failed emission smog test saturn

1993 Saturn SW2 at 207k

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
04/20/04 .082/.129 .776/.837 (g) pass
12/22/03 1.99/.80 10.4/15.0 (gpm) fail
12/20/03 1.13/.80 11.5/15.0 (gpm) fail
09/09/03 2.55/.80 22.0/15.0 (gpm) fail
08/30/03 1.44/.80 11.8/15.0 (gpm) fail
12/28/01 0.368/0.706 5.288/5.702 (g) pass

Copywrite 2004 by Hardway Tony

 

207K Miles? Not surprising you'd have trouble passing emissions,
especially since your description would indicate a car that hasn't been
serviced properly. How about letting the service department at your
dealer have a look at it? Then at least you know that the mechanic
doing the work will have the proper tools and experience.

 

My confidence in Saturn's ability to built as good a car as the

At least the Saturn didn't burn up........

 

Do they exceed EPA emissions when they do?

 

LOL good question......probably would pass emissions if you put the sensor in
the exhaust pipe

 

It's about the only non plastic thing on a Saturn
I'm still thinking, when this thing finally dies (which, being a GM car,
means it'll die when the body rots away. Being plastic, this will take
forever), towing it to my friend's nice big 'property' finding a quiet
corner, and burning it down as an offering to the automotive gods....

 

It's about the only non plastic thing on a Saturn

Good excuse to drink beer

 

Only I don't drink beer. And I have a Harley. Which makes it doubly
weird, as I'm about the ONLY Harley rider I know who doesn't get
magically drawn to beer. All my friends do and it's &^%& annoying...

But yeah, cool explosions are....cool. We figure there's a lot of
potential here, but a remote initiator system will be needed so we can
detenate it in the valley and watch it from the deck.

 

Only I don't drink beer. And I have a Harley. Which makes it doubly

Interesting. A rare breed indeed......

uh huh huh, explosions are cool, yeah yeah.........

Fill that b*tch up with gas and let 'er rip!

 

I guzzle cherry/regular coke like crazy.

Anyway, they all hate me cause my bike's faster than theirs >

(95 inch motor, worked heads, cam, S&S, and all. I've embarressed a few
bigger bikes with it...)

WE've got a few ideas that might be worth trying.