Ok just went for smog check. I have a 95 civic si. Its a cali model and the ONLY mod is a tenzo exhaust. Could this be the reason I failed? The car runs excellent and has no mechanical problems so im thinking the exhaust is the only thing that it could be. Correct me if im wrong or please add any input on what else it could it be. Id rather handle it now instead of going to a repair place to charge me 150 to tell me whats wrong. Oh btw I failed the emissions part only and only on the 15mph part. I passed the 25 mph. Thanks.

 

Do you sill have a cat on it? If you do then there is no reason to fail....

When was your last tune up? What fuel do you run and how long did you let your car run for befor you took the test? I let my car run for 1 hr befor, drive there, wait in line for 35-45 min with my car running, and I passed with flying colors- 94 Civic EX D16Z6: CAI, Headman Header, 2 1/4 Pipes, free flow cat, and Flowmaster muffler.

 

Yeah the cat is still on it. It is stock too. Damn this pisses me off because iam not legal on the road right now. I let it run 10 minutes at best. Shit if I had known I would have let it run longer. Last tune up was ALONG time ago. I know I lag but I just dont drive a lot. Ok so tune up is necessary. I run lowest grade fuel. So should I upgrade to premium fuel on next fill? Let it run through a tank and fill again? Should I replace plugs also? Let me know asap so I can get this done. Thanks for your help so far.

 

What did you fail on exactly?

 

Down here in GA, they recommend that you get an oil change right before the emissions test, you'd be amazed what kind of crap will stay in the oil and out of your tailpipe.

 

put it 93 octane and buy some gas additive made to help with emissions. Should be good to go if you do that

 

Sorry for the late post guys. Ok I failed on the 15 mph test on the HC (PPM) and the NO (PPM). Have no idea what they mean but I was pretty high on both. Any idea at what it could be? The guy that smogged me was of no help. Should I just pay the 150 and get it smog diagnosed or is there something I should do myself? Any input please thanks.

 

Do a tune up first.. It sounds like you are in need of one anyways... Replace the Plugs, wires, cap and rotor, check to see that your timing is correct, replace your air filter, change your oil (and oil filter) and if you got the money replace your fuel filter, I put 92 octane in my car all the time, and about every month I put a octane booster in, I would recomend running a high octane through your car (run it almost empty and then fill it with 92 to 1/2 tank, drive it for 10 min, and then fill it the rest of the way up.

Also how many miles on the motor and what motor do you have?

 

169k on a stock d16. I will do all those things. I hope it works.

 

An exhaust alone is not enough to make you fail, since a cat-back makes no (read: zero) difference on emissions. The only way you could fail for it is if it was illegal in your state.93 octane is bad for emmisions checks (in vehicles NOT designed to burn it!,) you should be using 87 in your D16Z6. If you want to cheat, you can use some denatured alcohol, but I'm not taking responsability if you blow up your engine. You have to be careful when running alcohol, even though it does burn extremely clean.

David, I've gotta learn you some knowledge, boy!