can anyone help me?
i live in CA and my car failed the smog test.

i have a 1996 integra gsr with...
dc 4-1 headers
greddy evo exhaust
aem cold intake

its got about 150,000 miles on it.
when i took the 15 mph test, my HC and NO were way high. the CO was fine.
i passed the 25 mph test.

i read on the net that its too much fuel and not enough air mixture (rich). i also read that someone put in a fuel pressure regulator and reduced the pressure to 19 psi and he passed (then raised it back after the test).

right now i'm putting in the fuel regulator. i'm also gonna add some fuel/carb cleaner in it. i've been using the 89 oct gas instead of 91 since gas prices has been so high and i commute a lot (but i intend on puttin in 91 again for the test). is there anything else i can do to help pass the test? i could use any help given. thanks....

 

Check your catalytic converter, had the same probs before I replced mine

 

The 15 mph test is at a higher load than the 25 mph test, making the cat work harder. My cat was the problem. I got the carsound obd2 carb/epa approved cat and passed with almost zero emissions.

 

The catalytic converter is part of the exhaust system. It's purpose is to "filter out" HC and NO. To keep it simple, its basically a metal housing with metal baffles inside. If these baffles break down, the filtering effect is lessened.

What were your HC and NO levels?

before the new cat, I was getting 180 + on my HC, after it was down to 23...can't remember the NO numbers.

I through on a high flow cat and still passed smog.

 

Drive the car for a hour before the test and run fuel system cleaner

 

Your cat should still be ok. However, additives, race fuel and all that Octane Booster Horse Shit can coat your cat and lessen the ability to burn off hydrocarbons. I am not for additives. It you can't install it with tools it doesn't add power. With the exception of NOS. Anyways, I would go with a tune-up first. Your car could probably use it anyways. If that doesn't work, the cat may need to be swapped.

 

Still takes tools to install nitrous.

 

here are my results from my smog test...

m1 (15 mph) test
rpm: 1881
%co2 meas: 14.7
%o2 meas: 0.2
HC (PPM) max allowed: 61
--HC ave: 9
--my test: 101 (failed)
CO (%) max allowed: 0.54
--CO average: 0.02
--my test: 0.30 (pass)
NO (PPM) max allowed: 467
--NO average: 57
--my test: 1165 (failed)

m2 (25 mph) test
rpm: 2194
%co2 meas: 14.8
%o2 meas: 0.0
HC (PPM) max allowed: 45
--HC ave: 7
--my test: 44 (pass)
CO (%) max allowed: 0.53
--CO average: 0.03
--my test: 0.15 (pass)
NO (PPM) max allowed: 754
--NO average: 50
--my test: 459 (pass)

i hope this helps. so is it my catalytic converter? and is there a way to take it to a shop to determine that this is the problem? or is there a way that i can check myself? should i just replace my catalytic converter and cross my fingers that it was the problem?

also, does anyone know a good shop in the north hollywood/burbank area that i can take my car to?

thanks for all the help.

 

I said with the exception of NOS cause I knew you would drop in on this one and your the liason for operable NOS applications. I know your just busting my balls, it's all good.

 

TUne up, plugs, oil change etc will help