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I’m working to get my mom’s 1993 Accord to pass emissions. It passed last year but I think it was because of the golf ball sized hole in her exhaust post-cat. Well that hole rusted through and her muffler dropped (luckily not all the way).
One coffee can and 2 hose clamps later and I got that back. The exhaust was noticeably quieter but was still hearing something.
I saw what appeared to be to slits that had rusted through the catalytic converter. I think now having the back pressure of having a connected muffler is causing more noise from that area.
Now I know the catalytic converter gets a lot hotter than the muffler, so can that be patched?
The patch kits you see at the auto parts store say up to 800F but I think the Catalytic converters go much higher than that. I really need this to pass quickly since the apartment slapped an abandoned vehicle tag on her car and said they would have it towed if it wasn’t inspected asap.
So first and foremost, I need to make sure it passes, the holes aren’t big enough that I could see them causing a problem. I just don’t know if the emissions tester (Tarrant County, Texas) will fail it if they see them.
Also is this car smart enough that it would throw a check engine light if the emissions were off? Meaning… It doesn’t currently have a check engine light so I’m assuming that the emissions are passable?
If I really had to change it out, do you think this would work? I was suprised it was so cheap…
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?hl=en&sugexp=frgbld&tok=X8R8-grGCQthae7mrhO-gQ&cp=10&gs_id=12&xhr=t&q=cheap+catalytic+converters&safe=off&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_cp.r_qf.,cf.osb&biw=1536&bih=758&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=910005772346885600&sa=X&ei=qYSJT_XUOtPq2wX_npjeCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CJ4BEPMCMAE
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Your a great son for working on moms car. To keep mom safe I’m going to suggest an exhaust replacement.C8-)
http://www.amazon.com/1990-Accord-Stain … B00559C2ZC
I would replace if you have the means if funds are tight maybe JB weld and some sandpaper might do just to pass inspection.
Ok … Update… It isn’t the catalytic converter. It’s something about 1/2 way down the exhaust system that is shaped like a small round muffler. So maybe nothing to worry about.
Next step adjust the e-brake cable because right now it’s about useless.
wondering is the hole in the cat on the bottom? if you have access to a welder you might be able to cover the slits and spin the cat 180 degrees so its not noticable. im not sure what your inspection down there is like but we dont have emissions testing here
Could you take a picture so we have some kind of idea of the hole your talking about?
You can fix a lot of exhaust leaks with sheet metal and clamps. C:P
But I would fix everything right as soon as possible cause if the exhaust is getting in the car some how it’s very unsafe.My experience has been that when we had e-check in Ohio, they used mirrors just to verify that you HAD a cat, they weren’t hardball about the condition of it. It sounds like the holes are in the resonator pipe. If the car isn’t extremely loud, and there’s no CEL, I would take it to emissions and see what they say. When we had e-check, if you failed, you weren’t charged. They gave you a list of what the possible causes were for why you failed. I don’t know how Texas does it at all though.
Frustrating day…
First inspection place said their exhaust analyzer was kaput.
Second place said they only do OBDII cars.
Third place said their exhaust analyzer wouldn’t work if there was a small hole in the resonator. Showed him with my hand there was good exhaust pressure but he still refused.Went to Oreilly and talked to the guy there. He said he tried all the exhaust patch products they sold on his truck but none held. He said the manager there recommended JB Weld putty and that has held for over a year so far.
So I got that and mooshed it in with some heavy foil from a baking pan. I got rid of all the noises. Car no longer sounded like a ricer-mobile.
On the way there I swung into my favorite used tire shop because one of the tires looked iffy. But they said they were out of 14″ used tires but had a new one for $80 which was out of my budget for today.
I took a chance and took it back.
He got in and drove it and said much better, no exhaust leak, but then saw the tire and said “Sorry I didn’t see that earlier, you need to replace that tire”
I asked him if he knew of any other places open on Sunday since the other place was out. He said he was sure Firestone was open.
So off to Firestone. They said they don’t sell used tires for “safety reasons” but could get me a cheap new one for $62 so I said ok. Then saw they did inspections too so I said to do it.
