Can a fuel filter cause bad emissions????????

I just moved to California 2 months ago. My plates and safety inspection will expire in 2 months, so now I have to get a "Smog Check" here in Ca but for some reason my car failed twice. It is a 94 New Yorker with 160,000 mil. The first time, I removed the cone air filter I had, and installed the stock air box thinking that would solve the problem. It did not. I have not changed the fuel filter in about 2 years, but the car is running fine. Can that still be causing the bad emissions? Thanks.

Reply to
Jp
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A partially clogged fuel filter will only be evident under high fuel demand situations, i.e., accelerating. The emissions checks do not put the engine in a high fuel demand situation. When you say that the car is running OK, I assume that means also when accelerating in normal driving, therefore it is doubtful that the fuel filter is restricting fuel in a way that would affect the smog check results.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

No, the fuel filter isn't causing your emission failure. It's some other example of your gross neglect that's doing it.

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Have the spark plugs ever been replaced on the car?

Reply to
Art

How about checking junkyards for converters.

Reply to
Art

In the U.S., it is a violation of federal law to sell (or buy?) a used catalytic converter. Many (most) junk yards have some government sign (or commercial sign quoting from the regulation) hanging on the wall of their counter area explaining, so that when some customer gets irrate that the yard refuses to sell them a cat, all the counter guy has to do is point at the sign.

Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my adddress with the letter 'x')

Reply to
Bill Putney

Has your muffler been replaced lately? A new muffler can sometimes cause problems in the test.

Reply to
Art

Check for fault codes in you engine controller. Probally, your oxygen sensor is bad.

Reply to
Peter

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