need advice on passing e-test

[6speed]

okay, i just failed my e-test today, but not by much, i failed coz high CO% while it's running, the limit is 0.37, and the reading was 0.41, this is what i did before the test, oil change, changed spark plugs, cleaned the pcv, adjusted my timing, 20L of 94octane gas from sunoco with fuel injector cleaner, half an hour of driving on highway before testing.
what else do i need to lower CO%? I heard adding alcohol, methanol should help, as well as run open air filter box, any other suggestions? thanks.

[D-3vil]

Try using SeaFoam ... http://www.seafoamsales.com/motorTuneUpTechGas.htm

Costs $9/can at PartSource.

[Sonbuster]

okay, i just failed my e-test today, but not by much, i failed coz high CO% while it's running, the limit is 0.37, and the reading was 0.41, this is what i did before the test, oil change, changed spark plugs, cleaned the pcv, adjusted my timing, 20L of 94octane gas from sunoco with fuel injector cleaner, half an hour of driving on highway before testing.
what else do i need to lower CO%? I heard adding alcohol, methanol should help, as well as run open air filter box, any other suggestions? thanks.


i've said it before and i'll say it again. E-tests are gay. let's go egg the parliment building.

[jdmkidd]

drive on the highway for a good hour.

[ynot]

Agree with :arrowu:

My mechanic has told me to wrong the car for at least 30 minutes before going for the test and then not to let it sit too long.

[DragonZealot]

okay, i just failed my e-test today, but not by much, i failed coz high CO% while it's running, the limit is 0.37, and the reading was 0.41, this is what i did before the test, oil change, changed spark plugs, cleaned the pcv, adjusted my timing, 20L of 94octane gas from sunoco with fuel injector cleaner, half an hour of driving on highway before testing.
what else do i need to lower CO%? I heard adding alcohol, methanol should help, as well as run open air filter box, any other suggestions? thanks.

You pretty much did everything that make sense. Are you failing on 2500 rpm only or both on idle and 2500rpm? Would be easier if you can post the complete results.

One more thing you can try is the air filter. A clogged air filter will cause lack of oxygen and thus high CO.

I also read (can not confirm) advancing the ignition timing will reduce CO by giving the mixture more time to burn and at a higher temp. However NOx will go up at the same time. Also most newer cars ignition timing are not adjustable because the computer controls the ignition advance.

Other culprits are O2 sensor and catalytic converter. You need to hook up an OBDII computer to confirm.

If you don't want to send you car to the shop and your car is older than 5 years I suggest replace the O2 sensor and the air filter and then send it in for retest.

[longo]

drive on the highway for a good hour.

In a lower gear. I heard if you drive your engine hard (but not too hard), then when you go in for the test, you'll crush it. Also, i heard filling up with an ethanol fuel (? McEwan Gas station) helps a lot too.

[hightech]

okay, i just failed my e-test today, but not by much, i failed coz high CO% while it's running, the limit is 0.37, and the reading was 0.41, this is what i did before the test, oil change, changed spark plugs, cleaned the pcv, adjusted my timing, 20L of 94octane gas from sunoco with fuel injector cleaner, half an hour of driving on highway before testing.
what else do i need to lower CO%? I heard adding alcohol, methanol should help, as well as run open air filter box, any other suggestions? thanks.

well running higher octane in an engine not designed for it, can cause weird test results as well.

I just make sure the car is well warmed up. What I do is drive from Pickering to Oshawa and back down to the test facility and have them test it right away. The engine is at its best when warmed up over a nice trip.

So far my vehicles have shown very low values for driveclean and pass by a HUGE margin. I believe my values were. 0.10 for these values. Not sure if this makes a difference, but I run Mobil 1 5W30 year round in the cars.

[achc]

make sure engine is fully heated up, and give it some ultra 94 (if possible 98) fuel

[masterballer]

make sure engine is fully heated up, and give it some ultra 94 (if possible 98) fuel

there is no need for that...89 will do the same result as 94 if all other variables remain constant.

[masterballer]

make sure engine is fully heated up, and give it some ultra 94 (if possible 98) fuel

there is no need for that...89 will do the same result as 94 if all other variables remain constant.

