emmisions

[eddiet]

I have a 93 ford festiva. has 195,000 miles. Had it for 3 years now. It just failed the Maryland State emmisions test.They said the Hydrocarbon levels were too high. What could be causing this. It has passed the last 2 times.

[RhodeStiva]

they have a substance you can buy for like $10 "garanteed to pass emission".

[eddiet]

thanks will see if i can find it

[Pu241]

How high were the hydrocarbon levels?

Does it burn oil?

[WmWatt]

Common culprits are oxygen sensor or catalytic converter or both.
The oxygen sensor controls air/fuel mixture and on some models timing advance to get the engine to completely burn all
the carbon in the fuel. Also improves fuel economy.
The catalytic converter is an afterburner which burns off leftover carbon in the exhaust.
However there are also other causes of high carbon emissions which you could look at first before spending money on the above.
EG clean the ignition wires and distrubutor cap to improve spark, check for vacuum leaks in emission control device hoses.

[eddiet]

486 State standards 175, it does burn oil

[Pu241]

486 is about 3 times max for your state.

What options does your state give you for a retest?

First thing I'd do is pull the spark plugs and see what those tell you.

Replace if fouled and note which cylinder(s) are the issue, otherwise check and adjust the gap if necessary.

Otherwise WmWatt has give good advise.

What were the other emissions numbers?

[eddiet]

they gave me 90 days to retest, if it fails then, i have to provide receipt of a minimum of $450.00 repair from a repair shop

[Bert]

they have a substance you can buy for like $10 "garanteed to pass emission".

Snake oil; 85% of vehicles pass whether that stuff is in or not and GTP is happy to refund your $10 (after selling 20 more cans to other people for $200, that did pass). Often a new 'Cat' helps considerably. This is a big ticket item unless you buy aftermarket and have it adapted to the car. Make sure you go in with clean oil, fresh plugs and a new PCV valve. I always put in a gallon of E85 (don't go overboard on this because Festys aren't designed for a high alcohol mixture) but alcohol burns emissions-free and then I refill the tank with regular fuel immediately after the test.

[FB71]

he can't get E85 out here in MD, that I'm aware of. The main ingerdient in the "GTP" type products is Isopropyl alcohol, which can be had at any drugstore for a dollar or two. With HC levels that far above the cut-point, there's a more serious issue. Most likely, the burning oil has fouled the converter. Once a converter has been contaminated, it needs to be replaced. Before you replace it, the oil burning needs to be addressed, or it will destroy the new converter.