From the Ashes » Auto

Failed Smog Test in California

phoeniix — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 15:55:41 +0000

I recently failed my smog test in my 1995 Civic EX. I have 175k miles on the car and my catalytic converter needs replacing. I didnt want to spend $1000′s of dollars making all the necessary repairs so I spoke with my neighbor who messes with cars. He suggested to try the following:

The most important thing to do before going to get smogged, is to get your engine and exhaust system hot. Drive around for 30 minutes in 4th gear to flush out extra particles.
Replace your spark plugs. If a plug isn’t firing properly your going to have much more than just exhaust coming out.
Replace your air filter.
Run though one tank of gas with fuel system cleaner.
Fill up the tank with premium gas before going to get smogged.

Some other things to try are:

Replace the fuel filter to ensure that only gas is getting combusted.
Get an oil change.

For me, doing steps 1-5 helped me pass my smog test. I only passed by one point, but that gets me through another 2 years before having to address this again.

99 Dodge Ram 1500 5.2L Quad Cab Manual Transmission Problem

phoeniix — Sun, 21 Aug 2005 20:52:44 +0000

My check engine light came on after towing a boat and a uhaul a few hundred miles. My truck has 70k miles on it so its not suprising. The symptom my truck was having was when letting off the gas the truck would jerk forward and backwards. I just got the clutch replaced so I thought maybe there was something wrong with that. I thought I better see if the check engine light was the problem first because thats usually some cheap sensor that went bad. So I bought a diagnostic computer from Auto Zone and hooked it up to the OBD II port. It came back with error Code P0121
TPS / Pedal Position Sensor A
CKT Range / Perf

So after doing some research online, I went to Napa and bought the OEM TPS for 49 bucks with tax, Its attached to the air intake manifold on top of the 5.2 L engine and walla! That solved my problem. The truck is riding like brand new.

5th gear problem

phoeniix — Thu, 12 May 2005 03:41:45 +0000

I just bought a very nice 95 honda civic in pretty good condition. The clutch needed to be replaced so I had that done. However one small thing happened that could have been very expensive. The mechanics somehow, forgot to refill the transmission fluid back to normal, so on my way home from work it completely popped out of 5th gear and grinded a bit. After a few days of searching online, I learned it was the transmission and not the clutch. So checking the fluid level I found there wasnt any. Lovely. After refilling with about 2 quarts of manual transmission oil bought from the honda repair center, I can now drive using my 5th gear, Yay!

Note to self: inspect all repairs done after taking to any mechanic.