Assuming the car takes regular

[achc]

there is no need for that...89 will do the same result as 94 if all other variables remain constant.

Assuming the car takes regular

I ran 87 on an 17 year old car and it failed. Gave it 94 and passed

[Impala]

i've said it before and i'll say it again. E-tests are gay. let's go egg the parliment building.


Most people don’t but should realize that those test are in place for a good reason.

6speed did the drive clean place give you any suggestions? Maybe you should have a mechanic look at it. You should strive for passing results whenever driving not just during the test in order to reduce emissions blah blah blah…

[nepean19]

There is this stuff at Canadian tire that guarantees a pass. You just pour it into your gas tank, drive around at high speeds for about 15 minutes and you'll pass. I did it a few years ago with my car. The guys at the shop told me about it after I failed. They were shocked when they saw the numbers on the 2nd test. The manager actually called in all his mechanics to look at the results. Hope this helps.

[mau108]

There is this stuff at Canadian tire that guarantees a pass. You just pour it into your gas tank, drive around at high speeds for about 15 minutes and you'll pass. I did it a few years ago with my car. The guys at the shop told me about it after I failed. They were shocked when they saw the numbers on the 2nd test. The manager actually called in all his mechanics to look at the results. Hope this helps.



its probably a very high concentration of methal hydrate. I read on another forum that there is a way you could pass emissions by running purely on methal hydrate

Drive your car until the tank is empty as possible (after the light has come on, id drive another 15 km's) Buy some methal hydrate from Home Depot and pour it in the gas tank (the whole thing), go for a quick run and warm up the cat (highway is best) and then go do the etest, should pass.

Right when your done the etest, head out to a gas station and fill up with either regular or mid grade gas and run that 2 times and go back to what you usually doo (just dont pump gas at Sunoco as it already has a small concentration)

If you leave that methal hydrate in the tank for too long it will start eating at all rubber lining and fuel lines etc...but do this at your own risk, google the procedure and see how it helps out.

peace!

[6speed]

soafoam didn't work for me, i tried that yesterday and failed again, i even took a longer trip before testing this time, but it didn't lower the CO%(0.42 this time). i was gonna try mixing alcohol with fuel, but just afraid to cause damages to the car..

[6speed]

You pretty much did everything that make sense. Are you failing on 2500 rpm only or both on idle and 2500rpm? Would be easier if you can post the complete results.

One more thing you can try is the air filter. A clogged air filter will cause lack of oxygen and thus high CO.

I also read (can not confirm) advancing the ignition timing will reduce CO by giving the mixture more time to burn and at a higher temp. However NOx will go up at the same time. Also most newer cars ignition timing are not adjustable because the computer controls the ignition advance.

Other culprits are O2 sensor and catalytic converter. You need to hook up an OBDII computer to confirm.

If you don't want to send you car to the shop and your car is older than 5 years I suggest replace the O2 sensor and the air filter and then send it in for retest.



i failed the running part only, which is running on 2500rpm. air filter was replaced as well. Yeah, you're right, mechanic did suggest to replace the O2 sensor.

[6speed]

Most people don’t but should realize that those test are in place for a good reason.

6speed did the drive clean place give you any suggestions? Maybe you should have a mechanic look at it. You should strive for passing results whenever driving not just during the test in order to reduce emissions blah blah blah…

Mechanic suggested to replace O2 sensor and the cat which is a total BS to me, he also wanted me to pay the diagnose fee(about $70) for a complete check which is another bs, i'll just have my private mechanic check it for free. As soon as i heard the diagnose fee, i just grabbed my key and left without looking back.

(oh yeah, i do think the etest has gone from saving the environment to money grab from the government and the auto industry.)

[6speed]

There is this stuff at Canadian tire that guarantees a pass. You just pour it into your gas tank, drive around at high speeds for about 15 minutes and you'll pass. I did it a few years ago with my car. The guys at the shop told me about it after I failed. They were shocked when they saw the numbers on the 2nd test. The manager actually called in all his mechanics to look at the results. Hope this helps.



saw that at CT as well, the instruction mentioned something like using it ONE week before the testing. Looks like it's still worth a try for me, thanks for that.

