My HC's were 0.84, 0.80 allowed, CO's were 3.59, 12.00 allowed, and NOX's were 4.01, 2.00 allowed. I'll start with plugs and wires, switch out the 02 sensors and the fuel filter while I'm at it. The car just hit 100500 miles.
A couple of years ago at 87K, HC's at 0.12, .080 allowed, CO's at 2.11, 12.00 allowed and NOX's at 0.86, 2.00 allowed. WTF, that much of a difference in 13K miles and 2 years. I did replace my Cat about 6 months ago too.

 

Tip.Change the oil before you go for test.Tip,sit outside the place ,let the engine idle untill the fans come on,then take the test.The sniffer likes a hot engine.Myo2.

 

Hotter the engine, the more NOx. High temp reduces HC and CO, but increases NOx.

Since you are high on all three pollutants - HC, CO, and NOx - I'd suspect the cat. Was it a name brand replacement cat, or something cheap off ebay?

 

I might not have got the engine warm enough before the test. I turned the car off while in line, figured that the 8 mile drive would have warmed the engine up enough. I have some Synthetic Oil in there that is about 2000K old. I replaced the Cat about six months ago through Meineke. I believe he just used the universal replacement Cat.
I'm going to switch out the plugs since it's time anyways, 100500 miles. I'll switch the fuel filter since it's easy to do and the 02 Sensors since that might be the issue.

 

None of that junk is your problem, I bet it's the cat or possibly egr. Heat and compression from carbon buildup can also play a role in high NOX. Since you had your cat replaced with a generic one, that may be the problem. Was it a Brown or Walker? They are some of the better OEM replacements.

 

Well,everyone knows the cold engine uses more fuel when the engine is cold,so let it at least get up to normal operating temperature before the test.You just don't cold start and engine,then drive it down the street to the smog place,and expect a good reading.The true reading comes from a normal operating temp engine.(Ever notice the smog guy gunning the engine to get it hot?).Who smogs a cold engine?My02

 

No one suggested smogging a cold engine.

 

I do appreciate all of your input, I wonder if I blew the test due to engine being cold. Could that make that much of a difference in the numbers? For the sake of conversation, if you guys were in my shoes, would you retake test without doing anything to car besides having the engine be warmer? Should I change the plugs and wires and then take the test again? Should I not worry about the 02 Sensors? I'm sure that the Cat that Meineke installed was junk, I was on a budget back then so I went with a cheaper model. not Walker nor Brown. The car is running great, just like it was at 87K s couple of years ago. I was just surprised to see that big of a difference in the numbers myself

 

Time for a new cat.

 

If the enigne was too cold, NOx would be low. It isn't... it's high. Cold engine = high HC and CO, low NOx. Hot engine = low HC and CO, high NOx. Lean mixture causes low HC and CO, high NOx. Rich mixture causes high HC and CO, low NOx.

The object is to run it exactly where the factory designed it to run. The PCM controls the A/F ratio at 14.7:1 (stoichiometric) because that is the "sweet spot" that minimizes the combined amount of HC, CO and NOx. The engine is designed to produce the correct balance of polutants with the coolant at the mid-point of the gauge.

Variations in temperature and A/F ratio cause the polutants levels to vary, but yours are high all the time on HC and NOx. I wouldn't ignore the O2 sensors, or anything else. You may have a combination of running lean on one bank (high NOx) and a faulty injector on the other bank (high HC).

But somehow, the cat seems to be a more likely suspect.

 

FWIW we have the same bs emissions test in Ontario Canada. The Hamilton Spectator did a story on how the same car can fail like 4 times and pass 8 times all within a couple of days without doing anything to the car.

Doesn't matter how many times you fail does it? Just as long as you pass once.

 

Was the smog pump running when it was sniffed? If the sniffers measure in parts per million then the smog pump would lower are three.

Also I'm in kentucky and they don't test here, so i'm not exactly sure how they measures it.

 

A failed egr system can be a large contributor to excessive NOx. I would start there.

 

If NOx was the only thing high this would be excellent advice. Since all three are high all indications are a bad cat....

 

run best fuel possible and take it on the hwy and get it nice and hot and you should be fine. Gas line anti freeze also helps alot too. My friends truck was same as yours not to far off from passing and putting highest grade fuel and some gasline anti freeze and got it nice and hot and she passed.