Passed!!!

Finally did it!!! Finally got both of the cars that require a smog check to pass!!!

As previously mentioned, the check for Zonker was coming up. If I'm not mistaken, it would have expired tomorrow. I'd been having a lot of frustration with my normal place, and a friend had referred me to his place, who he's had great success with getting more difficult cars to pass. I'd taken Kutcher over there to see if he could help me out, and apparently since one shop has already entered the information, they wouldn't be able to do anything for me.

Not wanting a repeat of the issues with Kutcher, I took Zonker there around a month ago. As mentioned, I hadn't been having any issue with the check engine light or trouble codes since I'd had the exhaust done, so I didn't think it was going to be an issue. The guy pre checks it, and tells me he can't pass it as is, since it has a cold air intake installed. I'll either need to replace it with the factory intake and filter, or get a California Air Resources Board exemption number for the current intake.

I check into it, and it looks to be the dealer installed GM Performance Parts intake, part number 19157849. I locate the CARB exemption order number for it, and make note of it, and return to the smog check place. The guy tells me I can't just have the EO number, I have to have the underhood sticker. Grrr...

I try to get in touch with the manufacturer, AEM, who were the ones who made it for GM. Apparently, they are now under K&N's umbrella, and they were unable to locate any record of them having used this CARB exemption order. To be fair, it was at a minimum 15 years ago. OK, plan B...

I located a GM Performance Parts logo, and made up the sticker myself!!! Picked up some label paper, and... when I went to print it out, my trusty printer says the print head isn't installed!!! I pop it out, put it back in, and now it's showing... only I'm out of black ink!!! I order a new set of inks, and when they're delivered, I install them, but the printer is saying that the print head isn't installed again!!! I pull it out, give it a thorough cleaning, put it back together, and it finally shows that it's installed. I do the test and alignment pages, and partway through, it has the print head issue again!!! Mess with it some more, and finally get it to get set up properly, and print out the sticker. I also printed out the CARB EO paperwork, and took it along when I got it checked. It passed without any further issues!!!

In other news, there's a good chance I'll be picking up a printer to replace my beloved Canon Pixima MP610. I could possibly buy a new print head, but they're not cheap, and there's no guarantee it would fix the issue.

Kutcher, on the other hand... when I'd last mentioned the trouble I'd been having, I had installed a new set of injectors. They seemed to be working great, they even bumped the MPG up a decent amount!!! Naturally, took care of the vacuum leak. Still had the P0031 code, Oxygen (A/F) Sensor Heater Control Circuit Low, though, so I took it back to the smog check place. They say, “Oh, we're going to have to do a further analysis to determine the issue, another $175, but we'll take that off any other repairs”. Go for it, I pretty much have no other options. The tech checks it out, and first pulls the connector, and says, “there's the problem, whoever put this O2 sensor in bent the contacts and it's not connecting”... OK, first, it was you that put it in, second, the plug is pretty well protected, there's not really much chance of that happening... He supposedly gets them so everything is making contact, and it still has the same issue. It's almost their closing time, so they tell me to bring it back tomorrow. This was back when I was still working, so I had my wife take it back. She gets in touch with me the next day and tells me they're telling her, “whoever put the O2 sensor in cross threaded it...” Once again, it was you that put it in, you damned clown!!! They finally locate the original transaction where they did, and said it was bad and needs replaced, which they did at no cost. Shockingly, the same code I've taken it there four damn times for still is coming back!!!

I consulted with the guy who'd done the engine swap on the Kutch. His shop is right next door to an exhaust shop, and he double checks with them. He tells me that the O2 sensor has to be an OEM Toyota or a Denso, almost none of the other suppliers O2 sensors will work. I did a bit of research after he'd told me that, and it's well backed up on a lot of Toyota forums, for all kinds of Toyota vehicles.

I ordered a Denso replacement, and put it in, and that took care of it!!! However, it now has a new check engine code. P0420, Catalyst System Efficiency Below Threshold. A lot of the information out there indicates it could very possibly be a bad catalytic converter. However, on a lot of the Toyota forums, other owners had success by installing a O2 sensor spacer on the second O2 sensor. I located one that was very reasonably priced, but I didn't realize that it was coming from freakin' China. It took way longer to get here that I would have liked, but it finally got here. Right around the same time, the oil change light came on, so I was able to do both of them at the same time, since I had it up anyway. I reset the computer, and I didn't get that code anymore...

