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Okay its been almost a year now since I have been trying to get my 90′ accord ex to pass CA smog. It was given to me by my mom and she was able to pass smog before she gave it to me but its giving me a hard time. The reason why I am failing is because the car is putting out too high emissions and the check engine light comes on.
Ive been troubleshooting the codes but I’m stuck getting 43 Fuel supply system. The b/f (who works on my car) thought the problem was the oxygen sensor. At the time a could not afford the O2 sensor so I opted to get one online cheaper. After that O2 senor was put in, the check engine light came on but the code I read was 41 Oxygen sensor heater circuit. my b/f checked the voltage on the new O2 sensor and it was too low. I was then able to get a brand new one from O’ Reillys and matched it to my engine #.
This new O2 sensor seemed to have fixed my year long check engine light problem. I went to the place I failed smog twice before to try to get in but they had appointments for the rest of the day. As I was walking away the mechanic hollered at me to bring my car round back and he would do a quick check to see where I was at-emissions wise. He hooked the computer up i guess to my tailpipe and he told me that my emissions numbers were lower in comparison to my last failed smog results but I was still failing at ide. He tells me to put a new catalytic converter in and that should do the trick.
Well I was already told this from my first failed smog and had replaced the cat, but it wasn’t new. My check engine light stays off this whole time, Its the longest I’ve ever NOT seen it go on …So I come up with the $189.00 for a brand new cat and get it installed just to have my check engine light pop back on-code 43 fuel supply system.
I dont know if its the fuel pressure or fuel pressure regulator because those are also under code 43. Or if its the oxygen sensor again, or the heater circuit wires going to the ecu or what. please help!
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Back in August, when I first failed smog, my HC levels were measured way high at 340 ppm at idle. This was the only place I failed. Just a week or two before my Honda was broke down in the driveway and had been for 8 months. I took it in to smog with the same oil, spark plugs etc I hadn’t replaced anything in those eight months or more. I didn’t expect it to fail since my mom (previous owner) had no problem passing 2 yrs previous, and she was somehow able to pass even though the check engine light would come on after a few miles.
My point with all this is that after I failed the first time I made sure I put changed the oil, replaced spark plugs, spark plug wires, oil & air filter etc, but my second smog results were way worse than before.Hydrocarbons measured at 428 ppm at idle, I failed at 2500 rpms measuring 136 ppm. Also failed CO at 2500 Rpms measuring 1.39. I failed functional check b/c check engine lamp on (I have literally never seen it stay off since my mom bought it 7-8 years ago) and lastly failed BAR SNAP test, the mechanic claimed I had black smoke coming out of my tailpipe.
Recently when I replaced the O2 sensor and my check engine light stayed off for almost a week I took it back to smog and that’s when the mechanic did an unofficial smog check and told me that my emission levels were a lot better in comparison to my previous results, but at idle i was still too high. No black smoke out the tailpipe. He told me to replace the cat and then come back in, kinda saying without saying that I’d pass. When i could afford it a bought a spankin new cat and installed it. I thought I was golden since my check engine light was off and I thought the new cat would fix high emissions but the check engine light all of a sudden turned back on
Jess,
I live and work in a boondocks area of Texas where no annual smog testing is required, so I am probably the least experienced tech on this forum to help you with this particular problem. Since I have no emissions experience, I struggled with what is called the”five gases” portion of the tests. Since no one else is chiming in though, I’ll do my best to help
High CO together with high HC indicates that it is probably running rich. A scanner could verify this by looking at fuel trim. If it were to be confirmed that it is running rich, you would need to make sure that fuel pressure is in spec and that you don’t have one or more leaky injector. A bad O2 sensor could be the culprit, but you’ve already changed them.
I would suggest that you would be money ahead to find a competent shop to diagnose the trouble rather than throwing more parts at it. I would think that in California, there are many shops with folks that are intimately familiar with the five gases, what they indicate and how to correct the problem.
Sorry I can’t help any more than this.
I really appreciate your help. Mechanic shops around here are a little iffy, most places I’ve been seen to be overpriced but I stumped and will have to research a shop. Thank a again
Scan tool time. Unfortunately this is a pre obd, or possibly obd I car, so it’s hard to get info on the fuel system. All you can do within a reasonable budget would be checking fuel system pressure with a fuel pressure gauge -$20@ harbor freight- and possibly checking resistance on the injectors. Resistance should be 1.5-2.5 ohms.
Fuel pressure should be 36-41 psi
http://www.autozone.com/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c1528005f8e7#hd1-1-2
http://www.autozone.com/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0900c1528005f871#hd1-1-2
By the way, I’m also in Texas, so I don’t have experience with CA smog checks either….
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