OK so I failed my etest due to high NOX, which was partially my fault for putting too much NAPTHA in the tank, but according to the plugs I was running lean. Now I know the Naptha made the combustion chamber way too hot, so the lean condition on the plugs could be from that, but would running too much Naptha for a few minutes cause the plugs to look like this so quickly?

Car ran great before and after the Naptha, starts a little better now with new plugs. The plugs in the motor were iridium and the tips were melted down as well, I replaced with copper plugs. Also the plug closest to the distributer had quite a bit of oil around the threads, and the PCV looks pretty clogged. I put a new PCV in as well as a new CAT. I filled the tank up with gas to help dilute the Naptha.

What else could be my lean issue? No sign of pre-ignition (detonation), car ran smooth. The EGR tube looks rather new and so does the EGR valve itself, the sticker on the top of the EGR looks real new, although not sure if it was replaced or not, have to call my dad who owned the car before me to check if it was replaced or not.

Vacuum lines look fine as well, going to the EGR.

Pics show the PCV and the plugs from left to right as if your looking at the motor. The far right is the plug closest to the distributer.

 

Had my etest redone and the car failed even worse, the HC are higher then before and thats with the new PCV, which is suppose to reduce HC's. The new cat didn't help the NOX it was higher as well, I am thinking the Colemans Fuel actually did help, it made the NOX lower but not low enough. I am thinking my problem MUST be the EGR.

I tested the EGR valve today and it works properly when I manually apply vacuum, so I am now going to check the vacuum modulator and the VSV, hopefully its on of those two, I don't see what else it could be. If the EGR is working, it must not be getting vacuum to actually open during the etest.

 

The link below provides a good understanding of the causes of high emissions and what to check.

http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h56.

The plugs would typically look white or gray white.

For the plug with the oil around the threads check for oil in the spark plug tube. Sometimes the tube seal at the base or gasket at the top can leak.

The EGR system does not work when the engine is at idle, cold, full throttle, etc.

You might ask your dad if did any modifications, etc to the engine, exhaust, etc.

I have sent a link in a private message to provide more test info.

 

The car has had the exhaust replaced new from Toyota, not crappy exhaust shop pipe, so thats all good, the flex pipe has a very minor leak but I fixed that so thats not an issues.

I removed the EGR tonight because when I removed the lower vacuum hose I noticed that tube was completely clogged solid, the vacuum hose was clogged too, I blew it out with compressed air, and removed the EGR to clean it. The opening into the intake was about 75% CLOGGED as well. The car seems to come back down to idle real quick now, if you give it some gas in PARK it revs up but comes back down real fast and smooth, not sure if thats new, but I don`t remember it being that smooth before.

I still want to check the VSV to make sure its sending vacuum to the EGR when its suppose to. The darn thing is at the back of the motor in a very hard to get at spot, very nice. Seems like I am making progress though, I hope.

Also the filter in the EGR Modulator was dirty so I cleaned it, but the filter looks pretty bad all around, very stiff and squished on one side, how vital is this filter to the operation of the EGR, can I remove it temporarily? I put it back in for now.

From my reading it looks like the bottom chamber of the EGR modulator determines how much vacuum to apply to the EGR based on how much backpressure its reading, since it was clogged it was obviously not getting nay back pressure, could this be the main issue possibly? Its no longer clogged but I want to check all possibilities before I attempt another etest.

 

The modulator can (diaphragm inside) is vented to the air, the filter keeps out debris. Having the filter off for a short period of time should be OK.

 

is there any way to test the VSV voltage other then at the VSV driectly? Its in such a hard place to get at on the 2.2L, I was wondering how I would check the voltage?

 

I can't think of a way to do this.

The computer monitors the electric current flow through the solenoid coil inside the VSV. Too much (a short) or too little (an open circuit) and the CEL will trip.

Can you do the vacuum test as described in the link?

 

yeah I am going to do the vacuum test which should be good enough, was going to do it last night but didn't get a chance, hopefully tonight. The vacuum test should tell me if its working or not, but if its not working I wanted to test the voltage to see whats going on as well.

 

If you have a wiring diagram you can check for voltage at the computer wire plug.

 

ok I did the vacuum test and the EGR seems to be opperating correctly. No vacuum when cold, a little vacuum when warmed up and when the R port has direct vacuum I see lots of vacuum at 2500 rpm just like the manual says I should so thats good. I am also getting 19 inches of vac at idle so doesn't look like any leaks. Looks like the plugged hose may have been the problem. Hopefully she passes the etest this time.

Still want to verify the timing first, trying to get my hands on a timing light to check the timing, still haven't found out of the timing is adjustible on this motor or not. Looks like there is an adjustment bolt on the distributor, any idea's?

Also what should the timing be set at anyways?

When I did the test and had the TE1 and E1 connected the Check Engine light flashed a code 31, but the Check Engine light doesn't come on, I assume this is a stored code? Not an actual current code correct?