Thank God I don't live in a place that tests emissions. Thank you Jeebus! I'm procrastinating because my truck needs to be washed/waxed, and it's too much damn surface area for me to want to do it. So I'm wasting my time here on HAN instead.
Engines aren't designed to be babied around at part throttle. That's actually bad for them over a long period of time. What's the worst is when they just sit... Either way, they get congested and you need to blow all the carbon out of it. There's a simple recipe to ensure you did it right...
1. Buy one can of BG44K fuel system cleaner, and 2 cans of carb cleaner (or MCCC *).
* If you want to REALLY do it right, go to a Dodge dealership's parts counter and get Mopar Combustion Chamber Cleaner (MCCC) instead of Carb Cleaner, and use it the way it's described in step 2. It's so much more effective than just carb cleaner, and putting a Dodge product in your Honda won't hurt it. It's like $9 a can. Change your oil/filter immediately afterwards. Don't drive ANYWHERE with this stuff in your crankcase because it breaks down oil on contact, just like it does with carbon deposits. It removes paint. Any spills or overspray should be rinsed thoroughly with water. Wear gloves. Your car will smoke like crazy while you're cleaning it, so do it outdoors.
2. clean your throttle body with the engine running. Use your other hand on the throttle linkage to modulate the throttle and keep it running. Be sure to soak the 2 cross-bored bypass intlets as well... one goes to the AICV. Use both cans.
3. On an empty tank, add the BG44K, then top off with the highest octane unleaded gas you can get.
4. Get it on the highway, floor it several times all the way through 3rd gear, wind each gear to the red-line and run the piss out of it. Let the car cool off, do it again. Repeat this a few times over the course of the day.
5. change your pcv valve, air filter, spark plugs, and do an oil flush/fill (not an oil change).
6. Run 2 tanks of high-octane gas.
7. Run the living crap out of it and get it as hot as possible before doing step 8... leave the car running with the AC on while you're checking in to get it inspected.
8. Go pass your smog inspection.
If you don't pass after this, your catalytic converter is :madfawk:, or your o2 sensor is
, or both. If your car has a lot of oil blow-by that a PCV valve replacement won't fix, then you have more expensive problems. Also... if there was a time when your car burned a lot of oil or if there were pcv problems, your cat or muffler might be clogged. Too much oil in the cat will keep it from lighting off.
BG44K is expensive, but it cleans everything your fuel and exhaust touch. It's the best fuel cleaner I've ever used, and IMO the only one that really works.
I change my plugs every oil change, but on a normally aspirated car, I'd take 'em no more than 15,000 miles if you want them to work their best. They're what... $6? New cheap plugs still work 1000% better than old expensive platinum ones. Remember to always change 'em with a cold head.
All the stuff listed above is something that people should do to their cars every once in a while anyway, don't feel bad about the time/effort/money it takes even if it isn't your problem because it probably needs it in order to run its best. Your car wants you to floor it, I don't care what it is. It needs it.