Silvia Club of NSW

I've booked a voluntary IM240 emissions test for a few weeks time so my power fc can be included on my engineers report.

My current exhaust has a $200 Xforce metal cat I purchased from JustJap a few years ago. Reading up on the Xforce website, the cat it is "for race use only" which I anticipate means I will fail the emissions test.

I'd like to run a legal setup so before I go ahead and purchase a new catalytic converter, I'm after any feedback on people who have been for emissions tests with aftermarket cats.

The current options I'm looking at are:

-Stock ceramic cat from a BF XR6 turbo
-A ceramic Catco, Metal cat or Magnaflow
-A metal core version of the above brands

My car has a working O2 sensor and was recently tuned so the AFR shouldn't be a problem.

Any opinions or experiences welcomed.

Also interested in power figures and ceramic cats.

From what I understand Magnaflow is the one accepted bt the EPA

_________________
Light travels faster than sound.....thats why some people appear intelligent until they speak.

I've ended up purchasing a BF XR6 turbo 3" ceramic cat. According to some independant testing on fordxr6turbo.com the BF XR6T cat flowed 300cfm, the same as the FPV, F6 (270+kw) and GTP (290kw), both which have factory examples running close to 240rwkw.

We'll see how it goes when fitted.

where you get the cat from.

let us know how it goes as i'm in the market for a new cat.

Not trying to put the mockers on but I think the cat will be the least of your problems.

Cams, turbo and exhaust with a power tune will throw the emissions way out. I reckon you'll need to get a retune specifically to pass the test. I know mr bean had all sorts of problems trying to get his ceffy through.

_________________
meh

From a user on the fordforums.



Dave, that's the sort of feedback I'm after. Yavuz said with a good cat on there it should pass. If I fail I'll go back with the results sheet and attempt a clean up.

The cams are not silly. 256/264 with 10.5/10mm lift.

I'm not holding my breath for a pass and I'm not getting it done to clear a defect so it's not a big deal if it takes me a few goes.

Do you have to keep paying multiple times to redo the test?
Or is it a pay once till you pass kind of thing?
I'd like to have emissions on my car if i thought it had a chance of passing...

_________________
1996 180sx
1990 Silvia

You usually pay each time, around $60 I think.

If it's the same deal with pricing as it is when you get sent the friendly letter from the EPA it's a minimum of $60 and I think it gets more expensive the more defective things that you have.

_________________
So I said to the cop, No, your driving under the influence... Of being a jerk

The IM240 emissions test is free. They run the test at Botany or Penrith.

You can keep going back as much as you like.

The wait is about a month at the moment to get a spot but they called me after about 2 weeks and asked if I wanted to go in on an early day because they had some cancellations. You need to show up 15 minutes early. The actual test takes 240 (hence IM240) seconds or less.

Apparently they drive the car on to a dyno. The testing officer then drives the car in accordance with the computer's instruction to accelerate or decelerate. If the car is easily below the thresholds the test will finish well before the 240 seconds has elapsed.

Details:
IM240 – Light vehicle emissions test bookings 137 247

Test location:
5 - 19 Lord St
Botany

There may be a cost involved if it is to resolve a defect.

I'm not sure about that.

Other information I've collected from various places on the net


What is involved:
The RTA puts the car on a rolling road and the testing officer drives the car following a trace on a computer screen to indicate accelerating and decelerating to simulate "real world" conditions. The test runs for 4 minutes (240 seconds hence the name IM240) and they usually do 2 runs. The first one gets the cat up to temp.

Test drive conditions:
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslmqf3/dyno_g ... 0Cycle.jpg

Example result sheet:
http://users.tpg.com.au/adslmqf3/dyno_g ... _im240.jpg

The limits (don't quote me on these):
The expected results are 1/2 of the emissions ADR limits listed.
NSW RTA have guesstimated that to achieve a pass of ADR37/01 then you need THC 0.3 NOx 0.6 and CO 2.1.
They have then pulled numbers out of thin air to contitute a "pass" of ADR79/01 which are half the above figures...ie.. THC 0.15 NOx 0.3 and C0 1.05 .

Preparation:
- Put on a new cat converter and oxygen sensor
- Check for fuel leaks including vents from tank
- Apparently injectors with poor spray pattern have a big effect on emissions, get them checked and cleaned
- Decoke using water in the intake or some other method. Check first with a specialist about the best way to do this
- Get a 'sniffer test' before and after to see the improvements made
- Make sure you have a few hours/couple of hundred km on the ECU without disconnecting the battery. The theory is the OEM ECU learns from the oxygen sensor how much to compensate the injection duration from its base map and applies this correction across the range.
- Make sure your thermostat is working correctly. If the engine is not hot, there will be some enrichment applied by the ECU

also I'm told that a good idea is to give the car a bit of a fang before the test if possible, to get the cat nice and hot.

If they do two runs to heat the cat up it shouldn't be a major worry though.
(large diameter exhaust pipes, turbos, and tubular manifolds reduce the exhaust gas temp at the cat though)

_________________
The Engine Whisperer - fixer of things

Interesting, I presume you need this test to get your intercooler etc past engineers nowadays.

But bugger going to Port Botany, I wonder if there is anywhere closer to me I can go.

_________________
1996 180sx
1990 Silvia

It's in the thread ... Pemriff.

The Botany RTA is in the street where I work, it's not EXACTLY as far as the port, more near the airport.

.

_________________
Too crazy for Boystown ...............
Too much of a boy for Crazytown..
Almost too crazy for NSW town