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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Mustang / July 2007Emissions Trouble
I have an 89 LX convertible. The Div of Motor Vehicles in my state uses an exhaust sniffer test in their inspection / registration renewal process, and my car failed :-(. I'm about half of a do - it - yourself - er, and I've been slowly working through a resto - mod on the car. I don't mind putting parts or work into the car, but I don't know where to go. Current mods: In-fender cold air intake, 73mm air meter, 70 mm throttle body, MSD distributor and wires, off-road H-pipe, single-chamber Flowmasters (sounds GREAT). The timing has been bumped up to about 11 BTDC. Before I bought the car, the previous owner 'claims' the car had gotten 24# injectors, which I've never been able to verify, although I added the proper sample tube to the air meter for 24#'ers. Also, the exhaust work seems like it was a hack job, and I think the air boss / air tube which is supposed to run to the cats was just cut off, and hangs open. The car was overlimit for HC and CO (hydrocarbons - unburnt gas and carbon monoxide) at idle and was over on CO at high idle. Some ideas are 1.) Gas in the exhaust suggests the car is running rich. Add an intake to feed more air? 2.) Add cats (hi-flow catted) with the air tube properly connected 3.) The car has a vacuum hiss when running - could a vacuum leak cause EGR / emissions troubles? 4.) Replace EGR, back off timing advance, return injectors to stock. Again, I don't mind spending money on the car, but I try to do it on a budget, and don't want to guess. I also don't know another way to test besides multiple runs through the DMV inspection lanes. Ideas / suggestions? >I have an 89 LX convertible. The Div of Motor Vehicles in my state > uses an exhaust sniffer test in their inspection / registration [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > test besides multiple runs through the DMV inspection lanes. Ideas / > suggestions? The cats need to be on and working to pass, that is your main problem. I have a 93 5.0, 70mm and 30# and 8# blower and just passed with super clean emmissions. Your timing is OK, stock is 10. After fixing the cats, check/fix all vaccume leaks, check at the charcoal canaster on passengersid enginebay way up front on the frame, there is a rubber elbow that loosens up and comes off. after fixing that stuff, and still dont pass you can go get it tuned, by a tuner. > Current mods: > In-fender cold air intake, 73mm air meter, 70 mm throttle body, MSD [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > air tube which is supposed to run to the cats was just cut off, and > hangs open. " off-road H-pipe, " Well duhhh....  Signature"Humor is in the eye of the beholder. Some beholders are flat-out blind." - Dwight > " off-road H-pipe, " Well duhhh.... > > -- > "Humor is in the eye of the beholder. > Some beholders are flat-out blind." - Dwight No, that's the funny thing - there's a separate checkbox for catalytic converters, and THAT passed. The test that failed was the sniffer test. Would no cats definitely cause that? When I heard the HC and CO tests failed, my immediate thought was that it's running rich, but I'm thinking maybe those @#%$@ cats actually do something... Also, am I right that the air tube is part of the EGR system? Next, like Chumley suggested, I'll need to get the whole car vacuum system checked. Every Fox - body I've worked with had vacuum troubles, and that's a job I'd rather pay a pro to do. Those hoses seem to get brittle and crack... >> " off-road H-pipe, " Well duhhh.... >> [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > CO tests failed, my immediate thought was that it's running rich, but > I'm thinking maybe those @#%$@ cats actually do something... ya, they burn off the bad gasses, they are at about 500 degrees and need extra O2 from the air pump to do it. there was a recall on the cats for 89 (?) and before a while back the matrix inside could loosen and get sideways rattle etc. > Also, am > I right that the air tube is part of the EGR system? yes, supplies more O2 to burn........ > Next, like > Chumley suggested, I'll need to get the whole car vacuum system > checked. Every Fox - body I've worked with had vacuum troubles, and > that's a job I'd rather pay a pro to do. Those hoses seem to get > brittle and crack... there is some guy selling kits of silicon vacuumed hoses for older mustangs on Ebay. Do the cats actually do stuff? Now, that's an odd question.... Of course they do stuff and that is why they were installed.... Read this http://auto.howstuffworks.com/catalytic-converter.htm If the car has a vacuum leak, this can upset the mixture control at idle (providing the car is going in to closed loop)... moreso on a car with a MAF. The air tube as part of the EGR? If we are talking about the air tube to the cats, this tube supplies air to the cats in order to light them off.... Once things are up to temp, this air is usually diverted to the exhaust manifolds to help reduce HC and CO... Since it sounds like the car is without cats, it is surprising that it would pass the visual.... >> " off-road H-pipe, " Well duhhh.... >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > that's a job I'd rather pay a pro to do. Those hoses seem to get > brittle and crack... No Cats will not cause you to fail your sniff test. I have a 460 with hollow cat, passes with flying colors every year. >> " off-road H-pipe, " Well duhhh.... >> [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > that's a job I'd rather pay a pro to do. Those hoses seem to get > brittle and crack... OK, is this a troll??? The check box is probably the visual inspection that they are there, and they probably didn't look. Of course the cats DO something or they wouldn't be required. Signature"Humor is in the eye of the beholder. Some beholders are flat-out blind." - Dwight Thank you to everyone who pitched in their .02. I took the car to a local speed shop. (I don't want to spam the group, but they are in southeastern PA, they do good work, and they seem to specialize in Mustangs. Let me know if you want more info. If they do good work, I'm happy to refer people.) Anyway, they (custom) cut in Magnaflow hi-flow cats, installed headers (an added bonus - not required), and they re-connected the air tube. It was a little expensive, but I passed the sniffer with flying colors - like new-car clean!!!! For what it's worth, before this round of work, the exhaust was stock headers, off-road H-pipe, and single chamber Flowmasters, with all piping after the headers 2 1/2". After, it's BBK shorty unequal headers, hi-flow Magnaflow cats and the same single chamber Flowmasters, all still in 2 1/2" piping. The results, besides a legal emissions test? The car got much quieter - it was loud to the point of rudeness before, with more of a controlled, almost tuned exhaust note; the power band seems to have shifted upward by 500 - 1000 rpm, and the performance is mildly noticeably increased. Thanks again for all your input, I wanted to post the end of the story since so many people chipped in.
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