Hi Folks,

My 88' Volvo 240 failed smog in San Francisco county, CA. Very frustrating, biggest racket/money suck ever, given the far worse polluters out there who face zero consequences while I have to spend money to keep a car on the road that I only drive 500mi/year.

Anyways, rant over. Attached is a photo of my readings:

Failed HC- measured 93 at 15mph, max is 81.

Failed NO- measured 1267 at 15mph, max is 689
Failed NO- measured 715 at 25mph, max is 511

Last time I smogged two years ago NO failed. I had a cracked header pipe and replaced it. That solved the problem. Dunno what the problem is now.

I realize smog is a total racket for shops. They'll charge you for everything it COULD be, and surely it's one of those things but you paid for em' all. Also shop time is VERY expensive here. I have no interest in that. Can someone please school me on the actual steps to take and what I can do myself? I've already wasted $80 on the stupid test, now I'm stuck bringing it back to the same folks to get a re-test at half price so another shop is out of the question.

I hate this stuff because the equip to measure is expensive and owned by shops so you never know what's real, only what they tell you.

I ordered new plugs, dist cap and dist rotor, haven't arrived yet though. I know that's important. I have a strobe light, but it's hard to check the timing on the car, it seems like it's okay ?

Thank you.

 

high NO is often a sign your catalytic converter is worn out, hey, its what, 30 years old now? *sometimes* an 'italian tuneup' can help decoke an old Cat.... like driving it at high RPMs for a half hour or so, like get out on a freeway and leave it in third, rev the engine up high and leave it there.... CO and/or HC *can* be from a worn/tired O2 sensor.

thankfully, Santa Cruz County only requires basic and not enhanced smog tests.

 

Take a look at this thread from over on the brickboard:

https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo...ual_cause.html

Make sure that your EGR valve is functioning properly as well as it helps reduce the nitrogen oxides.

 

not sure an 88 has an EGR, our 87 didn't but our 90 did.

 

Hi Folks,

Thanks for the replies. I took it to a recommended shop in here SF--not a volvo shop mind you, but a shop recommended by a friend. The guy read over my smog test results and said "Definitely bad catalytic conveter." He said he could tell the high HC and NO readings were caused by the cat because of the O2 readings. Said it's highly unlikely it's bad engine tuning or anything else; has to be the cat.

I dunno. There isn't a volvo repair shop left in SF-- well there's Volvo Centrum, but he "moved" and now when you call the shop it goes to a personal answering machine (??), so I don't know where I can get a second opinion.

Sad SF has gotten so expensive there isn't a single repair shop left that works on old Volvo's.

 

I do note you have another fail on that smog test, the gas tank evaporative emissions. it might just need a new gas cap. or the skinny rubber hoses that go from the fuel filler to the charcoal canister under the hood. one high mileage car, I had to take a small grinding stone to smooth out the metal rim of the gas tank filler where the gas cap seals against, as gas filler nozzles had worn a groove.

240's are really pretty simple cars to work on. a competent european car mechanic should have no problems, the trick is finding the guy who's willing to spend the time to sort stuff out without overcharging.