Who has actually emission tested their SR?

[vwluv10338]

Why is it every time someone starts a thread about the SR20 passing emissions a bunch of people jump on them and say no "because it was never sold in this country." Well I want to know who actually has run a SR20 through an emission test. Now I know CA is different and have a visual inspection and what not, but here in MD they dont pop the hood. I will have tags on my car next week which means emissions are coming soon but on the bright side, the place where I am studying to work for Lexus has recently installed an emissions dyno. Hopefully I will be able to test my car before the actual test. Also, I believe the only emission equipment my redtop os missing is an egr valve and the s14 blacktops had them. Hopefully, this won't be enough to fail me.

To sum up: If you have ever has a SR20DET emission tested and either passed or failed...give a holla.

Eric

[SpeedRacer1]

Failed three times, by .1% (or less) on the CO at idle, thats it. I got a waiver.

[S13240]

Let's see how you do since no one else has...

[Unnatural]

Just make sure that you've got a working cat in good condition. If the cat is original, you might think about replacing it with a new high-flow unit. Make sure you turn the boost down to stock levels and if you can, using a fuel controller, lean out the mixture as much as you can safely. Just make sure that your not running overly rich. That EGR valve problem may hurt you still. Regardless, be sure that the engine is good and warmed up before testing it. You might even consider running somekind of fuel additive through it to clean out the fuel system; an emission reducer, etc. Good luck!~Brendan

[SpeedRacer1]

My engine was running poorly, I had a gutted cat and I still only failed the CO at idle test. Passes the CO at cruising speed and the HC at idle and cruising speed. After I replaced the cat with a new one I still failed because cats will not affect CO significantly.

[jacob360]

cats will not affect CO significantly.

Cats do a great job of cleaning up CO. For a cat to work properly it needs to be hot and have a supply of O2. Three way cats use CO to catalyze NOx. The only reason engines are programmed to crosscount from rich to lean is for proper operation of a three way cat.

Also, dont put on a "high flow" cat. All it is is a bigger cat. It takes longer to heat up and cools down faster.

[SpeedRacer1]

High flow cats are not bigger. They do not clean up CO, I have the 3 tests that show they dont affect CO much. Even the little pamplet the state gave me said that a new cat will only affect HC.

[Unnatural]

If this where a regular A to B car I would have told him to just make sure the cat is in proper working order. If it is original just locate an OE replacement as it may not work properly and he will fail emission, MOST LIKELY. That is not guaranteed but it is the highly likely. Since this is a 240SX with a SR20DET swap then it DESERVES better! That's why I suggested to just replace the OE cat with a good highflow unit (would go nicely with an upgraded exhaust system). And no, they are not necessarily bigger. Random Technology, Catco, etc... all make high flow cats, in various sizes, that still do there job.

But, that is not the only issue. The question was whether the car would pass emissions not just the CO idle count. According to SpeedRacer1 that MAY be his only concern but he still needs to make sure everything is working right before blowing $$$ on State emissions testing. Simply make sure that the engine is in a good state of tune and that the engine (and cat) have had time to warm up prior to testing. Good Luck.~Brendan

[jacob360]

High flow cats are not bigger. They do not clean up CO, I have the 3 tests that show they dont affect CO much. Even the little pamplet the state gave me said that a broken cat will only affect HC.

I work for the California Smog Referee. I do smogs everyday. I've diagnosed weak and bad cats on cars that failed for high HC and CO. They came back with a new cat and they passed. You started talking about broken cats, I'm talking about functioning cats. They do clean up CO. I know this for a fact.

I'll admit I don't know much about high flow cats, I'm just going off of what a muffler shop told me. The only reason I'd put a cat on a car with an engine swap or extensive mods is for emissions testing, otherwise, test pipe.

Back on topic, If you're emissions test is on a dyno, not having the EGR on an engine that originally had it will almost definitely cause your NOx emissions to go too high. HC and CO are easy to fix by leaning out the mix a little, but that will likely raise NOx too. All I can say is to have the engine tuned well, a functioning cat, and all the original emissions equipment (like EGR and air injection).