[6speed]

its probably a very high concentration of methal hydrate. I read on another forum that there is a way you could pass emissions by running purely on methal hydrate

Drive your car until the tank is empty as possible (after the light has come on, id drive another 15 km's) Buy some methal hydrate from Home Depot and pour it in the gas tank (the whole thing), go for a quick run and warm up the cat (highway is best) and then go do the etest, should pass.

Right when your done the etest, head out to a gas station and fill up with either regular or mid grade gas and run that 2 times and go back to what you usually doo (just dont pump gas at Sunoco as it already has a small concentration)

If you leave that methal hydrate in the tank for too long it will start eating at all rubber lining and fuel lines etc...but do this at your own risk, google the procedure and see how it helps out.

peace!

have you tried it be4? how much should i dump into the gas tank?

[josipm]

There is this stuff at Canadian tire that guarantees a pass. You just pour it into your gas tank, drive around at high speeds for about 15 minutes and you'll pass. I did it a few years ago with my car. The guys at the shop told me about it after I failed. They were shocked when they saw the numbers on the 2nd test. The manager actually called in all his mechanics to look at the results. Hope this helps.


HOw long after you failed did you use that stuff and then redo the test?

[josipm]

Mechanic suggested to replace O2 sensor and the cat which is a total BS to me, he also wanted me to pay the diagnose fee(about $70) for a complete check which is another bs, i'll just have my private mechanic check it for free. As soon as i heard the diagnose fee, i just grabbed my key and left without looking back.

(oh yeah, i do think the etest has gone from saving the environment to money grab from the government and the auto industry.)

THe o2 sensor and cat would lower your NO not so much your CO.

[DragonZealot]

THe o2 sensor and cat would lower your NO not so much your CO.

O2 sensor will affect CO for sure because it controls the air/fuel ratio.

Cat will reduce CO by burning it up and to some extend reduce NOx.

[DragonZealot]

i failed the running part only, which is running on 2500rpm. air filter was replaced as well. Yeah, you're right, mechanic did suggest to replace the O2 sensor.

For about $100 I think it is worthwhile to give it a try. If your private mechanic can hook up the OBDII tool he can tell the performance of the O2 sensor(s) and cat.

[josipm]

I just failed my test the other week and had high NO. I changed the O2 sensor and my NO dropped by 400 points and I passed. I changed the sensor myself.


My CO ratings didn't change that much.


Now I am not saying that the O2 sensor would not lower the CO, what I am saying is what I did worked for me.


I say change your spark plugs.. if it is a japanese car use NGK...O2 sensor, coil pack , use fuel injector cleaner

[DragonZealot]

I just failed my test the other week and had high NO. I changed the O2 sensor and my NO dropped by 400 points and I passed. I changed the sensor myself.


My CO ratings didn't change that much.


Now I am not saying that the O2 sensor would not lower the CO, what I am saying is what I did worked for me.


I say change your spark plugs.. if it is a japanese car use NGK...O2 sensor, coil pack , use fuel injector cleaner

I am not saying O2 sensor will not affect NOx. I am just saying it will affect CO (at least in some cases) when it gives too rich a mixture.

In you case your O2 sensor probably gives too lean a mixture causing the combustion chamber to run hotter and thus higher NOx.

If there are ignition related problems you will see high HC as well so replacing coil pack and spark plugs in this case does not make sense.

Some reading for the OP here (http://www.aircare.ca/repinfo-ere-causes-co.php).

[Sonbuster]

isn't there a place taht can print the reflective sticker?

[downz]

bump

[MoonDoggy]

i think you're suppose to let the fuel injector cleaner out of the system before emission testing but that could only be a small part of the reason why it failed.

what helps:
- air filter
- pcv (what do you mean by "cleaning"? It's like $5 to replace the part)
- O2 and Cat (as suggested from above)

what year make and model of your car? and mileage? have you kept up with all the other maintenance for your car like fuel filter, etc?

[Scottie]

I always let my car run for awhile before testing and take it on the highway for a good run just before.

[bunga]

have you read the fine print on that gaurantee?

I was looking at it once, from what I remember you are required to have a recent catalytic converter and tune up performed (don't remember what qualified for a tune up and how new the cat should be) for the gaurantee to be valid, even then it's iffy. No company is going to throw out gaurantees like that without a lot of fine print, if your car fails, good luck getting your money back.

