No, I haven't forgotten about my '96 Mustang.
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| image source: seekpng. What to do, that is the question. |
I'm still trying to figure out what to do about it.
The smog test shop has a free retest within 90 days.
I'm a bit puzzled by what happened. Especially since there weren't any codes displayed.
Today I thought that I'd put some miles down to warm it up and then go back for the retest. I put 40 miles on it. I spoke to the same tech, who had more time to talk to me. He looked at the previous tests as I explained that the car had previously passed by fair margins. He said that something had to have happened to the engine as it was the hydrocarbons that had increased. When I asked about the cats, he said in his experience, that the numbers didn't seem to indicate a failure of the catalytic converters
I know that compression is a bit low in cylinder #1 but I have been hoping that it wouldn't make a critical difference.
After I had checked the plugs , wires, and compression, ( 4/11/22, @ 216,270 miles) the smog check was performed on 4/20/22 @ 216,278 miles. The car passed with good margins.
So it has already passed fine with the low compression in the #1 cylinder.
I told the tech that I put some fresh gas in and added some Techron, I'd put a couple of hundred miles on it since then. He said to burn completely through the whole tank of treated gas, then add some premium gas. He added that in his experience, that every time someone adds some type of additive, the sniffer will pick it up and immediately fail the test. He said that if I wanted, he would run it through again today. I told him that I would take his advice, and run through the treated gas and add some fresh premium. I'd give that a try first, since the retest is free, and another test would be 80.00.
Mileage was 217,513 for the test that failed. Today I was at 217,750 miles, so I've run quite a bit of treated gas through the engine. It was also about 50 miles ago that I pulled and cleaned the MAF sensor.
Yes, I told him that my old Explorer had passed the smog tests twice during the time that I had it. It had over 265,000 miles, but maybe it had the top end freshened up before I got it.
Of course, my old Explorer doesn't matter, or have anything to do with my current predicament. But the desperate grasp at straws, looking for a parallel.
I had considered that my '96 had a lot of miles, and I had previously thought that I didn't want to get involved in any engine work or rebuilding. That's why I was looking for a newer Mustang with less mileage. I was hoping that the '96 would continue to pass smog until I could sell it. Or as I continued to hold onto it. I think that I would rather replace the engine with either a good used engine or a re manufactured long block.
I just went to a site for re manufactured engines, Powertrain Products, and a long block motor would be approx. 3,500 bucks. That's a bit of money. A transmission would be approx. 2,300 bucks.
Now we're starting to talk some real money, but that would get me a car with a virtually new power train.
The alternative would be to find a good low mileage used engine, or a wrecked car with a good engine and transmission. That transplant would be a lot more work.
Should I go either of those routes, or should I just cut my losses?
It all comes down to whether or not the car can pass the re test. If it passes, I'll have a couple of years to save up some money or to find the right deal.
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Update! Good News, Today my Mustang passed it's retest! The passing margins are even better than the test that I passed in April of '22.
It's been almost a month since my car failed the smog test in January.
After the failure, the shop gave me 90 days to come back for a free re test. As I had posted, the car hadn't done many miles since the last test was done in April '22. To prepare for the re test, I put in half a tank of fresh gas, added a half can of Techron additive, and started to burn up the old and new treated gas. After I ran the level down, I pulled and cleaned the MAF sensor, added another half tank of gas, added the rest of the Techron, and drove some more.
I went by the shop armed with my past tests to discuss the matter with the tech. I asked about the possibility of bad cats. He explained that the results weren't consistent with a catalytic converter failure in his experience. He asked if I wanted to try the retest and I told him that I still had quite a bit of treated gas left in the tank. He advised me that the additive would be detected by the machine and would result in an instant failure.His advice was to burn all the treated gas, then run some good premium gas through the car, then come back.
Yesterday I drove the car until the fuel level was quite low and added four gallons of Chevron premium. Then I drove it for 70 miles, and added another four gallons of Chevron premium this morning and drove the car for an additional 40 miles. Total mileage since the failed test was 374 miles. Unfortunately, the shop was backed up and I would have to wait over two hours for the re test.
It was worth the wait, it passed and the margins were even better than last year!
At 15 mph. HC is allowed 50 ppm max, mine was measured at 22 ppm.
At 25 mph. HC is allowed 34 ppm max, mine was measured at 7 ppm.
I really feel that I dodged a bullet, but I should not have been so lackadaisical in my approach to the original test. Lessons learned?
Don't let the car sit for four months with only a small quantity of cheap gas in the tank and then go directly to the test station. I should have started daily driving the car at least a month before the test was due. Filling it with fresh gas, and maybe a gas additive. Run the tank full of treated gas completely through the system. Cleaning the MAF sensor is easy and could help.
Then I would start running it on better gas, and maybe run a half a tank of premium through the tank and keep some premium in it for the test. I would also be sure to run the car for at least 30-40 miles before I arrive at the test station.
It appears that my original premise, that the car should be able to pass subsequent smog tests in the future should still hold true. I will be adding very little annual mileage and the passing margins are still pretty good.
At least that's the hope!
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| My '96 retains it's place in my heart, and in my driveway! |
As I was leaving, I told the tech, "This gives me 90 days to sell it, or almost two more years to drive it!"
It is very nice to have options
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