Date:         Fri, 19 Jul 2013 13:14:36 -0700
Reply-To:     David M <covrambles@YAHOO.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David M <covrambles@YAHOO.COM>
Subject:      Failed emissions for third time
In-Reply-To:  <51DB1095.5020204@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

I posted a while back about my 1987 Vanagon failing the AZ emissions on CO and NOX levels.
The place I took it to said it was running rich and they adjusted the timing and mixture. Then they told me to drive it 50-75 miles on the freeway to 'clean out the exhaust'. Well I did that and took it back in and they put it on their exhaust analyser. They said it should pass now so I had it retested (free) and it failed on CO and NOX again. CO and NOX were down slightly but still over limit. I took it back in and the guy was tinkering with it for about an hour on the exhaust analyser. I saw him test the levels before the cat and after the cat. The only tool I saw him carrying was a screwdriver. He said he had adjusted the 'AFM' and now it was running much better. he then asked me what fuel I used and I said 87 octane (as the owners manual states), he said I should be using premium and asked me to go fill up the tank with premium. $45 later I came back and he used the exhaust analyser again and then said 'it should pass now'. So off to the testing
 station again (another $30 fee this time). Needless to say it failed again, the CO was down a little bit more than before but the NOX was higher than the previous two tests. I left the van with the guy to work on some more. This all took up my entire Friday morning.

At this point I am faced with deciding what to do. Do I keep the van or junk it or maybe sell it to someone who lives in a non-emissions county or state. This van has been my primary transport for over 15 years. The cat is 4 years old but is a generic cat that was welded onto the muffler. I'd like to replace the entire cat and muffler with proper parts and that would probably get the NOX level down but I'm not sure that would affect the CO. But I cannot afford to pay this guy to do that as he will charge an arm and a leg. This vehicle is old enough to qualify for classic plates that do not require an emissions test, but you have to have classic insurance. I cannot get that because they require you to own a newer vehicle as your primary transportation.


David (1987 Wolfsburg)





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