But... now I was getting another code, P0172, System Too Rich. Well, all systems will start off rich when you first start them up. I reset the computer again, and started letting the car warm for a couple of minutes before taking off, and I wasn't getting the code. Nice, I'll run a week to get a good data set and take it on over.

It makes it almost a full week, and it comes back on again. I put in a fresh air cleaner element, even though it wasn't that dirty looking, it had been in there a couple years. That didn't work. I ran a tank of gas with a bottle of fuel system cleaner. That didn't work. I pulled out the mass airflow sensor and cleaned it off. That didn't work. I kept warming it up for a couple of minutes every time I'd start it. It would go for a couple of days with no check engine light, but it was coming back even sooner than it had been at first. There's several things that could cause the rich condition, but since the injectors are fairly new, I was suspecting that one of them wasn't closing off completely. I viewed a couple of tutorials on cleaning your own fuel injectors, and that was going to be my next move, clean the original injectors and put them back in. I took the original set of injectors, and was soaking them in Marvel Mystery Oil, and made up an adapter tube to spray from a nozzle of a can of carb cleaner to the injectors. One of the things the tutorials mentioned was that the filter screen cones will need to be replaced. I looked around at a couple of the usual places, and no one had them, so I went to check Ebay to see if they had them. I found a couple of kits that have a set of filter cones and the seals for just under $20, but while I'm looking, I see a few items down someone is selling a set of 4 new injectors for just under $30!!! That's about what I was paying for 1 injector from Rock Auto!!! Can't beat that, so I order a set.

They show up a few days later, and I install them. I go to start the car, and it's running very rough, and I let it go for a minute to see if it gets them all primed. The check engine light comes on. I turn it off, and check the computer. No codes. I fire it up again, let it run until the check engine light comes on again, shut it down again. Now it has the code stored, P0304, Cylinder #4 Misfire. Since I hadn't been doing anything with the ignition part, I rather suspected it wasn't really a misfire, but an injector not firing. I checked the connection, and when it was verified good, I moved the cylinder #4 injector to #2, and the code followed, now it was P0302. Bad injector out of the box. I pulled the original injectors out of the Marvel Mystery Oil and cleaned them off, swapped the seals from the new ones, and put it back together. Reset the computer, and I haven't seen a check engine light since!!!

After driving Kutcher for a week, I took it back, and it passed without issue!!! I had been considering getting litigious about the $220 and $175 they'd charged me, since I've got a little free time, and could likely prevail for at least part of it, but decided against it. I just don't think I'm going there anymore!!! The last time I'd had Scruffy there for it's smog, the guy's father was running the place (he's the one who pointed me in the right direction on the driving procedure to get all the monitors set back then), but it looks like he's passed it off to the son, and his son doesn't seem to be up to the task!!!

Oh, and while I was working on various electrical systems, I was disconnecting the battery, and towards the end, the battery terminal was falling apart again, and I used a C clamp to hold it together again until I got a replacement. For some reason, that car seems to go through them!!! Actually picked up the replacement on the way back from the place that smogged Zonker!!! I'm pretty sure I'd bought a few before I was axed, but I couldn't locate them. Got one that's made of zinc instead of lead, hopefully that helps it last longer.

I'd made mention that the phone holder – charger in Kutcher wasn't staying in place as it should. Shortly after, the suction cup portion lost it's connection to the arm. I located this one, and have had it in for around a week. It was working quite well, and it actually charges, but my wife knocked it off yesterday, and it hasn't stuck to the center console for any length of time since then. I re positioned the suction cup to the rear center console with the arm pointing straight up, and it seems to be working there!!!

The previous holder had a weight activated holder, where the bottom edge being pushed down would cause the sides to close. This one, as soon as it senses there's a phone in it, it closes the sides with a motor. It has a couple of little buttons on the sides that are touch activated to release the grip. It's supposed to contain a battery to be able to release when the power is off, but if it does, it hasn't charged. It's also not illuminated like the old one was, either.