[vwluv10338]

Well I replaced the test pipe that came on my car with a new cat so that is a good first step. The problem is that the redtops didnt have an egr valve where the KA does along with blacktops. After looking at a service manual the only way to install an egr valve would be to use the exhaust and intake manifold from a blacktop.

Speedracer1: when you failed did they pop the hood and check you out? In MD after you spend $150 and still fail you can get a waver. I am just worried that if I fail then they will pop the hood and see the sr20 and not give me a waver because of it.

Eric

[SpeedRacer1]

Test on gutted cat: 1.3% (legal limit in WA=1.2%)Test #1 on new cat: 1.25%Test #2 on new cat: 1.26%

New cats do not affect CO emissions greatly. They mainly drop HC and CO at higher rpms. California has different standards than most places in the country, you have more chemicals to worry about so your knowledge might have a bias towards tuning cars differently than in other states. WA only cares about HC and CO, not CO2, NOx etc.

I failed, the engine itself was running good, great power etc, but there were a few things on the engine internally that were not working good for emissions, so popping the hood and taking a look would not have helped in my instance. I got the waiver because the guy did'nt take the time to look under my hood (like he was supposed to) so I got lucky. Next time I will register my tabs out of an emmissions controlled county, if I fail.

BTW, redtops have an EGR, it just has to be disabled because of steering column issues.

[jacob360]

vwluv10338: If your engine was not originally equipped with an EGR (many cars aren't, even cars made for sale in CA. Better engineering and engine management strategies) then don't worry about it. It was engineered without it. You might not even have to worry about NOx (like SpeedRacer1)

SpeedRacer1: You're right about cats doing more of their work at higher speeds (more exhaust flow, more heat). There are other factors. Your engine could have been running in open loop, or the system could have been designed with air injection, but had it disabled. In any event, I think we've beaten it to death.

Doing emissions tests is one of the sh*tty things about living in CA. Having to go through mid 80s carbureted Hondas vacuum routings to verify everything is correct is enough to make me want to move to another state.

PEACE

[GodzillaFan]

vwluv10338: If your engine was not originally equipped with an EGR (many cars aren't, even cars made for sale in CA. Better engineering and engine management strategies) then don't worry about it. It was engineered without it. You might not even have to worry about NOx (like SpeedRacer1)

SpeedRacer1: You're right about cats doing more of their work at higher speeds (more exhaust flow, more heat). There are other factors. Your engine could have been running in open loop, or the system could have been designed with air injection, but had it disabled. In any event, I think we've beaten it to death.

Doing emissions tests is one of the sh*tty things about living in CA. Having to go through mid 80s carbureted Hondas vacuum routings to verify everything is correct is enough to make me want to move to another state.

PEACE

thats probably it. the sr20det doesnt have EGR, but it does have air injection, which gets removed when swapped into a rhd car.no air injection=cat not working properly.

[defyitall]

so, for a newb (new to 240's, new to california, new to the forums), how do you have an SR20 powered car in CA? can you drive around with emmissions testing done? jus wondering cause I live in CA and would like to do an SR20 swap someday.

[vwluv10338]

Ok, for everyone throwing around which engines have what emission equipment here is the info:

SR20 redtop - (what I have) no EGR and AIV disabled: AIV injects air to warm up the cat sooner so it will start working sooner. Disabling that has no effect on emission testing as long as the car is up to operating temp.

CA18- no egr- Factory service manual, I checked

KA- has egr

SR20 S14 blacktop- has egr - factory service manual

jacob360- my engine didnt come with an egr (I dont think) but I am still concerned because it is an SR20. Speedracer1- what kind of engine were you testing?

Here are the readings from my 94 honda- HC .016- limit 1.2, CO .365 limit 20, NOx- .050 limit 2.5.

With my honda shooting so low I figured an SR20 would pass as long as it was running well. I guess I should have looked into getting a car with a blacktop so I could have an EGR.

Eric

[defyitall]

does the S13 blacktop have EGR? guessing no since the redtop doesn't, but figur'd i'd ask.

