I just had my 1986 740 wagon smog tested (California) after receiving a notice to have it tested at a "test-only" center. I think I read on one of the forms related to the notice that this make/model is designated by the state as having a "High Emissions Profile" and I assume that's why the test had to be performed at a test-only center.
Unfortunately the car, which I'd just had repaired (something very minor) by a Volvo specialist just before the test, and which my mechanic said was in suprisingly good mechanical condition, failed the test.
At my mechanic's suggestion I then had the oil changed and a "3-step" fuel injection service done (not by the mechanic mentioned above but elsewhere as he'd recommended, so he had no financial incentive for recommending it) andthen drive it 50-60 miles to see if that would improve the car's performance on a re-test.
Again, however, the car failed and is deemed a "gross polluter," which means I have a couple of months more to get it serviced somehow so that it can pass the next smog test or else . . . I won't be able to register/drive the car in California any more!
As I write this I'm looking at the results printout of the 2nd test and here are the results:
at 15 mph: CO2 % as measured: 14.11 O2 % as measured: 0.48 HC (PPM): 113 (maximum is 133) CO %: 0.73 as measured (maximum is 0.82) NO (PPM): 1794 as measured (maximum is 1125) RESULTS: FAIL
at 25 mph: CO2 %: 12.96 as measured O2 %: 1.55 as measured HC (PPM): 183 as measured (108 is maximum) CO %: 1.02 (0.62 is maximum) NO (PPM): 2005 (maximum is 955) RESULTS: GROSS POLLUTER
As can bee seen from the above, a big area in which the car is failing is in NO, which at 25 mph is actually double of the maximum allowed.
I would love to hear from anyone who's familiar with ways to get old cars such as my 1986 Volvo to the point where they can pass stringent smog tests.
May I say in conclusion that I find it so very ironic that I, a U.S. citizen and professionally-trained licensed driver who has always been so meticulous about keeping his automobile insurance paid-up, his vehicle registration up-to-date and paid for etc. etc. as well as being an admitted "fanatic" about car safety {I drive a Volvo, don't I :-) } and would never, ever drive under the influence, am now under threat by the State of California for losing my means of transportation while, at the same time, literally millions of unlicensed, unregistered, uninsured and often drunk illegal aliens drive old beat up smoke-spewing cars unmolested by State officials. I'm all for clean air and for protecting the environment but why do those in power in government pick on ME while allowing all the illegal aliens to flagrantly break every law on the books about driving? It's unfair..