My 1996 850 GLT failed emissions in Arizona but was waived in for one year. I had tried to re-set the system using the drive cycle that I found online (courtesy of my mechanic) and that didn't work. I recently moved to the east coast and took it in for licensing, and guess what, it failed admissions here, too. I took it to the local dealer (I know, but I don't have a mechanic here yet) and after they failed it they told me the nox was super high (4,000 ppm) and that it would need a new catalytic converter to the tune of $2200. I love this car but I need options. I just put four new tires on it and the timing chain was recently replaced. Does any one have any suggestions? The dealer service writer was puzzled as to why the engine light wasn't on (he suspected the bulb didn't work but of course they didn't check in to that)
The car drives beautifully and I hate to part with it but I'm at a loss. $2200 is way more that I can put in to this car. Trade in? Sell? Find a mechanic who can replace the converter for less? I'm not even sure I trust the dealer's diagnosis, maybe this isn't even the problem. It has 117,000 miles on it. Can anyone help? Thanks.

 

I have had a few cars with high nox levels an it always seems to be carbon build up in the intake manifold from the egr , try cleaning outthe manifold and replacing the cat and it should pass. Cat converter , go to a local muffler shop that does alot of custom systems and get a take off cat off a Caddi cts or new cameroetc , usually 50 to 100 bucks

 

Thanks for your reply! Any tips on how to find a good local muffler shop?

 

Try this:

 

Thanks, that was a great video. I'm not sure which code was a fail, though-- they just told me that it needed a new cat. That's what I get for going to the dealer, I guess. I would be really nervous doing this myself, has anyone ever tried it? In terms of washing out the cat, is this a reasonable thing to ask a mechanic to do? As you can probably guess, I don't work on cars myself, I just want to save this one

 

Just go to Rockauto.com and buy a new cat and find anyone at a shop to put it in. Try a local high school with an automotive program or a votech (once school starts up).

It's not that hard to replace if you buy a stock replacement one.

For a muffler shop they should be able to put a generic replacement in for a few hundred and it should still meet proper emissions.

 

Just wanted all to know- I found a very good and savvy local mechanic who came up with an answer. There was a tiny tear in a vacuum hose at the secondary air valve, which he replaced. A $7.00 part and the CAR HAS NOW PASSED EMISSIONS. Thank you all so much for your help. Can now license the 1996 Volvo 850 GLT, the carbon monoxide emissions went from in the 3000- 4000 range down to 20 and 10. The engine light was never on (except on start up, so we knew the bulb worked) and this smart mechanic was just suspicious. And a quick thinker.