Questions and Answers

Failed Emission Test Q. Hi, My 1990 Ford Crown Victoria 5.0 liter failed the Air Care test due to high hydrocarbons 126 PPM at idle. A pass is 82 PPM. All other parts of the test were passes. My mechanic said it needs new cats. They are very expensive!!!! Worth more than half the value of the car. I'd like to get one more year out of it, it has 203,000 kms (126,500 miles).

There are two cats with their outlets going into a Y-pipe and then one pipe into a single muffler. To avoid the expense of removing and replacing the old cats, could I install one cat just after the Y-pipe? It would only be 22" from the outlet of the existing cats, so it would get a fair amount of heat.

Brian

A. I can't advise you to modify the emission system of your car. If caught, you can be fined up to $10,000.00 and that is something that is checked for at inspections.

I can tell you this. A lot of times if a emission test is done after a car has been idling for a while, the cats cool off and load up with a small amount of fuel. Running the engine at about 2,000 rpm will heat the converters up and clear them out, resulting in a proper reading.

In New Jersey, speaking from personal experience, most of the cars going to a State inspection station failed the emission test because they sat and idled for so long waiting in line. NJ recognized this and started allowing a retest after a short drive and cars that failed 15 minutes before, passed with flying colors. Cars that went to private inspection stations did not have this problem.

I don't know how it is done in Canada, but maybe this is the solution to your problem since you are not that far over and could very well be the problem.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA