92 Festiva Failed smog in CA pls. help

[letdtst99]

Hello everyone, I just came out of a smog test and I failed, please view the result attached to this thread, I don't really know what to do next, do i have to buy a new cat converter? Can somebody please advise me on what to do next.. Thanks a lot.

[TominMO]

Probably, but there are other things you can try first:
1. New air filter and spark plugs. Wouldn't hurt to get new disty cap and rotor, and new plug wires. Unless all this has been done recently.
2. Retard the ignition timing about 4 degrees.
3. Fill the gas tank, and put in a can of "Guaranteed to Pass" from your favorite auto store.

[perucho]

Have you done a tune-up recently? Change air filter, spark plugs and wires, distributor cap and rotor. Also check/replace your pvc valve and it wouldn't hurt to change your oil while you are at it.

The car failed the smog check pretty badly, well above the gross polluter level. I would suspect that a regular tune-up won't get you far. Look into replacing your catalytic converter and maybe your O2 sensor. Look online for reasons why HC and NO levels are high.

Careful when messing around with the timing. They check the timing too and it needs to be within spec. If your timing is off spec by one degree, it won't pass. And now that your car is a gross polluter, you can only smog it at a smog-only center (which means the tech can't make any repairs or tell you what needs to be fixed in order to pass).

The guy I take my cars to get smogged tells me that the "guaranteed to pass" additive doesn't do much but if you use it, don't smog the car with that in the gas. Go smog it a couple gas tanks later. Use good quality gas too.

[letdtst99]

92 festiva fail smog

Hello Oscar
I recently replaced air filter and chenged oil, also I already put Guaranteed to pass additive to a full tank of gas, and regarding the catalytic converter, Ive heard there are laws that prevents selling of certain cat converters to california, I was browsing on ebay but was not able to see a cat converter that can be shipped to california, Iam not sure if my the cat converter on my festiva can just be installed or removed without welding, if so then i can install it myself.

Thanks
Manny

[perucho]

^ Call a muffler shop and ask them how much it would be to have it replaced. It may not be too expensive.

[JohnGunn]

Does anyone know the difference between a California cat at $263.99 and one from AutoZone for $90.99 that "cannot be shipped" to California? Both are direct fit and the cheap one is described as "OEM Replacement." I would think something called "OEM Replacement" would have to meet the specifications established by Ford.

If I managed to get one of these banned cats would it be able to pass California inspection? If the state of California decided that the Ford specs were insufficient for their purposes, that would mean all Festivas which were still using their original cats would not be able to pass inspection. I can't believe that would be allowed. I'm sure someone is making a profit from this, but can't figure out who.

John Gunn
Coronado, CA

[DrMaxwellEdison]

Sounds ridiculous to me that you couldn't get the cat shipped to CA.

[letdtst99]

I think they need to be stamped.

Ive done some research coz I might be needing a cat conv bcoz my festy is now a gross polluter from its last smog, CA converter simply means a stamp from the people at Cali air resources board, they wanna make sure that all cat replacements pass whatever their quality requirements are, also, that means we cant ask a friend from nevada to buy us a cat and have it installed for use in cali coz of that stamp or serial number... thats just the info that Ive come up coz I was looking to buy the most economical cat but eventually will end up to be spending around $250.00 for a cat replacement. you can also check this link

http://www.precisionmuffler.com/id165.htm

[Claude]

California always has laws that are more eco-friendly, and there are several products that ive seen that say "this is known to cause cancer in the state of california, etc" so id imagine emmisions is much stricter there, and you cant get any regular old cat shipped there because they dont pass california regulation, also one would not permit you to pass your tests, so you must buy one that is OK for use and sale in california, which will probably be a lot more expensive than your generic magnaflow/ etc cat

[Claude]

Sounds ridiculous to me that you couldn't get the cat shipped to CA.

its ridiculous that the rest of the country denies all California's research and knowledge in that most products in our country are harmful to the environment and ourselves, if the rest of the country cared about the environment or even human well-being, such eco-friendly cats and products would simply be standard, and not cost an arm and a leg. Just like electric cars, they were huge in the 80s and they had electric stations and all only in cali though, but they were great for the environment and our wallets but the big car companies and gas companies couldnt profit of them so GM stopped the campaign and ordered everyone who had one of these cars to give them back to the company so they could destroy them..its all about money..

[bassman]

could you not just buy one from a member here and get a muffler shop to install it?

[CaptHowdy]

Get an envalve off of Ebay. It wont fix your blowby problem, but it will redirect your emissions into your valve and cause your engine to not smoke.

[getnpsi]

I could not see the figures on the picture. If your HC barely was above levels and your NOx is way above, a brand new cat will let you slip thru. The EGR is failing on my 1993 toyota camry and with a brand new cat it passes with flying colors. Now...a shady illegal smog is 200 bucks and so is a new cat that only lasts about a year and a half. Cats these days have much less catalyst inside...muffler shops know the system in and out. Might as well be clean for 20,000 miles and pay again in a few years...or replace all your parts/engine. I don't plan on keeping the camry another 2 years, it has 264,000 and i should have a better job by then, but to squeak thru and live your day to day life sometimes you gotta pay to play.

You can get a 49 state cat put on there but if your smog tech is a jerk (properly doing his job) he might be able to tell its not a new California wont last brand. Then you are out double money.

Here are some steops you can try to make the car run a little cleaner as-is:
1. Buy a REAL Mazda thermostat for the b6 engine, the therms you buy everywhere else are 180 and our little car just does not make a lot of heat on its own. running cooler leads to more unburned hydrocarbons and over time can build up especially if you do short trips low rpm.
2. Water mist thru the intake treatment while car is running. Lots of info on this method all over the place. I like to use a mist but some people let water in a glass get sucked up an intake hose. Again ill repeat i like a pressure of water mist.
3. Seafoam. You do the same method as the water treatment but because its not water, you can have more of it sucked up and wont bend a rod.
4. Drain your oil and run a whole quart of Marvel mystery oil and 2.x quarts of 10w-30 shell rotella diesel oil. MMO thins your oil and has some cleaning properties and the diesel truck oil has more additives than passenger car oil.
5. Do a compression check before you do the treatments listed above. If the numbers move then you know your car needed a cleaning and should be running better. If the numbers stay the same then it's a tired engine.

[letdtst99]

Thanks for the advise

Thanks for the advise "getnpsi" I will try o scan a bigger photo of the smog result so everyone can see it, Hope I pass smog this time.

[getnpsi]

You can also read up on adding a heated o2 sensor to your car. O2 sensors only work when HOT and if you are starting and stopping a lot this can help. Other early 1990s models have 3 wire sensors, however some are much longer, so you have to look at a few. I'm not saying this is a reason you failed smog, its just one of those DIY that can only help your cause. If you are replacing the o2 anyway you might as well take the extra <20 minutes to run two more wires.

My monitor is a POS and when i saved the file and adjusted the brightness i could make out 4 figures when its supposed to be 3 LOL...I don't need to know how bad it is. Just try the cleaning procedures before your fresh oil change and before replacing the cat in case some of that junk breaks free. For the time being you can also advance your timing and run 91 octane from a name brand station, as they claim more additives in the fuel too. One more time none of these will make your car pass by themselves, just do it all as they are inexpensive and your MPG's should nudge up as well.

Since the festiva doesn't have an $120 EGR solenoid to go bad like my camry im going to assume you just have a dead cat, but a car that runs poorly will kill cats faster so trying to make a car run at its best helps your wallet and the environment. This is the big protest of car enthusiasts, most of us don't neglect our cars so a hot rod in tune very well could be polluting less than a "ghetto" vehicle.