Please Help - Car Failed Test

[TMM986]

If your code reader indicated that the 02 sensor that was out of spec was "Bank 1" I believe that is the passenger side exhaust path, cylinders 1-3. You could try swapping sensors on that side and see if it helps.

http://mike.focke.googlepages.com/whatcylinderiswhere%3F


I would still recommend replacing all the 02 sensors for new OEM ones though. Think of it as being similar to only replacing one spark plug - might help a bit, but not as reliable as replacing all at the same time.

[Gent]

I've gotten a few old stinky cars through Aircare with the following cheat:

- Buy a small bottle of methyl hydrate. Typically sold as a one tank shot in 125 ml doses as fuel line antifreeze.

- wait until your tank is nearly empty. Add the stuff, put in 5 l of chevron or Mohawk 94 octane.

- give the car an Italian tune-up to get it nice and hot.

- go through aircare. Pass. Quickly fill up the tank. Methyl hydrate can be rough on the internals in high concentrations, so dilute it with a full tank asap.

[angman]

TMM986: I will eventually order a new MAF and new O2 sensors as well. I just want something temporarily help me pass my inspection first.

Gent: I'll try that tomorrow before going for the inspection.

[Cloudsurfer]

What exactly does methyl hyrdate do in this case? States where I've been smogged in have only read out the OBDII codes, and so long as you aren't throwing any, you pass.

[Gent]

Methyl hydrate simply burns very cleanly - it combusts leaving only CO2 and H20. By adding it in high concentrations to decent fuel, you automatically improve your emissions. Too high, and you may have trouble running properly without adding nitrous, lol.

Aircare in BC sticks a sniffer up your tailpipe and measures the chemical parts per million coming out the tailpipe on a rolling road. They have a list of acceptable measurements for all the vehicle makes and models by year of production.

The downside is that it is corrosive to alluminum in the long term. Safe enough for a quick test, but not something you want to run every day.

edit: Mohawk/Husky 93/94 octane also has 10 % ethanol, which helps in similar fashion...