As Some of you know or may not know, I recently Purchased my 87 AE86 SR5 with the 4ac motor and the seller stated that it will pass smog, I mistakenly believed him, I know he should have had it smogged prior to selling it, but I totally forgot to ask that, now I'm stuck with this car that wont pass smog, it is labeled as a Gross Polluter, If I would have know it wouldn't have passed, I would have gotten it "Dirty" Smogged but I have been told that once its labeled a Gross Polluter, I have to take it to a specific smog place after I get it repaired and prepped for the test, what I was told was that my Timing was off, which I knew it was a little high its at 1100-1200 Rpm told it should be 800-900rpm and my gas cap was no good and for the emissions test it was Gross Polluter, I Warmed up the car drove it for a long time to warm up the cat, but it still failed, what should I do? and how can I fix the timing issue.
I am thinking of replacing the cat, cleaning the EGR Valve and getting new plugs and plug wires, someone also recommended the Guarantee pass solution
Let me know what I can do, to get my baby to pass, Thanks ahead of time!
Timming Issue can't pass smog, Gross Polluter :(
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Low&Slow86
- Posts: 7
- Joined: Fri Feb 13, 2015 9:33 pm
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yellowsnow4free
- Club4AG Enthusiast
- Posts: 185
- Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 10:55 am
Re: Timming Issue can't pass smog, Gross Polluter :(
Hey again Low&Slow86,
Sorry to hear you're having problems with your car.
First off, if you brought it to get smogged and it failed, they should've given you a printout, right? Scan (or take a picture of that) and post it up here. Make sure you edit the file in paint though to remove your VIN and other personal information. Seeing the results will help the community here diagnose your problem.
I was in the same boat as you with my SR5. I bought it without a smog and it did fail the 1st time (got labeled a gross polluter as well).
Aside from timing, here's what I did to get my car to pass:
Fresh oil change (and oil filter), new spark plugs, new PCV valve, new oxygen sensor, filled up with premium (91 octane) gas. Might also be worth running some Sea Foam (or other similar cleaner) through your engine (run it through the brake booster vac line). Might also be worth getting a new air cleaner; they're cheap and it couldn't hurt.
Timing wise there are 3 places to check: your crankshaft, your camshaft, and your distributor.
Your crankshaft and camshaft should (hopefully) be fine, but you never know until you check. With a used car, you basically have to assume the previous owner didn't do any maintenance to it, unless they have receipts that say otherwise.
First step: crankshaft timing. Remove the distributor cap (you can leave the plugs on) and with the help of a friend, turn the key to the start position for a split second. Have your friend watch the crankshaft pulley. You want to get the pulley as close as you can to the "0" timing mark on the engine cover. Get it close, but not past 0, then use a socket and wrench / breaker bar to turn the crankshaft by hand to "0".
Once the crankshaft pulley is at 0, you'll need to pull the upper engine cover off and view the camshaft. Hopefully, your camshaft pulley has the dot pointed straight up; that means your camshaft timing is correct. If not, you'll have to slip the timing belt off and readjust the camshaft. Hopefully the timing is correct on both though.
Once the crankshaft and camshafts are at the correct timing, put everything back together. The last step is the ignition timing. For this you need a timing light. There's 1 bolt on the distributor for timing; loosen it so you can just move the distributor by hand. Not 100% sure on setting up the timing light (not hard) but you'll want to adjust the distributor until you're at 5 degrees BTDC.
After that, I'd say the next thing to look at is your carburetor. You'll likely have to adjust the idle speed screw, and maybe the idle mixture screw (assuming the cover has been removed; if not I'd just leave it alone).
I know this is a lot of info to relay here. You're in SoCal, right? If you're not sure on what to do, I'd say order some pizzas (from Costco; they're cheap!) and see if you can get some members here to help you out. None of the work is hard, but it always helps to have someone experienced to give you a hand.
Good luck!
Sorry to hear you're having problems with your car.
First off, if you brought it to get smogged and it failed, they should've given you a printout, right? Scan (or take a picture of that) and post it up here. Make sure you edit the file in paint though to remove your VIN and other personal information. Seeing the results will help the community here diagnose your problem.
I was in the same boat as you with my SR5. I bought it without a smog and it did fail the 1st time (got labeled a gross polluter as well).
Aside from timing, here's what I did to get my car to pass:
Fresh oil change (and oil filter), new spark plugs, new PCV valve, new oxygen sensor, filled up with premium (91 octane) gas. Might also be worth running some Sea Foam (or other similar cleaner) through your engine (run it through the brake booster vac line). Might also be worth getting a new air cleaner; they're cheap and it couldn't hurt.
Timing wise there are 3 places to check: your crankshaft, your camshaft, and your distributor.
Your crankshaft and camshaft should (hopefully) be fine, but you never know until you check. With a used car, you basically have to assume the previous owner didn't do any maintenance to it, unless they have receipts that say otherwise.
First step: crankshaft timing. Remove the distributor cap (you can leave the plugs on) and with the help of a friend, turn the key to the start position for a split second. Have your friend watch the crankshaft pulley. You want to get the pulley as close as you can to the "0" timing mark on the engine cover. Get it close, but not past 0, then use a socket and wrench / breaker bar to turn the crankshaft by hand to "0".
Once the crankshaft pulley is at 0, you'll need to pull the upper engine cover off and view the camshaft. Hopefully, your camshaft pulley has the dot pointed straight up; that means your camshaft timing is correct. If not, you'll have to slip the timing belt off and readjust the camshaft. Hopefully the timing is correct on both though.
Once the crankshaft and camshafts are at the correct timing, put everything back together. The last step is the ignition timing. For this you need a timing light. There's 1 bolt on the distributor for timing; loosen it so you can just move the distributor by hand. Not 100% sure on setting up the timing light (not hard) but you'll want to adjust the distributor until you're at 5 degrees BTDC.
After that, I'd say the next thing to look at is your carburetor. You'll likely have to adjust the idle speed screw, and maybe the idle mixture screw (assuming the cover has been removed; if not I'd just leave it alone).
I know this is a lot of info to relay here. You're in SoCal, right? If you're not sure on what to do, I'd say order some pizzas (from Costco; they're cheap!) and see if you can get some members here to help you out. None of the work is hard, but it always helps to have someone experienced to give you a hand.
Good luck!