The nightmare saga for my CA Smog test continues with my 2nd failure of the test.

After the first failure I had a full engine diagnostic and full service done -

New plugs, wires, car, rotor, oil, fluids, filters, fuel injection flush, clean and tune up - everything checked out and compresion is good all arround - it's still running hot - but I don't think cooling issues shouls affect emmisions readings -

My mechanic took the car for a pre test (at a different smog test station) and it passed with flying colours with all the levels / readings way below the max allowed - yippee I thought -

so I went and collected the car to take back over to the original station for my free re-test - on the advice of my mechanic and many others I took the car out for a 45min freeway drive to warm things up prior to the test -

anyway did the test and it failed a 2nd time - having just passed the day before - and now the levels across the board are even higher than when it failed on the first test......what the ##$^^&*@%$^^& !!!

I argued bitterly with the smog test guys and showed them the print out results from the day before but they insisted that there equipment was working correctly -

anyway back to my mechanic I went - thoughly pissed off - he then went back to his smog test guy and did another pre test and the readings came back the same - way off and a major fail -

something happened on my 45 min warm up drive to screw things up badly - we are all sitting arround scratching our heads trying to figure out what next -

The car is running beautifully - but the NO, CO levels are very high -
my mechanic wants to repalce the CATS next as he feels that is the next likely solution to the high readings ......

Any thoughts, words of condolence or advice ? Any ideas as to why my emmissions might be completely out of wack ???

If / when we replace the 'CATS' are there any from other cars which might fit - I'm sure replacement OEM Jaguar ones will cost a small fortune.....

Here's hoping that somebody out there might have a real good quick /cheap fix out there for me ......yeah I know it's a Jag - so that's unlikely !!

Cheers all

James

1995 XJS 6.0l V12 (bloody thing won't pass smog)
1974 Jensen Healey (30+ years old - smog exempt!!)

Submitted by james_brinkley… on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 19:37

I've ordered 4 new O2 sensors from www.oxygensensors.com @ $45 each

I'll go ahead and replace all mine and see where we are at with my emissions - thanx all for the advice and I'll keep you up to date with the results.

Cheers

James
1995 XJS V12 6.0L Convertible

Submitted by james_brinkley… on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 16:53

After my 1st fail and then service the next pre test showed no emmisions problems and I passed with flying colours - hence there was no need to pull the O2 sensors - but now after the 2nd test and fail I am having my mechanic pull and check the O2 sensors -

He says there are 4 in total and cost between $120 (universal NGK generic) to $200 for OEM Bosh ones each....

should I just change out all 4 for new ones to be safe and are universal / cheaper one ok to use to save some cash - ?

Can the O2 sensors be tested in some way other than just a visual inspection to see if they are functioning correctly ?

cheers - James

Submitted by silver007@shaw.ca on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 15:21

Art Dickenson.
1983 XJS GT "Silver"
Pacific Jaguar.ca

James,
sorry to hear about your emmision problem, possibly this may help..........
One of my fellow club members ( Pacific Jaguar Enthusiasts ) has been plauged with a no pass on his car for a couple of years now, his previous mechanic replaced everything including the cats, the bill was over 4,000 CDN $.
The car alos had a slight miss at idle.........I reccomended he take it to my reccomended Jaguar scientists in Vancouver.......

The car was returned to him along with a bill for one thousand dollars, many minor items had been worked on to keep the car roadworthy.

The item that concerned the mechanic was the ignition amplifier that resides in the centre of the motor ( about 3/4 inch thick and about 2 1/2 inches square and painted black on our earlier 5.3 V12s ). This was replaced and the car FLEW THROUGH THE TEST.

I hope this info gets your car healthy again, the amplifiers are fairly cheap,

Best Wishes, Art

Submitted by james_brinkley… on Wed, 09/07/2005 - 13:47

Here are my first test results: fail

HC ppm allowed 78 tested at 115
CO% allowed 0.45 tested at 0.15
NO ppm allowed 676 tested at 371

Here are my 2nd test results: fail

HC ppm allowed 78 tested at 138
CO% allowed 0.45 tested at 0.27
NO ppm allowed 676 tested at 677

Hope these help.....with any cyber diagnostics !

cheers all.
James