Last few issues

thanks!

so i got the allignment yesterday and when driving there the bimmer did great, ran good and had plenty of power but twice i got a check engine light.

the first was when i was in first gear and turned off as soon as i shifted to second.

the second was in third gear and went off when i shifted to fourth


i was gettin on it a bit, but not too mu h

Clean, Clean, Clean the MAF.. remove screens on MAF, use spray FIRST, (and LIGHTLY with q-tip if necessary) clean the element.
Clean Throttle body
Clean Throttle position sensor
Check for vacuum leaks
Check the hoses that are plumbed into the boot on intake

Disconnect, clean, lube, and reconnect all associated electrical connections.

Cheers!

ok ive replaced all the hoses under the hood minus the radiator hoses. Cleaned the maf and the throttle body


but i will do the rest of you list today

Originally Posted by Dakota_leWarne

ok ive replaced all the hoses under the hood minus the radiator hoses. Cleaned the maf and the throttle body
but i will do the rest of you list today

You're the man!

Note: I said "check" hoses.. I guess I should've said.. "double check"

i will double chech too. its possiable a hose is pinched. The problem also happened prior to the hoses being changed

Originally Posted by Dakota_leWarne

i will double chech too. its possiable a hose is pinched. The problem also happened prior to the hoses being changed

Damn.. you seem to be thorough..
Check the fitment of the hoses also.

I think dirty MAF and throttle position sensor..

so took her back to deq

Sence last time i put on a new fuel filter, new tie rods, new exhaust gasket, painted the exhaust, and replaced vacuum hoses and other hoses in the engine bay. I know some of that is irrelevant but decided to say everything.

long story short i faild far worse then last time.

Last time i got 238 hydrocarbons
This time i got 352 hydrocarbons


Last time i passed on carbon monoxide under 1
This time i failed with 3.5 carbon monoxide


on there list the two things that are the same from hydrocarbon failure and carbon monoxide failure are "Leaky or malfunction fuel injection system" and "faulty catalytic converter"


the car runs pretty rough at ide and the check engine light came on twice while i was in line at deq and stayed on for a few minutes

This post is for informational purposes ONLY.

OG post by Stealth

a very interesting collection of ideas gathered from various sources and from
people that had emissions challenged vehicles but found ways to pass the test ...

================

emissions components which may be inspected by officials for proper operation:

EGR Valve, Air Pump, Charcoal Canister, EVAP System, Smog Pump, Oxygen Sensor, Intake Manifold, Exhaust Manifold, Fuel Pump, Turbo, Supercharger, Header, Camshaft, Fuel Filter, Air Filer, Oil Filter, Carburetor, Fuel Injector, Preheat Tube, Air Injection, Check Valve, Muffler, Solenoid, Fuel Mixture Solenoid, Catalytic Converter, CAT, Heat Riser, OBD II System, On Board Diagnostics Computer and Vacuum Lines.

==================

GUMOUT, Emissions Reducer, 12 oz bottle

"at the pump pour the bottle then fill tank .. in this initila tank, emissions may increase as Gumout works to remove deposits and expel via the exhaust .. ran until tank is near empty .. refill tank .. do not perform emissions test until 2nd or third tank where the emissions benefits will show ....."

=============

make sure your gas tank is only 1/4 to 1/2 full and put 1/2 the bottle of methyl hydrate (fondue fuel) in the tank

==============

Pour pure (90%+) isopropyl alcohol into your fuel tank, it will help to clean up your exhaust emmissions and get your car through the smog tests that most states currently use. Use two 16oz bottles for ten gallons of premium fuel.

===============

pour two litres of methyl hydrate into 1/2 tank of fuel

================

pour two quarts of pure denatured alcohol into 1/4 tank of fuel

===============

disconnect the harness from one injector. The engine will only run on 7 cylinders, but it will pump one cylinder worth of air into the exhaust on every cycle, which serves to dilute the mixture from the other cylinders.

===============

Change oil and leave it a quart low. New oil seals better and low level minimizes the chance of splash onto the cylinder walls. Burnt oil is another source of HC.

================

clean the engine. Burnt oil is another source of HC.

================

Change the engine oil just before you go to test. Fresh 20/50 seals better than any oil with 50 or more miles on it. The idea is to reduce hydrocarbons (HC),

================

leave the tank half full or less. The evap system can be overloaded with a full tank, increasing HC.


