Emission testing,PO401, EGR, check engine light (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Nov 11, 2003
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In Connecticut the dmv has just started using a new system to do emission testing. Excerpt from their website:

"Emissions for vehicles that are 1995 and older will be measured by inserting a sensor-probe in the tailpipe. Some vehicles will be driven on a dynamometer, a treadmill-type simulator of real-world driving conditions. For vehicles model year 1996 or newer, the Certified Testing Inspectors will plug a scan tool into the vehicle's On-Board Diagnostic (OBD) computer system to download data and determine if emissions components are malfunctioning"

As we all know the '96 and '97 have the quirky EGR, PO401 problem with the check engine light that won't go away. Does this mean that we will all fail our emission tests ? We would be forced to "fix" the problem now instead of "living" with the check engine light that comes on every now and then.
 
If you have a current 0401 CEL, you probably will fail. But if you're afraid that the new system will pick up something on the dyno, rest easy (I think).

Unless they've installed dyno systems that can accomdate 4WD systems (Jersey has not done this), all they can do is give you the anal probe and check your emissions. The guy at my inspection station told me that if they tried to dyno my truck, it would just run off the end of their garage since only two wheels are captured/driven. 8) And that would make for an ugly mess on the highway in front of the inspection station :whoops:

So unless you already have a problem, I wouldn't worry about it.

Tom
 
I think the P401 has been moving up the worry charts lately. Still not a contender for the head gasket but moving up just the same.

From my perspective early on there were a couple of incidents where the VSV solved the problem. However it seems more and more that the modulator is being identified as the culprit. Either way we are gaining knowledge on this circuit's behaviour and tendencies. I wouldn't worry about it til you get the problem. If you haven't had it yet then plugging in to the truck with some diagnostic tool will find nothing.

I think the only sure way to experience it would be to dwell on it ;)
 
CruiserNow -

>> In Connecticut... Excerpt from their website...

Calif has been doing emissions testing this way since forever. If a 96+ vehicle shows an emissions fault after an OBD-II check (MIL or no...), you fail. End of story. No anal probe, no discussion.

As Rick points out, no point in laying awake nights worrying about it. Best advice is invest in an OBD-II reader/scanner and have a look at the diagnostics yourself.

I too recall a disproportionate number of failures attributed to the VSV (80%+ by my count, including all reported/solved cases on this board and the 80s list), but mine turned out to be the modulator. So much for odds. Once again, as Rick has wisely repeated so many times, get an OBD device & FSM, and when you have a problem, troubleshoot emissions faults sytematically & and you'll be set.

Cheers, R -
 
Don't get the cheese till you got the problem. If you go for inspection with the problem, you will not pass. :slap: and end up with the big REJECT sticker like some beater I know.

I hate the EGR. I really, really, really, really do. :mad:
 
95, baby! non-OBD II compliant, like Junk it loves the probe. :flipoff2:
They don't even care if the light is on. I turn it off on the way there anyway, but as soon as the monitors reset I get the 0401 and catalytic ineffeciency codes pop up.
Currently IL will sniff test if your monitors are not ready, but they will stop doing that and just fail you outright pretty soon.
 
Gumby,
You saying that faulty EGR can show up also as a leak in the cats? Besides putting out 1,100 HC's (when the limit is 100), I'm showing up with leaks in the cats. .... or can one cause the other?
 
I don't think one has to do with the other. My cats started failing after some bonehead went wheeling with Woody without cat protection and bashed them against rocks until they started to rattle. I'm just going to get a post-cat HO2S emulator and eliminate the downstream o2. I had the EGR light on for a year or so before that.
Exhaust leaks before the first HO2S can cause high HCs because the O2 is seeing too much O2 and thinks you're running way lean, but I don't think cat leaks can cause high HCs.
 
Cool. Thanks. Me gots leaks I think right between the two cats :(.

I'll still stick with my statement that EGR sucks.
 
ohmygod, ohmygod, 2 messages of Junk without the green guy in the text.....???????

you OK, Gunky dear?

wazzaup? surely it's not that he's begging for info or groveling in front of higher banning-potential authority, you think?

nah! can't be...

:D

E
 
[quote author=e9999 link=board=2;threadid=9850;start=msg87619#msg87619 date=1073665194]
ohmygod, ohmygod, 2 messages of Junk without the green guy in the text.....???????

you OK, Gunky dear?

wazzaup? surely it's not that he's begging for info or groveling in front of higher banning-potential authority, you think?

nah! can't be...

:D

E
[/quote]


I thought it wasn't Junk til I took a second look!!!! Sure enough the green guy is missing.
Think the high HCs is affecting Junk. :eek:
 
It's in my sig so I never miss a post. :flipoff2:

Nah, Gumby is not easily offended. I think it would take a lot more than a bird.
 
don't rule out the new system using twin dyno testing which is what they do here for one bay per testing station (yay, you get to be in the longer line up).

Junk what was ther 1100 h/c reading? Is that ounces/per mile or what. Our readings are in grams per km and I want to compare.

Oh and I am not too fond of EGR either
 

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