'95 525ia emissions history (interesting, very long)

[billb]

Just got done with the annual crap shoot at the emissions inspector, but this year had a twist...first time with an EAT chip. Here's some emissions history since we got Ginger in 1999. It'll read date, mileage, HC (max is 220), CO (max is 1.20), CO2, and RPM. Also, I'll indicate oil changes, spark plug replacements, and filter changes in between where applicable.

5/1/99 53,071 26 0.01 14.8 720
6/5/99 55,000 oil change Castrol 10W30
10/26/99 61,452 Inspection II oil change Castrol 10W30, spark plugs, air filter, fuel filter
3/11/00 65,100 oil change Castrol 10W30
5/1/00 67,704 218 1.08 13.7 936
5/8/00 67,987 oil change Castrol 10W30
10/4/00 72,883 oil change Castrol 10W30
1/27/01 76,830 oil change Mobil1 15W50 plus new spark plugs
1/29/01 oxygen sensor replacement (coincidence??)
4/4/01 79,357 Inspection I, air filter
4/4/01 79,357 1 0.00 15.5 697
6/16/01 81,960 oil change Mobil1 10W30
10/2/01 86,497 oil change Mobil1 10W30
12/22/01 90,572 oil change Mobil1 10W30
1/13/02 90,909 fuel filter
2/2/02 91,632 air filter
4/16/02 94,237 oil change Mobil1 15W50
4/30/02 94,841 117 0.11 15.1 698
8/12/02 98,382 spark plugs
9/2/02 99,045 oil change Mobil1 10W30
12/26/02 103,314 Inspection I (oil change Castrol Syntec...Yuck!), air filter
2/8/03 104,490 oil change Mobil1 0W40
5/2/03 107,327 220 0.43 14.4 1001
7/19/03 109,116 oil change Mobil1 15W50
1/17/04 114,104 oil change Mobil1 10W30
4/29/04 117,268 98 0.20 15.1 715

Through all this, I can really see no correlation to much of anything, as the only maintenance I've done since 7/19/03 and now is oil changes. The difference could be station locations, as many of these have been done at different spots (stations 21742, 20515, 20489, 20489, 20489, and 31925 respectively). Actually, 2001, through 2003 stations were the same, so something could have been going on. One thing I did notice last fall while on a trip to the beach was the small PCV hose going back to the intake had a hole in it. Replaced that, then replaced the even smaller one going to the intake which was crudded up with oil. Perhaps Ginger's breathing easier now.

Food for thought.

Anyways, happy I passed smog without having to swap chips! Last year had me nervous, but we look good this year!

Thanks , Mark, and Thanks sbcncsu for unloading the chip to me!

Bill B.

[Paul G]

Bill,

Take a look at this link. http://www.visi.com/~rhayman/smog_faq.html#Catalyst%20Out

From your data I see the folowing trend.

CO2 % HC PPM
13.7 218
14.4 220
14.8 26
15.1 98
15.1 117
15.5 1

If you read the FAQ it indicates that HC will drop with the catalyst fully warm and that the CO2% will increase. So the real question is how long after you turned off your car did they do the test. (i.e. was it still warm for the test?)

Check out the link it should answer a lot of your questions.

Good Luck

Paul
89 535ia 228k

[billb]

Bill,

Take a look at this link. http://www.visi.com/~rhayman/smog_faq.html#Catalyst%20Out

From your data I see the folowing trend.

CO2 % HC PPM
13.7 218
14.4 220
14.8 26
15.1 98
15.1 117
15.5 1

If you read the FAQ it indicates that HC will drop with the catalyst fully warm and that the CO2% will increase. So the real question is how long after you turned off your car did they do the test. (i.e. was it still warm for the test?)

Check out the link it should answer a lot of your questions.

Good Luck

Paul
89 535ia 228k

Today, on the way to get inspected, I romped up and down the highway in S3 for about 10 minutes to warm everything up. Last year, I'm sure it was done in a hurry after sitting at the indy all morning, and wasn't warmed. Probably the same in 02. In 01, they had just changed all the filters, and were probably inspecting it right after road test, if they were smart. I'll bet that's the ticket. Thanks for showing me the correlation (which in hindsight was pretty obvious if I'd taken a step back...)

Bill B.

[billb]

This morning at 9:30, she got her new Yoko AVS dB S2's installed. I love going to places like I went today. Hubcap Heaven and Wheels, owned by a local track junkie who races an E30 in SCCA. We chatted while he very attentively unmounted my old AVS dB's, carefully mounted the new dB S2's, and roadforce balanced them all on the GSP 9700. One was out more than he liked, so he unmounted and rotated, then balanced away. $18/tire plus a $5 disposal fee, and I was out the door. It was a pleasure to do business with him, as he ran the lugs up by hand, hand-torqued with a Snap-On calibrated torque wrench, and we discussed tire pressures for a few more thousand miles worth of life. Got 36k out of them.

So I was done around 10:45. Motored back on over to work, got in about an hour's worth, then took a quick lunch. Headed over to the local inspection station, no one in line, rolled right up, and on the machine it went. All systems go, emissions results:

HC = 033; 220 Standard
CO = 0.13; 1.20 % Standard
CO2 = 14.8 %
RPM = 718
Mileage = 126,562

Running Mobil1 15W50, recent air filter change, used MAF installed last October, ~9300 miles since last inspection. Running stock chip (was running EAT last year, but pulled it back out due to gas prices!)

And the kicker; North Carolina (at least Wake County) is going away from emissions inspections for 1995 and older vehicles next year, so this was Ginger's last emissions inspection!!