RE: [T3] Emissions failure

["adevars@gmavt.net" <adevars@greenmountainaccess.net>]

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I grew up in Connecticut and find it very interesting that there are smog
requirements for cars that seem to predate the smog era which I thought
began in 1968.  In Connecticut, cars built 1967 and earlier were exempt and
then newer (1968 and up) cars were tested every two years.  Now CT changed
to a stepped system where 68 to 81 are tested biannually and newer cars are
now annually tested.

In Vermont, land of tree huggers and private rights, the emmissions test for
a car up through 1996 consists of checking for a gas cap rather than a
trusty old rag and looking for exhaust leaks.  1996 and newer cars are
required to be checked for OBD II compliance (pluging into a computer for
diagnostic info).  No tailpipe sniffing here...maybe you should just sell me
that old polluter.....:)

Allyn de Vars
Warren, VT

-----Original Message-----
From: Everett Barnes [mailto:everettb@thesamba.com]
Sent: Wednesday, March 06, 2002 3:15 PM
To: type3@vwtype3.org
Subject: RE: [T3] Emissions failure


Everett:
>> I took my '67 to be smogged yesterday and it failed.
Drake:
>Looking at the readings you posted, as well as the statement that #3 seems
to not be firing reminded me of a 68 triumph spitfire I had long ago. Had
to take it in for smog, was blowing a ton of Hydrocarbons at idle.
Fortunately
it was exempt due to factory dual carbs. Later on I did a compression test,
ended up finding out that #4 exhaust seat was cracked in half. A compression
test would seem to be in order as Jim suggested Im betting that your #3
is just not buring the gas correctly/completely/at all.
>
An update on the situation, I haven't done a compression check yet but I
went over everything and decided to replace the cap, rotor, points, and
condensor since their age was unknown and there was some build-up on the
cap and rotor and well as a pit in the points.  I had previously filed the
points and set them per spec but what the hey, new Bosch parts are shiny
and I had fun annoying my wife by muttering "my precious" over and over
while holding my new condensor.

Russ suggested the rotor should not be over 5000 ohms resistance, my old
one was approx. 5500. New rotor was 5000.

Dwell now set to 48 degrees.  Timing upped a little to 9 BTDC per a listees
suggestion.  Idle increased to approx. 1000 per suggestions.

Cleaned and checked gap on plugs #3 and #4, they were a little black.  Reset
mixture screws, replaced one as the tip was not as perfect as a spare I
had.  The #3 and #4 air/fuel mixture was definately set too rich.  Once
I cleaned plug #3 and set the mixture correctly, #3 was firing as normal.
 For whatever reason, #1 and #2 do not have as great a drop in rpms as
before
but there is a drop, as measured on my Sears(tm) 0-2000 rpm tachometer/dwell
meter.  Checked #2 plug just in case it was fouled, it was clean.  Dwell
is static as rpms increase, 009 is advancing as expected.

Dropped by the emissions place last Saturday and it passed 3 out of 4 tests
easily.  Still failed CO at idle but only by a small amount.

The carbs. are very clean but I plan to rebuild them anyway just for good
measure.  I will also set the valves to .004", although I don't know if
this will affect emissions.  I am also waiting for my thermostat to arrive
because surprise, surprise, they don't stock thermostats at my FLAPS.

One thing I did find out is that you have to smog a '67 every year in
Phoenix.
You can also get a waiver one time but you just have to get it smogged the
next year and you can never get a waiver again, EVER.

Someone else suggested that they might exempt cars that are dual-carbureted,
as this was the case in CA at one point.  This is not true in Phoenix.

I still find it annoying that I have to smog this car but I don't mind the
trouble to make it burn cleaner.

Everett Barnes
'67 Squareback






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