I know every state is different but I thought I would ask. I need to get my Maverick through inspection. I was told by the DMV that the car needs to pass the Co and Hydro carbons. Does any one know what I need to do as percautions to assure that I will greater my chance for passing? Any suggestions? I tuned the car up last year and it has been about 2000-3000 miles since that was done. I am not sure if I should go through all that again. I have noticed that car smokes every so often when I first start it up or I am sitting at an idle and it is warm out. It has a blue color to it. It does not do it all the time. It is once in a while. So I am not sure how I can get around that. I know if it starts that while I am sitting in line I am going to fail right there. So I am open for suggestions and possible a direction to point me where to begin. I do not know where to start. Oh it is a 72 with a 250 auto....
A Few Things That Help With Passing Emmissions, Make Sure The Car Is Warmed Up Real Good, Drive It For 10-15 Miles And Stomp It A Couple Of Times To "clear It Out" Make Sure You Have A Clean Air Filter And Pcv Valve(if Equipped) And Don't Take The Gas Cap Off At Least A Couple Of Days Before You Go,if Plugs And Tune Up Items Are Good Then You Are 50/50 Chance Of Passing.....good Luck
If smoking is an issue in your state with inspections, you may try adding a can of STP Oil Treatment or some heavy weight motor oil to thicken the mixture up a bit. This is usually okay in hot weather but can be a strain on your oil pump to get a thick cold mixture through the galleries when cranking in winter. Try a can of carb cleaner as well in the tank-drive it a few miles. Check all your vacuum hoses for cracks as well. We don't have sniff tests for vehicles older than '75-cat conv. yr. They didn't even raise my hood to check anything-just lights, signal and horn, tires, brakes, exhaust. Seth
Thanks this is a start. I know NJ is tough with this. I had to call about 10 different places in the state to find out what they require. We can not take it to the gas station like we use to get a sticker thrown on. Now they actually have to dyno the cars. I am taking it to a private station because I know they will be gentle with the car vs. the idiots the state has at their stations. They even drive the car down a 100 ft skid pad to check the breaks. One of those idiots would get in and not know that it has manual breaks and just go right into the car at the other end. I had what was collectors inspection which is just safety but they have revoked that because now they require the car to be insured through antique insurance company and with all that crap I can not get it because something about my garage being attached to my house. So now I am stuck trying to get it through.
Not trying to scare you but, the blue smoke your seeing is oil burning. If it usually appears on start up or idle it could be a number of things. Usually valve seals. How does your plugs look in relation to burning properly? How many miles are on the engine? A quick check of positive crankcase pressure would be to let your engine warm up and pull the valve cover breather. If its puffing out smoke you have some internal issues. Good luck on your inspection Ken
ahhh yes.... nj dmv at it again! all the above is true...new everything...plugs etc. etc. what worked for me (i went to the one in edison) was after setting everything to factory spec, i made sure i had almost run out of gas. no more than 1 gallon in the tank. then i threw in 3 (or was it 4?) bottles of gas line antifreeze. about another half gallon of gas just to mix it up a bit. in other words, i was running about 75%gas, 25% alcohol. i landed right in the middle of where my car was supposed to be. uhhhh one other thing. make sure you use REGULAR!!! it burns faster. the guy at the inspection station even was wondering how i get my car to run so clean. i just told him i am old enough to know how...soon as i got my sticker, it was straight to a gas station for a tank of super! don't want too strong a mix of alcohol for too long!
Very hot engine. If you wish to go through the trouble, use a high temp thermostat and very hot plugs. After inspection, put the plugs and stat in a drawer until next year.
had a 200 that did the same thing just when you start it up Its the valve stem seals its EZ to change take your plugs out get the Cly on top dead i made a tool that i used to push the spring down using the stud take the keeper's off. My seals were in pieces and hard as a rock its not hard to do just do two Cly at a time when #1 is top dead #6 is TD and 2&5- 3&4 you can use clothespins to hold the valves up when you are working on them i used a shop vac to remove the small bits of the old seals it will stop the start up smoking
yes i agree totally... i think those are key!!!! heck i live in california been there done that! so no one out there should be whineing up us! i but i would for sure change the plugs! infact if you put splitfires in them (personally i don't use them anymore cuz they just burn out to fast i had a car that use to burn oil and boy they really did the job on keeping themselfs clean! they don't last work a jack but they did work for that purpose! also synthetic oil will also keep the blow by and smoking down a bit.. that i know for sure... i was the king of blue smoke and proably will be soon again also new spark pulg wires! if those wires are old change them! might as well change the cap and rotor while your at it heck you can do all sorts of things.. who knows if it will work though.. you can throw marvel mystery oil in the engine a bit before you change it maybe it will losen up any deposits on the vavles... then change the oil and then take it to have it passed. also like others said change the air cleaner and make that car hot right before you take it to get tested! i have to go though this crap with my wifes car every two years! i'm just glad all my mavericks are exempt now! but who knows that can change!
I used to have a 1987 Dodge Ram 50 pickup with about 160,000 miles on it ... I used to put a bottle of this stuff in the tank and they guaranteed it would pass emissions or your money back. I used it for several years and each time it was way way below the allowable emmissions limits. I also used this for several years on my 1984 Mustang GT ... had the same positive results ... Got it at the local auto parts store ... Dan
a bottle of this stuff"... ...frank... This Stuff: It's a clear liquid normally stored in mason jars.
man i'd rather spend the money on tune-up parts than touch my stash of skull popper...you know how hard it is to find decent uhhhhh gasoline treatment up here in new jersey? i only have about a quarter of a jar left.can't buy that at a local parts store. gotta find a more reliable source.
Seen it in the local Hi-Lo. Does that stuff actually WORK??? Not that I need it. Anything pre-1978 "if you can drive it here, it will pass!" I even took my mav in the first year I had it, within the first couple of weeks, carb was crapped, no brakes, no hood. I told the inspection guy, "I need to drive it in, because it will stall if I quit gassing it, and it has no (very little) brakes)." No problem, I powerbraked it into the stall, the horn and wipers worked, and I drove away with a new sticker. By the next year, it passed legitimately, but she asked "are your rear tires rubbing the fender?". Nope, just a mini-spool. No problem. New sticker.