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Bring it in real hot from a highway run. The O2 and cat work best when hot and the throttle body is heated by engine coolant, pre-heating intake air.

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Drive it on the freeway for about 10 miles before you go to the test in order to be sure that the engine is at full operating temperature

================

put in the highest octane gas you can find, change the oil, and retard the timing slightly (3 deg).

================

Just before the smog test fill up with good winter "Arizona" gas. i.e. unoxgenated gas with enough volatility to easily ignite. ("Winter Gas" is more volatile then "Summer Gas".)

=================

Retard the ignition timing about 3 degrees to help reduce the NOX emissions.

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take out air filter

=================

Use a low-restriction air cleaner set. Hellings has one about 1/2" thick with metal wire for a filtering medium. It will only filter out large rocks, but it flows very freely.

=================

Run the fuel tank down as far as possible and refill it just before the test. Fuel has a â€***732;half-life' and it does not burn as well if it has been in the tank for 90 days or more

=================

Put in a new set of spark plugs, gapped.
Convert from carbon core ignition wires to the solid core (metal) type.

=================

Capped off PCV connection to manifold

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make sure the tires are inflated to MAX for the dyno test.

================

fuel cap sealing correctly

=================

blowby/crankcase fumes being re-ingested through the air cleaner and throwing the tailpipe readings way off. reroute the crankcase fumes out of the compartment via a "road draft tube"

=================

California now requires all vehicles 1996 and up, to communicate directly with the smog machine during the smog test. This is achieved via your vehicle's OBDII Data Link Connecter. As part of the smog inspection process, the smog technician will connect a Data Cable from the smog machine to your vehicle's OBDII Data Link Plug. This cable will deliver important "Check Engine" codes and "Readiness Flags" from the engine's computer system to the state's smog machine. Emissions related failure codes will cause your vehicle to fail the smog inspection. The failure codes will be printed on the Vehicle Inspection Report (VIR) which will be given to you by the smog station.

================

IF your CA car is required to go to a TEST-ONLY Station, and it fails, and your car qualifies, you must pay for the 1st $100 of diag and repairs with the State paying the next $500. To qualify, the car has to be yours, not in the process of being sold, a CA car, and it should be unmodified.

If you are low income, then you only have to pay the 1st $20.

========================================
http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/ftp/pdfforms/CAP_app.pdf

========================================



Emissions SMOG test coming up?

precautions i used to help a pass on my car ...

1. wrapped the cats with alum shields to keep them insulated and HOT ..
2. retarded ignition from spec by 3 degrees more...
3. ran a can of Prestone "Emissions reducer" per directions ...
3a. Cleaned the Throttle intake
4. inspected plugs, gapped to spec ...
5. inspected exh headers, gaskets, vac lines for proper conditions ...
6. ran the gas tank to near empty, added 4 gall of highest octane fuel (about 1/4 tank) AND
added 1or 2 qal of PURE choosen "Alternative Fuel additive" .. WOOOOOO .. THAT is a kick ...
7. drained and filled crankcase with FRESH heavy 40W oil & STP, BUT kept it one quart low to avoid "splashing" ...
8. drive wheel tire pressure set at rated tire max psi ...
9. "pulled" connector from A/C compressor ...
10. removed air filter
11. ran 10 miles on the FWY and kept engine running while waiting its turn for the test .. 20 min ...

she passed, well under the limits in every measured item including the high speed dyno test ..
she rans so clean you can sit behind the dual pipes and not smell anything ..


"Alternative Fuel - Methanol, denatured ethanol, and other alcohols; mixtures containing 85% or more by volume of methanol, denatured ethanol, and other alcohols with gasoline or other fuels; natural gas; liquefied petroleum gas; hydrogen; coal-derived liquid fuels; non-alcohol fuels (such as biodiesel) derived from biological material; and electricity. 'P-Series' fuels were added to this list since the original definition in EPAct. "

http://www.eere.energy.gov/cleanciti...s/glossary.cgi


hardware stores like home depot sell "denatured alcohol" by the gallon can.. that is what i used.


note:
none of this is a recomendation and it is only provided as a "report" of how my car passed.

just remembered that i added a fuel system cleaner to the tank of gas in the car at the moment... would that cause it to fail do to everything it is removing from the fuel system?

just remembered that i added a fuel system cleaner to the tank of gas in the car at the moment... would that cause it to fail do to everything it is removing from the fuel system?


also how would i go about cleaning the throttle position sensor? it doesnt seem like somthing that would even get dirty

Unlikely.. but these days who knows..
Run 91 octane or better.. no 87 octane blend crap.

