My 240 , when smog testing, won't maintain a speed of 15 miles an hour in 2nd gear. Any theories?

 

What do you mean by "won't maintain"? The engine doesn't make enough power?

 

I saw the smog 'machine' and it had to maintain a speed of 15 mph. It would drop to 14.2,14.5,etc. It would not 'maintain' a speed of 15mph, when given gas.

 

Plain and simple, your not passing the test in first gear. The test has to reach second gear and a speed of 25MPH. For the DOHC engines you must maintain a BTDC of between 17~23BTDC anything else wont pass and isn't smogable.

I just took my test, my hydro carbon levels were to high at 1746RPM in second gear, I know the smog tech guy so he slammed my car into 3rd and I passed. Slamming it into 3rd is illegal, but what the machine doesn't know won't hurt it....LOL
My hydro carbons were high because I didn't adjust the cams, I just advanced my distributor at 23BTDC, I may just infact put it back to 20BTDC. The earlier detonation changes the vacuum intake to the engine so the engine actually gets less air. Thats why my hydro carbons were too high.

 

Wow, thanks, very informative.
I'm trying to get everything together for a tune-up. I'm waiting to order ngk wires. I plan to seafoam my ride and put in the new plugs/wires/ o2 sensor. i plan to seafoam the intake/gas. Hopefully this does the trick. Should I change out my distributor cap? Will this pretty much fix the problem.

 

I don't know if it will fix your problem, but it is a start. You should defenitely change your distributor cap when ever you change your wires, and plugs.

 

I am a noob so my question is, are all 240's smog problems? I want to buy one and use it as a project car and put some turbo on the KA engine. I was just wondering if they are a pain to smog because I don't know any smoggers who would help me out and pass.

 

Mine had smog problems ROFL! Yeah they are infamous for not passing...Uhh...if you turbo it it wont pass AT ALL turbos are not legal unless its a Greddy kit which is CARB exempt for now.

 

Thanks for the reply fast! Maybe I will stick to fixing up the KA with N/a first and then think about turbo later.

Will most newer models like the '96-98 smog better since they are slightly newer? Or do they have similar smog problems as the older models?

 

Smogging the KA is easy. More than likely if you are up to date on your electrical tune up and the the ecu isn't throwing codes you should pass with no problems. Like I said I knew the guy at the smog shop, technically I shouldn't of passed but we both understood that I just advanced the timing 3degress from the stock 20BTDC. OBD 1 is easier and cheaper to maintain than OBD 2....

 

I passed smog with no problems!!!!!!!!!
It turns out it was my o2 sensor. I changed out my spark plugs with new NGK's. I seafoamed the gastank, crankcase, and intake. A sh_tload of whitesmoke came out when I took it for a test run after I seafoamed my coupe! It was pretty funny. I replaced my old o2 sensor with a new bosch from napa. I also got a oil change with castrol for a sweet hook-up price! I'm still waiting on aurora plugwires, then I'll be set. My car also doesn't 'choke' between 2k & 3k.

Mind you I have minimal mechanic experience, and had to buy new tools, cause I didn't have any. You can do it too!

NGK plugs: $8
33 piece tool set: $30
Bosch o2 sensor: $32
o2 sensor remover tool: $15
3/8-1/2 wratchet head adapter: $5
Castrl oil: $15/5 qts.
bosch oil filter: $5
Seafoam: $12/ 2 bottles
Z32oem fuel filter upgrade: $12
New tank of gas: $40 California
Numerous trips to autozone and club240/********.

Fixing my car and passng smog myself: priceless

Thanks for all your help guys!