Problems with New York State inspection!

[Corsis]

Hey, new poster here. Just got an 85 Vette, only 31,7104 original miles. Anyway everything is relativly mint about the car. I had to replace the master cylinder, but other than that everything seems to be very smooth. Today i bring the car in to get inspected and being that its older than 10 years old, New York requires the car be run on a dynomometer at 60mph for 15 minutes. Now the dyno keeps aborting the test because the car is "running hot" as the guy told me. Now he says this is very common as the car is not moving so there is no air circulation. My question is how do i get around this problem. I could understand if the car wouldnt pass inspection for mechanical/emissions related problems, but this seems to be a flaw of the NYS system that does not make it easy for older cars to pass. Regardless of the shape theyre in.

 

[JRMaroon]

Did the inspection shop have a large fan to blow air through the front of the car? This isn't going to supply a 60 MPH flow of air but it would help. This is what the shops I've seen in Atlanta do. I don't know about the L98 cars but my fans or at least one of them only come on when the car is moving below a set speed.

 

[Corsis]

I was thinking the same thing. Im not sure if they have one, but i would imagine they do.

Edit: I just spoke to them and they were running a fan on it the first 2 times. So apparently that is going to change anything.

 

[Hrtbeat1]

Open the hood for one. Also have the shop position the fan directly in front of the front license plate angled upwards (the Vette is a bottom breather) Check inside the radiator shroud for blockage (you would be surprised at the amount of stuff that gets sucked up and lodged in there) You might try adding a bottle of Redline WaterWetter it helps make the coolant more efficient. One other thing to try is having the A/C on during the test (yes it sounds backwards, but the computer will turn the fans on when the A/C is on) Oops I think the '85 has a belt driven fan and not electrics so I'm not sure if this still applies.

Hope this helps some and good luck


G

 

[Vettefan87]

What exactly were the coolant temps you were seeing during the tests? And when do they abort it for being to hot?

If it is electronic definetly turn the AC on, it doesnt matter what speed the blower is on and the main fan will kick on. Maybe waiting till 232 (I think when the fan kicks on) Might be to late. But I am not sure if the 85 is an electronic fan or not, I would think it is though
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[Corsis]

Not sure on the coolant temps. I will ask the guy tomorrow when i go back there. I believe i read somewhere the the 85 is indeed an electronic fan, and that the fan comes on around 215.

Would changing the thermostat from the stock 192 to lower 170/160 one be a good idea?
Im pretty sure that if i take the car upstate outside of the metro NYC area the tests are easier and the car doesnt need to be run on a dyno. That could be a simpler plan as i have a residence up there.

Thanks for the advice, i will definitley open the hood, turn the AC on and try positioning the fan to blow underneath. Just from driving the car for a short amount of time i dont think ive ever seen the coolant temp above 205. Its usually around 190+ when driving around time when the engine is fully heated up.

 

[bill81vette]

Hey, new poster here. Just got an 85 Vette, only 31,7104 original miles. Anyway everything is relativly mint about the car. I had to replace the master cylinder, but other than that everything seems to be very smooth. Today i bring the car in to get inspected and being that its older than 10 years old, New York requires the car be run on a dynomometer at 60mph for 15 minutes. Now the dyno keeps aborting the test because the car is "running hot" as the guy told me. Now he says this is very common as the car is not moving so there is no air circulation. My question is how do i get around this problem. I could understand if the car wouldnt pass inspection for mechanical/emissions related problems, but this seems to be a flaw of the NYS system that does not make it easy for older cars to pass. Regardless of the shape theyre in.

I've never even heard of this!!!!,my vette is an81 and I haven't done this!I will however check!unless this is a nyc thing but I doubt it.sound like somebody is taking you for a ride,$$$ wise!!! If I were you I'd find another inspection shop.

welcome to CAC!!!!

 

[Vettefan87]

Not sure on the coolant temps. I will ask the guy tomorrow when i go back there. I believe i read somewhere the the 85 is indeed an electronic fan, and that the fan comes on around 215.

Would changing the thermostat from the stock 192 to lower 170/160 one be a good idea?
Im pretty sure that if i take the car upstate outside of the metro NYC area the tests are easier and the car doesnt need to be run on a dyno. That could be a simpler plan as i have a residence up there.

