their test with flying colors.  Went back to the test only, where it barely passed the test.

How can two Caliban certified smog machines have  such wide test results?

Gotta admit, I also miss those smoggy days where no physical exertion was allowed on the playground.  The sky was a thick mixture of yellow/brown haze and smog.

Movie away from the peoples communist republic of kaliforniastan

Texas almost adopted Californias auto pollution laws in 2000 but decided to wait to see what the federal laws would be due to aggresive lobbying by the auto manufacturers.  You will eventually be assimilated.  Just ask New York.  

You're driving an 88 Ford Taurus. You have bigger problems than SMOG Check..

Funny thing about the smog laws combined with the car tax.  The smog tests are designed to encourage people to get rid of their old cars, thus creating more revenue for the state in sales tax (7.75%) and car tax (about to go up "magically").  However, the crushing burden of the car tax and sales tax encourage people to keep older cars.  A lot of people are trying to obtain cars that are 30 years old to get the smog test exemption.  Damned state is going to look like Cuba with all the ancient vehicles...

Don't worry about it. As long as you passed you're good for 2 years. My friend HAD Tauras, the ceramic valve body went out, and he had to pay something like $2,500 to get it fixed. According to another friend who is a Ford salesman, Ford still has the same probelamatic transmission reliability today in the Taurus line.

If you passed, you passed.  Nothing to get upset about IMO.  You may want to do a basic tune-up next time - Replace all ignition parts and clean the fuel system.

Just PRAY you don't get sent to a Test-Only station next time.

This was the SECOND time in a row I had to do test only! My bad luck or not?

Your ride is starting to get up there in terms of years and miles. The hoses are leaking air, the gaskets have shrunk, etc. The next time in 2 years you will probably have to do the same thing all over again. Can't blame the Calif. legislature this time, its the Fed EPA that is pushing the Calif. legislature real hard to clean up the air pollution in So. Calif.

They don't even HAVE emission's testing where I live!

Live in the sticks of Colorado and all you have to pay is outrageous taxes!

I am happy that they did away with the smog testing here in Florida....

Yeah, really.

Now if only Florida would start "Crotchety New jork   jackass snowbird who can't drive" testing, and exclude those who are that.

It'd also be nice if a condition for living in Florida was that you spoke English fluently.  

CJ

What the manufacturers are pushing for, and with the help of the fed gov will probably get in the not too distant future, is uniform type of "smog test" in all 50 states. Part of it is already on OBDII cars. From what I've been told it's already in use in some states. In the vehicles self diagnostic system are what's called SRTs. System Readiness Tests. They can be seen on scanners. What they are is, IIRC, 5 systems that effect emissions. When the vehicle has been driven through certain parameters these systems self test. If they all test then on a scanner the will all show "complete". That doesn't mean there is no malfunction, just that the systems have self tested. But if they failed then the check engine light should come on. So basically what is being worked towards is a smog check system where you will pull in, the person doing the test will verify the check engine light is functioning and not on, plug in his state approved machine to your cars computer, it will verify that the self tests are complete and there are no diagnostic trouble codes stored in the current failure memory. He then takes your money and sends you on your way till the next time.

Call me stupid but...

Can I ask what happends if you fail a smog test in Cali? What happends if you dont get it fixed?
I dont think we do Smog testing here in Oregon.

I just got back from the CaFCP in sacramento.
They got lots of cool Fuel Cell Projects going on thier. That is what we will be buying in 10 yrs is my guess And thus the end Of smog testing on newer vehicles. IM sure theyll have to come up with a new tax then tho.
If you want the Specs for a Certian Brand Fuel cell car I can get em for ya.

At ONE time, if your automobile don't pass, and it costed more than $100/$500/$1,500, you get an exemption. The $100 was for the first few years then it went to $500, then finally to $1,500, I don't know where the cap for repairs is today, but I think it is unlimited i.e. if it doesn't pass, you can't reg the vehicle.