Our 18 year old Camry just barely passed California smog with a nitrous oxide level just below the limit (426 ppm with a 430ppm limit at 15MPH on the dynamometer). But at 25 MPH on the dynamometer it was at 170ppm with a max of 717ppm. Why would the NO be so close to the limit at 15MPH but so far below the limit at 25MPH?
I can go two more years now, but I think that in 2016 it will be over the limit unless there was some issue with the test.
This is just a guess, but I think the root cause is 18 yr old stuff.
Not enough airflow over the rad to cool properly? But you did say on the dyno - did they have the "big honkin' fan" blasting at the rad while it was running? NOx goes up quickly with temperature. Or too much timing advance - which would be worse at speed.
Too lean can do it too.
My 99 Nissan Maxima GLE did not pass this year. First time!!!! I went to my honest) mechanic -- only one in U.S. -- but still had to pay a whole ***
*load of repairs to pass the smog.Dilemma: Whether to fix up car or.. ? CA pays people to junk non-complyi ng cars up to a $$ limit. State also helps a little on fixing car, if low i ncome. What to do, what to do? Bottom line: Take the CA junque money and put it toward price of something else? Too damn much trouble to go out on the use d car market and find something as good as Old Betsy. And who knows what wo uld lurk in the bowels of "new" car, only to emerge later.
Bit the bullet; glad I did.
Save your pennies in case you have to make the above choices!
HB
Hi, I am old school, PCV, EGR valve(if the car has one), Catalytic converter...
Don't believe it. My 18 year old Ranger has 323000km on it and it still tested clean as the day it left the factory.
I have an honest mechanic too, a relative, plus he specializes in Toyotas. But he's ready to retire and sell the business. From looking online, a high NO level could be a lot of things. A failing catalytic converter, excessive carbon build-up, or an EGR issue. None of those are excessively expensive to repair.
What's amazing to me is that after 18 years, the cost of new Camry LE has only gone up about $1000. When we bought the 1996 it was tad under $17K with an MSRP of $21K and an invoice of 18.5K. Now a new LE is a tad under $18K with an MSRP of about 23.5K and an invoice of about 21.5K. Yet the new model has a lot more junk, ABS, more air bags, etc. Toyota is selling cars for a lot more under invoice than in the past, despite constantly insisting that they are going to stop doing all the incentives.
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