I passed smog!

[C2slayman@domain.elided]

Hey Gang,
       After all the email on failed smog tests, I thought I'd brighten the 
day by sharing some good news.  I took my '89 Spider (191K miles) to the 
local Arco Smog Pros for my bi-annual California smog test.  I passed.  Not 
with flying colors.  But I passed.
       I wanted to share some experience and notes with those of you due for 
your  (gasp!) smmmmog tests.  First of all, I noticed a few weeks back that 
my gas mileage had dropped suddenly from ~25mpg down to ~18mpg.  The car 
still ran fine with no drop in power.  But I could smell fumes in the 
passenger compartment (sound like a familiar thread?)  I put a digital 
mulitmeter on the O2 sensor line (green wire on the three wire heated O2 
L-Jetronic).  It read a steady 0.5V.  Yep!  Busted!  So I replaced the O2 
sensor and repeated the measurement.  By blipping the throttle, I could get 
the voltage reading to vary from 0.3V to 0.8V.  Voila!  Problem fixed.
       Prior to going for my smog check, I ran through my routine checks - 
because I've flunked two times in the past, and one sent me straight to the 
referee station - a real pain!  So I like to go into the test well prepared.

       1)  Regular tune up.
             a)  Pull and clean/replace spark plugs.  Interesting that even 
with the bad O2 
             sensor and running rich, my plugs didn't look that bad.  Oh 
well!  So much   
             for reading plugs to tune the mixture (probably no surprise for 
injected cars  
             vs carbureted.)
             b)  Check plug wires/distributor cap/rotor.
             c)  Check timing - on the L-Jet and Motronic, this is a 
formality since it is 
             self-controlled.
       
       2)  Check compression.  I've found this step to be EXTREMELY 
important.  The 
       two times that I flunked were due to a burned #2 exhaust valve.  I 
should have 
       determined this BEFORE it took the smog test.  This time the numbers 
were 
       uniform to -/+10psi.   #1-150psi     #2-135psi     #3-155psi      #4 
-145psi.  No 
       bad for a motor with 190+ Kmiles.
       
       3)  Check O2 sensor output.  Done.  New one working fine.
       
       4)  Check catalytic convertor.  You need an IR thermometer for this.  
I didn't have
       one, so I crossed my fingers.

Here's the numbers I got compared to my first test back in '92.  Not bad for 
a 13 year old Spider.  One note - I failed on the first pass.  The techs ran 
the car at 2500rpm to heat up the catalytic convertor, then I passed.  So I 
suspect that in another 2 years, I might be looking at an new cat con 
(especially since the Bay Area is going to a new dynomometer-based test in 
July that I understand is more difficult.)

DATE                                         1/16/92    1/14/03
Odometer                                    58494          191179

IDLE                
    RPM                              879             973
    HC(PPM) max allowable          100             120
        avg passing vehicles           29               29
        actual                           71              101
    CO (%)  max allowable          1%          1%
        avg passing vehicles         0.10%         0.10%
        actual                           0.05%         0.30%
    CO2 (%)     
        actual                           15.0%         15.0%
    O2 (%)          
        actual                           0.5%          0.2%
                
SPEED               
    RPM                              2411          2402
    HC(PPM) max allowable    220           140
        avg passing vehicles         20              20
        actual                           35              33
    CO (%)  max allowable          1.2%        1%
        avg passing vehicles         0.10%         0.10%
        actual                           0.01%         0.14%
    CO2 (%) 
        actual                           15.2%         15.3%
    O2 (%)  
        actual                           0.4%          0.1%


Cheers,
Charlie 
'89 Spider (with another 2year lease on life)
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