To clean out the caramelized crap in the fuel system..
I used to throw a whole can of the OriGinal Berryman B-12 Chemtool in a half tank
and go on a "spirited" drive until I had about a quarter tank, then run as normal.

I dont dig the little plastic bottles of it..
And when it has "fuel treatment" or some marketing catchphrase on it..
like this..

I dont buy..

Gramps used this..
swore by it..
in my experience, It works.

this is the stuff.. excuse the stock pic.. i stole it from le intersweb.


If you clean the throttle body real good.. you'll see a little hole packed with crap..
linky linky

today i ran the car for a bit to try and clean it out, ran at idle for about 20 minutes, then used a zip tie to hold the throttle at 600 rpms for 20 minutes then 900rpms for 20 minutes. during the last 20 minute strech the check engine light came on and turned off as soon as i cut the zip tie. i then reved up the engine a few times taking it to 5kish a few time and the check engine light also came on at high rpms and went back off when it dropped

i did clean the maf further whith a quetip but still cant understand why i would clean the throttle position sensor. unless im missing somthing...

fishsticks..

stomp test?
Any codes coming back?

ICV been cleaned? replaced? looked at?

Cant do a stomp test because i have an m44 OBD11 engine and cant use my OBD11 reader because the car is not set of with a plug being that its a 94

dammit..

Ok.. well it sounds like your car is pitching between running lean & rich..
Which makes me want to check your 02 sensors..
Are they plugged in correctly?
Are they BMW or Acme Co?

do i have two o2 sensors? i just see the one. i will work on cleaning the connector.

You got me a little fckered on the OBD1/2..

OBD1 has one.. (pre-cat)
OBD2 has two.. (pre-cat/post-cat)

If you have two connectors for 02 sensors.. and one isnt connected.. like a pre-cat/post-cat
Or if you have the wrong 02 sensor plugged into the wrong spot..

I dont know the specifics of your swap.. but I'd like to think something is just being overlooked..

im previous posts ive listed all the ****ed up work the guy who did the swap did. %75 of the stuff ive done is fixing his **** work. i have the m44 engine from a 1997 318is and the car is a 94. pre 95 use obd1 and post 95 use obd11. that being said i cant do the stomp test and i cant check codes with an ob11 code reader becasue a 94 does not have a plug for it. i only have a pre cat oxygen sensor.

You've done a very intense job sorting out all the fckups.

Possible you have a wrong sensor?
Or inferior sensor?

its possiable.

i took her back to deq today and got it down from

320 / 2.4 at idle to
247 / 0.8 at idle

392 / 4.0 at 2.5k to
318 / 2.7 at 2.5k

by cleaning the MAF again, cleaning the TOB, cleaning the IAC and letting the car run for a while over the past two days.

oh and i took a video but cant find my cable to upload it... as i was in line at deq every 30-40 seconds the check engine light would come on and would turn right off once reved from 1.2-1.5k rpms and stayed off for about 30 seconds

Looks like you're perseverance is paying off.

Those are good numbers..

yes but prior to the new hoses, fuel filter, exhaust gasket, and the fuel system cleaner it was at

hydrocarbons / carbon monoxide

238 / 0.8


passing is 220 / 1.0

Take another peek at those emission tips..

ahem.. re: fuel system cleaner..
"at the pump pour the bottle then fill tank .. in this initial tank,
emissions may increase as Fuel system cleaner works to remove deposits and expel via the exhaust
.. ran until tank is near empty .. refill tank ..
DO NOT perform emissions test until 2nd or third tank where the emissions benefits will show ....."

cel flashing like that is maf

haha your confusing the poo poo outa me. when i said, " i added fuel system cleaner to the tank of gas that is in the car at the moment. could this cause worse emmisions?" you said "unlikely but who knows"


The MAF huh? cleaning it seemed to make 0 difference so i had my suspensions, could that cause the poor emissions too?