failed emission smog test saturn

I am the kind of guy that likes to do things himself.

Two years ago after failing Illinois emission testing, I welded in a new after market catalytic converter for a total cost of $56. The old was was probably original and the ceramic was choked with black hard glazed on coating of crud. Not surprising since the car was run many miles with a burned exhaust valve and after rebuilding the engine had unwittingly switched the oxygen sensor and air conditioning clutch plugs which made the car run so rich that at times the exhaust had a black cloud. After a few thousand miles of trips to Minneapolis and back, I diagnosed my error. Needless to say the first emission test was off scale. The car finally squeaked by.

Last August I received the emission test notice. I mixed a 50-50 mixture of E85 ethanol and gas and drove an hour on the tollway. Supremely confident in my ability to oxidize the fuel, I was dismayed when the car fail hydrocarbons. Carbon monoxide was acceptable. A month later with regular fuel and a 15 minute drive the car failed both HC and CO with readings twice as high. In December with the sawzall, I cut out the converter and replaced it with a fresh one from Farm and Fleet. It didn't look bad inside. An hour ride on the tollway and the test readings were essentially the same as the first test, failing on hydrocarbons.

My confidence in Saturn's ability to built as good a car as the Japanese was broken. I never had a emission problem with the old Honda. It was a _____ to replace struts on it though, as the bolt heads snap off and two hours each in drilling it out. Too bad it caught fire and burnt up. After an 8 hour drive to Minneapolis on the interstate, sometimes in the exit ramp I would see a wisp of oil smoke in back of the Saturn. When I replaced the exhaust manifold with factory headers, one port had an oily deposit. Auto Machine Inc. in St Charles did the valve job on the head. His original quote was $220, which I thought was high. The last time I did a valve job, it was $50 on a 72 Datsun 1200. Times had changed. When I went to pick up the head he told me it was $420 because it took longer than he thought. If there had been any Saturns in the junk yard I would have let him keep the head. There were stacks of dusty heads in the shop, so this must have been a regular occurrence. I was in a bind, so I argued from the point that I was not my fault that he did not have the proper tools to do the job. The price was $330. Anyway I think he left out one valve stem seal and that is the cause of all my trouble. I changed the oil with 20w-50. I plugged the air inlet to the crank case, causing the PVC to pump a vacuum and suck back in any oil dripping down the valve guide. Yesterday The car passed after a 45 minute drive, with 2.24 times lees HC than the best previous test. The moral of the story:

SATURN OWNERS: CHANGE YOUR OIL AND DRIVE AN HOUR BEFORE EMISSION TESTING.

Oil aborbes hydrocarbons in the engine and the tiny droplets release them when heated by exhaust gases, which then are tallied as a no-go.

Test results reading/standard

Date HC CO

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