As soon as they got it on the lift he pointed at my exhaust repair and said he was going to fail me on the inspection unless it was welded. (Something I don’t have access to) so I said skip the inspection.
Took them about an hour to get the tire replaced (the used place would have been like 10 minutes) so I hurried up and zoomed to the other place but they said it was too late in the day to take any more customers… But they seemed to have no problems with the putty job.
SIGH…
Also to note, I like to do my inspections at places like Jiffy Lube or similar rather than full service car places… Less chance of them trying to tell me I need things that I’d rather either try myself or shop around.
Also the hunting idle had returned and I was concerned that it would cause issues with the inspection so I cut a piece of coffee can and blocked off the valve on the end of the intake that causes a lot of idle issues.
Not the valve that Eric shows to tighten, that’s already been done but the one on the end that assists with cold starting that runs off vacuum. This valve is not present on Japanese Accord engines and the hole is covered with a metal plate.
So I put a piece of coffee can there and tightened it back up. It seems to have done the trick.
Well I think you’ve covered a lot of what I was going to warn you about. To be honest you can probably replace the pipe with the resonator for less than $100 if you do it yourself, having a torch helps too. As for your idle issue, here is my ‘idle speech’
By suggestion I’m going to post my idle speech along with a couple of video links that I hope will help if your having problems with your Honda’s idle. First I’ll give you the link to the Solving Honda Idle Problems video, please remember that adjusting the FITV is the LAST step in the process and you need to back it off at least 1/2 turn after it bottoms out or it will not start properly when cold.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L788jKEVblYThe Bleeding a Cooling System Videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUp … =relmfuThe video response to the Honda Idle videohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMj … onseLastly here is the “Idle Speech”There are a lot of things that can contribute to an idle issue, in fact in the end it may still be there to some degree because of the nature of a 4 cylinder engine however here are some things to start with.First start with a good tune up, use NGK or Nippon Denso plugs, don’t change the wires if they are OE, if they aren’t OE you might consider NGK wires as they are very good and less expensive then OE. A quality cap and rotor should be good. A new air filter also helps.Don’t change the PCV valve, if you see an aftermarket PCV valve in there put a Honda in, believe it or not I’ve seen idle issues caused by aftermarket PCV valves, the OE’s last just about forever so you can easily justify the expense.Next a good valve adjustment, this goes a long way to smooth out the idle if done correctly, mess it up and things can get a lot worse though.While you have the valve cover off check the timing belt tension, if you feel a lot of slack this can cause the cam to ‘chunk’ as it spins causing a rough idle. If you think the belt has been on there for some time then you might consider changing it and resetting the tension properly, if it’s not ready for replacement you can reset the tension to take up the slack.DO NOT adjust the idle screw under any circumstances, it is set at the factory and that is the reason it was sealed in the first place. If you find that the seal has been broken and you have a low idle and you have done all of the above then you might turn the screw out a little to see if that helps the idle but only enough to try and bring it back to where it was before it was adjusted in the first place.Last clean the screen in the Idle Air Control valve, this can get clogged up with carbon over time and cause the flow through it to be restricted which can cause idle issues.If you still have a ‘rough’ idle after all of this THEN look to the engine mounts as you want to be sure the engine is running correctly before you go for those as the one in the back is a real pain to replace.I hope this info is helpful as I get a TON of questions about Honda idle problems, thanks for reading.Yeah I’ve seen your speech several times. 🙂 I checked for vaccum leaks with a can of WD40.
Since the idle is set by how much air is allowed in when the throttle is closed, I just removed one source (green) and it seems to have resolved it.
I saw another youtube video that explained more how the technical side of the PGM FI system worked. If the throttle is closed and the engine speed is above 1100 or 1200, the computer cuts the fuel injectors off because it thinks you’re coasting and you don’t need that extra fuel wasted.
If there is extra air getting in the system it causes the RPM to raise but since the throttle is closed the computer shuts off the injectors and that causes the idle to pop up and down.
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