Stuck in smog hell :'(

[artemgzn]

Ugh, got a star smog notice with my registration renewal. Fine, take it in. 25MPH in the 700's but passed, 15MPH failed by just a little at around 525(max 512). Ran some gas cleaner, warm it up, changed oil not too long ago, same result.

F it, don't wanna deal with this, take it into dealership (i know). Pay an absurd amount for inspection, they say my A/F sensor is not putting out the correct volts and its dirty. Ok w/e, go and buy a denso A/F sensor and install myself. 25MPH still passes, but now the 15 is in the 900's...

Take it back to the dealer. They put in a new A/F sensor (340$ w/labor) and the guy calls me "Our dyno is broken so we can't check it, but it should pass now"... Haha.. ha..

Now my emissions are at 900's for both 15 and 25MPH test. Also the engine light never came on and all the codes were clear.

**side note: my cat was stolen maybe half a year ago, but i dont think that's the issue.

Anyone want a cheap 4runner....

 

[D Farms]

this is why i dont live in cali, and why I do all the work on my truck. take it back and make them fix the problem, they made you buy those parts because they said it would fix the problem, it clearly hasnt, so they essentially scammed you into buying parts you didnt need.

 

[02SE]

**side note: my cat was stolen maybe half a year ago, but i dont think that's the issue.

So are you saying that you currently don't have a Catalytic Convertor?

 

[artemgzn]

Lol, i have one. Just not oem anymore.

 

[JayRolla]

e85. We always passed flying colors no madder how bad the car was running.

 

[artemgzn]

Before i go make a scene at the dealership is it possible i haven't ran the car long enough? Looking through other posts/forums people say that after getting a new sensor the ecu needs to adjust to it.. I picked up my car on wed, and the only driving i did was to work that day and a few errands today before the smog test, under 20mi total. Im stupid, i picked it up on tue, drove around north of bay area for a while, went to work, back and then ran errands.. so more than 20mi

 

[nicolasballia]

I think you're supposed to reset the Ecu by disconnecting the battery; dos you , or the dealer do that?

 

[artemgzn]

I assumed the dealer would do that, but i just did it myself. Gonna drive it around for a week all over the place and use my my free smog retest, which will probably do nothing at all..

 

[ryandc]

I always hated California emissions BS when I lived there. I'm guessing you're now on inspection-only status, where you'd have to take it to an inspection-only station.

Couple things to try:
1) Change your plugs. This will only help on the margins, but it will help
2) Make sure you don't have any air leakage at all on your replacement cat.
3) Try the guaranteed-2-pass stuff that's sold at Autozone
4) Run some decent injector cleaner
5) You could (at least when I lived there) get an exemption on the smog crap if you could prove you'd spent at least $500 trying to get it fixed. Try that route, maybe?

Good luck. I've had to play the same game a few times. It sucks.