Not sure if anybody can help but here goes,I took my elky thru emissions,and it failed.the question i have is how do i get these #s down?they are HC[PPM] 461 AT IDLE -224 at [2500rpm]limit is 220.next-CO[%] 5.96. at idle 2.18 at [2500rpm].limit is 1.20.I tried to adjust the carb.the elky 82 has a 350.Any help would be apprecated. :(

Does your egr work? Is it in a good state of tune, like fresh plugs, etc? You could install a hotter coil & increase the plug gap some. If you can afford it a MSD system greatly reduces emissions. There are also some chemicals on the market that are quite good at reducing emissions.

Thanks Tommy for the feed back.Iput new plugs and wires and i took it to the shop yesterday,they replaced a few hoses that wernt right,but it still failed.He also said that when my brother in law changed the moter,most of the wires that arent attatched,could be the problem.I guess i will try the MSD.WHY NOT!Thanks.atleast they gave me a 30 day tag.

Hey '82 How do they test there? Just a tailpipe sniff or do they run the car on rollers? Here in Sheboygan Wi. where I get to go they do both. Some of the testers are really BAD. Cann't drive stick, forget to do somethings, not steady while they're driving. I have already asked for a different tester, then the test came out better.Here they even test for alcohol,which would make it run cleaner. Find out what each number is for if is for unburned carbons, a tune up will not help if your valve guilds are bad. Remember what it takes for a motor to run, Fuel, spark, timing. Back to the basics. Good luck let me know how it turns out.

Thanks,i"m gonna buy a new carb tommorow and see how that goes.i dont care for the q-junk that much.They test in the tail pipes here.Just think another $ 450.00 in bills they will pass it and call it usless. :idea: If only they would they would get in, shut up and hold on,mabey i wouldent keep doin this.thanks.

You said someone replaced the engine?

What Cam do you have in it or do you know? Some performance parts are not smog legal and do not meet Air / Smog quality standards and can't be made to.

I am not sure that the carburetor on the 82 was adjustable (Idle air). A cam like Comp Cams Xtreme Energy generally is not Smog legal and like on a 268, which is a pretty good cam has a Power Range of 1800 RPM to 6500 RPM it will never pass at Idle. Its going to burn rich during Idle and clean out when your in its power curve RPM wise. This is just an example of ONE cam.

Lots of vendors warn that their parts are for "Off Road" use only. Which means not Smog Legal.

Bad Rings will also produce those numbers or Rings that are not seated yet. Basically an engine needs Air, Fuel, and electric to run that's it. If you have a Magneto instead of a distributor and Coil then you don't even need that battery. My point is that no amount of loose wires will make or brake your smog test if the engine is running properly unless your Carburetor has electronics on it and they go to that. In that case maybe a Carburetor would do it.


These are just some thoughts.

He also said that when my brother in law changed the moter,most of the wires that arent attatched,could be the problem.....i dont care for the q-junk that much

You're kidding right. If you have an '82, it originally worked off an ECM. If most of the wires aren't attached, it won't ever pass. Of course the quadrajet is junk. It needs an ECM to control it. You've been running rich which has probably caked your converter by now. You're running in open loop.

Maybe there are some details you haven't mentioned in this thread, like if the 350 is using all non-ECM components - like the carb and distirbutor. If that's the case, then you're trying to pass 1982 requirements with '70's technology.

High HC is unburnt fuel (rich). High CO is oxygen starved (rich). Too rich and not enough catalytic conversion.