I keep failing the inspection and I can’t figure out why. The low idle HC keeps failing. Standard is 220 and the first time I went I ran a can of seafoam through and drove around getting my motor and cat nice and hot. I ending up having HC reading of 344. I found out my ignition timing was at 5° btdc and it should of been at 16°. So I set it back to 16° btdc and now my low idle HC is at 483 and I failed the high idle this time as well. I don’t know what to do anymore. I cleaned my cap and rotor, my plugs and wires are new, i’m back on the stock tune, I cleaned the gunk off my cat. I’m out of options. Any ideas? And before someone says it, i’m not paying some fool $100 to give me some bogus sticker. I want my car to be legal. And btw the car is a 92 integra with a b16a and i’m in Tx
Start with the cat. How old is it? If it is the stock 20 yr old cat, it may be time for a new one. Next, about how many miles on the B16?
The cat is at least 2 years old. It’s a high flow cat and it was on the car when I bought it 2 years ago, so not sure exactly. My motor probably has around 110,xxx miles roughly. I’ve cleaned my cap and rotor, the plugs and wires are new, i’m running the stock p30 tune, I ran seafoam through it, my ignition and mechanical timing are correct. I can’t think of any other reason why i’d be failing other than the cat being old
High flow catalytic converter is more than likely the problem. Stock cats will restrict a lot of pollutants from going out of your tailpipe.
Here’s a few ideas for your engine failing inspection. For one you have a JDM motor, but if your able to apply all the necessary emission bits shouldn’t be that much of a deal on visual.
I recently kept failing testing my stock B18A1 because of engine timing, was advanced. I adjusted to 16BTDC as recommended.
Tested 2nd time.
Tester recommended that I have the Cat replaced.
Tested 3rd time
Failed. Turns out that the muffler shop didn’t seal the Cat perfectly so exhaust gases were escaping. causing low numbers I believe with NOx.
after all that the 4th test passed and walked away with my cert.
Also, be sure your idle is set correctly, normally its 750 RPM, use a timing gun and a manual to make the adjustment. even a Chilton/Helms will be helpful enough. I vaguely remember the GS-R was supposed to be at 800 RPM.
If you get your Cat replaced, go with Magnaflow (Made in USA) and I believe CarSound is a good mfg. Anything cheap is not the way to go. But spending more than 150 on a job is way too much, even the 150 may be kinda high.
Other things to keep in mind that should be replaced if original parts are in place.
- Fuel filter
- IACV valve should be removed and cleaned.
- Spark Plugs should have proper gapping.
- O2 sensor should be replaced about every 30k I believe.
- Valve adjustment is always helpful but may not have a huge significance in passing.
- PCV valve should be replaced as well.
- oil change, seafoam it before the change. (you already did that).
- check the air filter, too. Make sure you have all the tubes connected to the air intake tube.
- make sure your running good fuel, ad an additive to keep injectors clean.
I can’t think of anything else unless you’ve made a bunch of engine mods, to which you may want to take it to a tuner to make sure everything is synchronized correctly.
a catalytic converter has what’s called a washcoat on the substrate. non oem cats will generally use cheaper materials, including the washcoat. the seafoam may have damaged it. have you looked into the effects of seafoam on the catalytic converter?
also, how about effects of e85 on the catalyst? i recall you saying before that you were setup and running e85. probably why your timing was set at 5*btdc. i have a feeling the high hc numbers have to do with the e85, as ethanol is much more resistant to burn. how many tanks did you run through before you tested?
either way, high hc are caused by incomplete burn. and even if those were pre-catalyst readings, they’d be considered too high. so the cat is not the problem here. a failed cat would be the result of the problem. but not the problem. a fresh cat will get you a pass, i’m sure. but it won’t solve the issue
start with the basics. what are you reading for vacuum?
what about that idle issue you were having? that sorted? good chance that has something to do with this