There is this stuff at Canadian tire that guarantees a pass. You just pour it into your gas tank, drive around at high speeds for about 15 minutes and you'll pass. I did it a few years ago with my car. The guys at the shop told me about it after I failed. They were shocked when they saw the numbers on the 2nd test. The manager actually called in all his mechanics to look at the results. Hope this helps.

[mliongco]

okay, i just failed my e-test today, but not by much, i failed coz high CO% while it's running, the limit is 0.37, and the reading was 0.41, this is what i did before the test, oil change, changed spark plugs, cleaned the pcv, adjusted my timing, 20L of 94octane gas from sunoco with fuel injector cleaner, half an hour of driving on highway before testing.
what else do i need to lower CO%? I heard adding alcohol, methanol should help, as well as run open air filter box, any other suggestions? thanks.


Just wondering if you managed to pass the CO% and what you did to make it pass. PM me plz, I need to get my car back on the road.

[hightech]

Why not just fix the car and make sure things are maintained correctly?

I just finished my driveclean on my 02 V6 Camry and my reading was 0.00 with the limit being 0.37. Check to see that your PCV valve is the test is just run the repairs as needed.

Did you drive the car and have it to operating temps before you ran the test?

[mliongco]

Why not just fix the car and make sure things are maintained correctly?

I just finished my driveclean on my 02 V6 Camry and my reading was 0.00 with the limit being 0.37. Check to see that your PCV valve is the test is just run the repairs as needed.

Did you drive the car and have it to operating temps before you ran the test?

I've replaced every part related to emission failure. It's an old 92 accord but in mint condition. Last thing I didn't do was clean the intake manifold. it's a big job thats why I slacked on it. I thought the SUREPASS would've taken care of that. but apparently it didn't. Anyway what exactly is "operating temp". I got 2 more shots at this test before I redflag this car....lol.

[googoo]

"I just finished my driveclean on my 02 V6 Camry and my reading was 0.00 with the limit being 0.37."

HAAA ha, I thought my readings were good, the only one I had was on the same test .... 0.01 with an allowable limit of 0.37

Brent

[appleb]

I'm going in for a DriveClean test soon and wondering if anyone has any new suggestions on passing the test.

I find it ironic that it's recommended to drive aimlessly on the highway and waste gas/pollute, in order to increase the chances of passing an emissions test.

[gamer123]

noob q, i believe cel is to be checked, do shops usually just look at the cluster or actually plug in the reader? and either way, i can reset the codes right before i go?

also is the etest paper good for 1yr? if so i can basically etest it now and submit it next year (when driveclean is actually due)?

if you fail, do you have to pay again the 2nd time?

[Punira]

I just did my emissions test today and failed the NO ppm part :( the limit was 0550 and my reading was 1192. Is there anything I can do to pass it? The mechanic told me it might be the catalytic converter and to replace it with an after market one it would cost around $350... I saw previously in this thread someone replaced the O2 sensor and passed the test. Where can I get O2 sensor?

Sorry if this is a noob question.

[tonythebullet]

Usually high NO levels signal problems with the catalytic converter or a clogged EGR. I dont think changing the O2 sensors is going to help much with the NO. Bad O2 sensors typically cause high HC levels.

You can get a universal Magnaflow hi-flow cat (I've seen new ones go for $50 on Cl and Kijiji) and have a shop put it in - labour would be $80-100.

Depending on the car, you may be able to clean the EGR yourself or have a mechanic clean it out for you. Seafoam may or may not help in cleaning out a clogged EGR, depends on the car and how you do it.

[Punira]

yeah I was looking at Magnaflow cat from here http://www.hottexhaust.com/index.htm but I have no idea which one I need for my car. I have a 2001 corolla sport.

If anyone can please help me identify the parts I need, I would be very grateful

[untaka]

my car failed e-test and safety but the mechanic just "made" it pass.

It really really failed but who cares right?

[z24driver1986]

the point is to heat up the Catalyic convertor, someone i knew used to put a blow torch to it and heat it up. It will pass everytime no matter what.