Emissions testing problem on my old car? Advice?

Question

My car is old. This year it failed the emissions test. I took it to the shop, and they said nothing is wrong with the car. They said to drive it around for a while to clear out the engine, and then it should test okay. Does this make sense? If so, how long should I drive it around before going in? I am confused.

Answer 1

You should drive it around fror a week, also they sell some engine cleaners and fuel injections to clean out the system. try those

Answer 2

1st off, without proper diagnostics you cannot get a proper repair... with that being said...

2nd, depending on the year of the car will depend on what type of emissions testing will be performed, I.E.2003 to current is CAN, 95 to 2003 is OBDII, 94 to 85 is OBDI, and 80 to 75 is strickly gas emmissions, 75 and below does not need tested.

3rd, depending on what part of the test failed could mean different results and repairs.

Try this...go to the local store and buy a small bottle of rubbing alcohol and pour it into your tank, drive at least 100 miles, then take it back through testing. This is the cheapest fuel cleaning you can do, not recommended often but effective. Normally take and have a thorough fuel system cleaning done once a year and you shouldn't have a problem.

Good luck and hope this helps

Answer 3

Places such as advanced auto sale stuff like EngineEmissionsControl or some junk like that. That will help your car pass the test or you can just give the old girl a good tuneup and some liquid tuneup and that should help a lot too and yes the printout should tell you what is going on a bit more than we can tell, so take a look at that and go from there, maybe try searching the parts of the printout that have failed for you and see how other people addressed the problem good luck

Answer 4

A car can run fine, but the smog controls and system can function poorly and fail the test... Since the car is old you probably have a smog pump. There are many systems the contribute to the recirculation of the exhaust gases and emissions. They should have handed you a paper with numbers on it stating what and how much of the these certain gases its polluting. It was also point of the system of failure.. Take your car to a smog repair facility.

Answer 5

How old is old? What's the make and model? If you don't drive much what the shop told you could be possible. Try some fuel system cleaner, otherwise a tune up may be in order. As far as how far to drive, 20-25 miles with some heavy acceleration to burn out carbon buildup should do the trick.

Answer 6

how did it fail the emissions test? Without knowing the results, it's hard to determine the issues, or what you can do to pass the test. we'd need readings for CO, CO2, NOx, and HC (the four big ones they look for)

Also, what is the year, make, and model of the vehicle?

Answer 7

If it is your first car, i suggest you go with a used car, and try to avoid american cars. try something like a toyota or a honda. and make sure you spend atleast 100 dollars on a mechanic to check out the car before you buy it. in other words hire a mechanic to go with you when you go see the car. that 100 dollars can avoid you from spending thousands if the car has issues. good luck on your search!

Answer 8

what are the reading on your test .... that sheet you give you a clue whats wrong ..... if it failed it failed . also does the shop you took it to have a 4 gas aynalizer.... did they hook any thing up to your car to see what thier readings are??????

Answer 9

forget about the test and treat yourself to a new car! Merry Christmas...

Answer 10

Yeah just drive it and put some engine fuel cleaner