[vwluv10338]

If anyone else has service manuals maybe they can answer. All I have is the S14 w/ sr20 and the 180 w/ Ca18. If anyone doesnt have them I recomend them from zylvia.net

Eric

[jacob360]

so, for a newb (new to 240's, new to california, new to the forums), how do you have an SR20 powered car in CA? can you drive around with emmissions testing done? jus wondering cause I live in CA and would like to do an SR20 swap someday.

If you want to drive a car with an SR in Cali you're either going to have to find someone willing to do an illegal smog (I've heard the going rate now is $250 plus) or swap out the KA every two years. No way to get it legal, unless you're willing to go to the air resources board labs and end up spending thousands of dollars for testing and making the engine compliant. Thats what they do with gray market vehicles (cars that were originally sold in another country). It isn't a realistic option, they're very very strict.

Actually, there is one possible way to avoid smogs, but I don't know how much longer it will last. Areas in CA are designated in three ways regarding smogs: enhanced, basic, and change of ownership. Enhanced smog areas are where they put the cars on the dyno. Basic areas test the car standing still at idle and 2500 rpm. Change of ownership areas only require a smog check when you sell the car. If you can register the car in a change of ownership area, you can smog the car legit, do the swap, then never worry about it again. There's talk of making almost the entire state enhanced, and beginning to test every two years in the change of ownership areas. If you have a relative in a change of ownership area, it's worth a shot. It's mainly in some mountain regions and Northern Cali near Oregon. You can search the state website for more info.

[defyitall]

thanks for the info. being in North Holywood i think Im stuck. some people have mentioned the crooked smog testers route. but either way i got a few years before i got to worry.

[vwluv10338]

Well this thread turned into what I was trying to avoid, people saying the sr will pass because they thik it should, and discussions on how to go to crooked smog stations. All I wanted was a roll call of people who have actually emission tested an SR. So far the only response I got was from SpeedRacer1.

Eric

[SquirrelOnFire]

hey , anyone know how new jersey is about emmision and the sr ?

[vwluv10338]

What is the test like in NJ? I know they have inspections every year. I ask because I bought my car from nj with an sr and it had a 2002/03 inspection sticker on the windshield. I didnt know if that was just safety or emissions also.

Eric

[HUSKE]

DAMN yall, just move to Alabama.We don't really care about crap like this down here.

[SquirrelOnFire]

whats the worst case scenario with the emmision . Can they accualy force u to take the engine out ?

[Meantime]

What is the test like in NJ? I know they have inspections every year. I ask because I bought my car from nj with an sr and it had a 2002/03 inspection sticker on the windshield. I didnt know if that was just safety or emissions also.

Eric

It's both safety and emissions. They issue a 2 year sticker for everything before 2000 - 4 year stickers for everything after 2000. The powers that be inspect the brakes, suspension, lights, horn, tires, everything. They also test for HC, CO and NOX at idle and then at "highway speeds" (they put it on a dyno).

Without an EGR I don't see how you will get an SR/CA to pass NJ emissions. My KA has a tiny leak somewhere in the EGR tubing and barely passed. The NOX limit was 1260 and I was at 1020, should be much lower than that with a properly functioning EGR. An SR without an EGR would be way over 1260.

That being said, there are more than a few SR's with current inspections running around down here. Where there's a will, there's a way...

EDIT: Squirrel, this is not Cali and they won't make you take out the engine if you don't pass. If you fail three times consecutively for the same reason, however, they will "ground" your car, as in you will not be allowed to drive it at all. Unless you try to get a waiver, and can document proof you've tried to fix the problem 3 times, which may or may not work, NJDOT has the final say in who gets a temporary waiver.

[vwluv10338]

Well I dont know what the conversion is because it seems like the limits for NJ you posted are in PPM and the tests in MD are in GPM. Our Nox limit is 2.3 down from 2.5 but I just passed with a .130GPM with no EGR, no AIV, and a new cat. Here is my post http://www.nissaninfiniticlub....31081

Eric