Smog Question in California?

Question

Co's 12 times more than allowed, What can be the problem??? 94' Firebird, new catalytic converter.....

Smog Certified Only Please!!!
No Guesses.......

Answer 1

High CO is ALWAYS a sign of a rich mixture. Too much fuel, too little air. If there's enough air in the mixture, the CO attaches to another oxygen and becomes CO2.

You need to have this scanned to see what the long term fuel trim is.

If you don't get this problem corrected soon, you will burn up your brand new cat converter.

Rick

I'm a retired ASE Master/L-1 Technician. I still keep current with the latest automotive technology. Visit my blog for cool articles and TSB's: http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com

Answer 2

high CO represents a very hot running engine. timing can be an issue, or high compression can also cause this, carbon build up in the cylinders can elevate ratios by reducing the volume of the combustion chamber, and occasionally providing a source of ignition.
if you can find the actual spec in a book, do a compression check o all cylinders, and compare your readings to that specification. on a older engine like that you should be a little below spec, but not by too much. also compare all the cylinders at the same time. they should be within about 10% of each other. if you have an issue with excessive compression, do have a solution. first pull the cat off if you can . mine unbolts with a little effort but back to what i was saying, now with a good source of heat like a camping stove, and an old tea kettle, boil some water. once the kettle is whistling. pipe the steam into the running engine. the steam will break up some of the carbon in the combustion chamber, and reduce your compression pressure. i have done this on my honda to rid myself of a pinging that i heard . she runs like a top. you should only have to run the engine for about 10 to 15 minutes, but don't rev the engine, it may upset your neighbors...

Answer 3

Is it "chipped"? A performance chip will defiantly fail you.

Is your air filter clean? I'm pretty sure your car has a mass air flow sensor, but a plugged air filter will make it run rich.

Have you changed the oil? Fuel going past your rings will go in to the crank case, and go back in to the engine though the breather tube(s)

Bad injectors (stuck open)? If 1 or more fuel injector is stuck open, your defiantly going to be running rich.

Like that other guy said. Your going to burn up your new converter(s) running that rich.

Answer 4

You don't want much, do you? Ask the person that determined that your car was 12 times over the limit.

Answer 5

I'm guessing it's emissions-related.