87 5th Avenue Emission Problems

On Sat, 28 May 2005, Comboverfish wrote:

> > Those are pretty standard state limits for an '87 car, and he's
> > flunking them very, very badly.
>
> No doubt. I'd go after rich-running culprits first; gross causes like
> air bleed blockage in the carb, choke closed, etc...

Air bleed, perhaps, but a stuck-closed choke doesn't jive with 0.16% CO
and 1220ppm NOx under load.

> The converter may be toast already having to deal with this kind of
> overload (at idle).

Very possibly so. I can't remember if they were still farting around with
multiple converters in '87.

> > He might be on the phone awhile. There weren't all that many techs who
> > could do a good job with these Lean Burn systems when they were
> > current and new!
>
> That's a challenge I like, but the work would be "by the hour" for sure.

Well, that's part of the challenge: matching a tech able *and* willing to
put in the time with an owner able *and* willing to pay him to do so!