Okay, So I bought my first 4Runner, 1991 and I took it in to be inspected. The inspection guy said it failed. He presents me with a few pages and tells me that the HC reading is toooo high, standard is in the 150ish mine was at 800ish, not good. He then tells me that I need a new muffler and pipe and that it will cost 270+... at this point I'm a deer in the headlights, I have no idea what he's talking about. When I ask about the possible cause of the High HC reading he says that he is not certain and that a diagnostic would have to be run, which costs $100. So, I call O'Reilly for a pricing on a muffler and a pipe and the assembly and he says that the parts are special order. He then tells me about a muffler shop down the road that is cheaper and that is where most of the clients go and that they are really quick. So he gives me their number and I call and ask about the muffler and he tells me that it will be $120 all inclusive! He also says that tops it would be about an hour. The Inspection guy wanted me to leave my car overnight...

So, does that happen alot or was I getting ripped-off?

If you don't believe the tech, take it to another place and have them run the same diagnostics and compare the results. The muffler and pipe should have no bearing on the emissions of the vehicle. Now if your catalytic (CAT is a common abbreviation_ converter is going bad or is bad, then that will affect emissions.

The inspection tech may be getting a kickback from the muffler shop for every "client" he sends over. It's the same thing with getting a home inspection. The inspector finds all these "faults" and offers to fix them himself or "knows a guy"...

Now of course, the tech may be completely on the up and up but you should always know both sides of the coin...

I agree. that tech is full of it. there is no possible way the muffler would cause a reading that high for hc. My truck failed emissions at about 600 and i went and replaced the cap, rotor, and spark plugs for about $40 and went back for a retest. when i got there, the guy told me i still wasn't going to pass. when i asked him why he said the timing was off and he could hear it missing. I listened closer and i noticed he was right and adjusted the distributor and got my truck to pass with a 36. Moral of the story: get your truck as far away from that mechanic as you can as fast as you can. You may not have the same problem I had, but just listen to the exhaust and if you hear it every once in a while go "puttt", then your truck might be missing. Also when it misses, it should jerk the engine. If you feel comfortable with light wrenching I encourage you to try to replace the spark plugs first because they are only $4.

I don't know how it is in texas, but in VA, state inspectors are covered by the state troopers. I would go to them and tell them your story and see if they will send a trooper back to the shop with your truck to see if the inspectoin comes out the same.

Here's a thought. I've heard that catalytic converters work most efficiently when the engine is hot. Maybe someone can verify this since it's here'say on my part.

Try getting the engine up to normal temp and then have them put the sniffer on.

There's one of my hair-brained ideas for you.

not hair brained this is true the hot cat burns better, always make sure she is warmed up before inspection.


Mike

yeah take it somewhere else, and most mechanics that do the inspections i work with have a good idea what would be causing the failure of the cars they're working on. he shouldnt need to use a diagnostic machine.

oh and run it nice and hot before the test and tell them not to put the huge fan on it

goodluck