Just barely passed CA Smog 2

...and your ignition timing is 5 degrees advanced from where it was 2 years ago. That'll do it.

DS

First things that leap out at me when comparing the two sets of results:

1) Why is the "new" timing 5 degrees ahead of the "old" timing? (7 degrees vs. 2 degrees). Fix that! 2) Idle/15MPH test is *SUPPOSED* to be done with the engine turning 850-950RPM - Why is the "new" test showing that they had the beast wound up to nearly 1900 - almost double the spec value??? The "old" test is showing well within spec. Slap the smog-tech! 3) The "cruise" test (What you're calling 25 MPH test) is supposed to be 2500RPM, not nearly 3K. Again, the "old" test is reasonably within spec. Slap the tech AGAIN.

Now, having said that... Check your air-diverter/anti-backfire valve on the air-injection system, and the vacuum plumbing that controls it. My '82 626 (2 liter, carb, no blower) went from almost triple the "gross polluter" number for its year in all categories, to less than 1/3 of allowable emissions when a cracked vacuum hose controlling the air diverter/anti-backfire valve was replaced. Although I rebuilt the carb three times, chasing the smog-tester's hunch that something was screwed up there (specifically, he thought I had a sunk float valve, plugged air bleed, and/or stuck-open power valve), I ended up making no improvement - I actually managed to make things *WORSE* on two of the rebuilds! But replacing that 10 inch length of vacuum hose with the inch long crack in it made a world of difference - WAY more than enough to get it out of the "Oh hell... I need to find an out-of-state buyer and unload this thing sometime yesterday!" range, and well into compliance.

Yes, the ignition timing is a red flag. But the real question is, exactly what is the timing? So I just did some research on timing lights, and about to go out and buy one. Now according to the official Mazda shop manual that I own, "initial ignition timing" is 2 degrees +- 1 degree BTDC. And that's done with the vacuum control disconnected, the 2 hoses to the vac control plugged, and a connector disconnected at the distributor. With the vacuum control re-connected, the timing should then be reading 7 degrees BTDC. Then the connector is reconnected to the distributor and the timing is complete. So it's possible that in 2002, the smog tech tested the timing by disconnecting the 2 systems mentioned above, and today they just tested the timing without disconnecting anything. So 2 degrees, 7 degrees, just don't know right now.

As for the 15MPH, 25MPH tests, I double checked the results, and I recorded the RPMs correctly. The car is a manual transmission, so perhaps the tech who tested the car doesn't know how to shift? Hey, what's a consumer to do? The place I took the car to in 2002 was shady. They made the car smoke real bad during the test, and said it might be a gross polluter. So I paid to have a pre-test done, which of course it passed, just like the actual test. So it's not that surprising to now hear that this new place is testing cars so that they'll get failures more often, which might translate into greater repair dollars for them.

Don Bruder wrote in news:V2FLb.7673$ snipped-for-privacy@typhoon.sonic.net:

snipped

Can't you tell the difference between a loaded mode test and a two speed idle test?

Better slap yourself.

Again, Can't you tell the difference between a loaded mode test and a two speed idle test?

Better slap yourself twice as hard. The testing RPM is within the allowable rpm window for each test mode.

Looking at the readings.. it *should of* failed for timing as well since the spec is 2 degrees ±1 degree. This enough to cause a NOx failure.

advanced way beyond specs will make a honda civic flunk for all quotes there is an equally opposite quote