Thanks for the advice, i will definitley open the hood, turn the AC on and try positioning the fan to blow underneath. Just from driving the car for a short amount of time i dont think ive ever seen the coolant temp above 205. Its usually around 190+ when driving around time when the engine is fully heated up.

I am running a 160 degree Thermostat, and it helped a great deal in cooling, but if the car is indeed sitting this might not help that much though. I am not sure about the 85, but on mine it was around 230, I wonder why they would have changed it. But if you have the AC on the fan should run

 

[IH2LOSE]

Chances are he is not placing the fan in a location that is cooling the radiator down, or there is a problem with the cooling system on the car.

I would suggest dropping the car off the night before so its ice cold in the morning ,and ask the inspector to run your car thru first thing in the morning when its cool out

Or Find another shop.

Where are you located in NY

 

[IH2LOSE]

I've never even heard of this!!!!,my vette is an81 and I haven't done this!I will however check!unless this is a nyc thing but I doubt it.sound like somebody is taking you for a ride,$$$ wise!!! If I were you I'd find another inspection shop.

welcome to CAC!!!!

NOPE its correct, south of Orange County New York we are required to have an emitions test on our Vechicles. They connect it to a dyno and test what is coming out of the excaust.The newer cars get connected to a computer to read the black box,if your box has any trouble codes it fails.

Here is some information

http://www.nydmv.state.ny.us/vehsafe.htm#einspect

 

[Corsis]

Well, just got back from the shop. The bastards wont pass the car. I think im going to just go with taking it up to buffalo with me and having it inspected there since the emissions is much easier.

This guy is telling me now its the EGR. I could understand this as a reason for failing emissions, but a reason for running hot? Isnt the purpose of EGR just to recirculate and reduce NOx ...

 

[John Robinson]

Run Don't Walk

Go somewhere else. It appears obvious to me that the shop you are going to does not know diddly about what they are doing. Find out the temperature they are rejecting at and get back to us with what it is. It may well be the normal operating temp for your car and their equipment is giving a false reject. Remember this if you graduate 40 people from a mechanics school the guy that finished 40th is still called a mechanic.:W

 

[IH2LOSE]

Go somewhere else. It appears obvious to me that the shop you are going to does not know diddly about what they are doing. Find out the temperature they are rejecting at and get back to us with what it is. It may well be the normal operating temp for your car and their equipment is giving a false reject. Remember this if you graduate 40 people from a mechanics school the guy that finished 40th is still called a mechanic.:W

The mechanic may be seeing high temperatures while he is sitting in the car while trying to run it on the dyno and may be doing the right thing by not allowing the car to overheat during the 20 minute dyno runs

 

[Vettefan87]

The mechanic may be seeing high temperatures while he is sitting in the car while trying to run it on the dyno and may be doing the right thing by not allowing the car to overheat during the 20 minute dyno runs

True but Corsis said that he has never seen temps above 205 while cruising, and I find it hard to believe if something was wrong with the cooling system it would run that cool for a stock C4.

 

[IH2LOSE]

True but Corsis said that he has never seen temps above 205 while cruising, and I find it hard to believe if something was wrong with the cooling system it would run that cool for a stock C4.

Take a look at the picture ,Where could they possible set a fan to mimic the air coming across the radiator at 60 mph.

The dyno they normally use is a drive on. You back the rear of the car up onto the dyno. Front wheels stay on the ground Rear of the car is about 14" off the ground. So the nose is probably 3" off the ground.

No way to keep it cool on a hot day

 

[Vettefan87]

I still would like to know the temps that the mechanic was seeing. These C4's were designed to run over 230 coolant temps, since mine with the stock setting didnt turn on till somewhere around 235, and the booster not coming on until later then that.

 

[Hrtbeat1]

The dyno they normally use is a drive on. You back the rear of the car up onto the dyno. Front wheels stay on the ground Rear of the car is about 14" off the ground. So the nose is probably 3" off the ground.

No way to keep it cool on a hot day

Yea with a set-up like that they would have to get one of those HD leaf blowers and cram it under the bumper.

Even stock these cars are pretty efficient at cooling when at speed, but sitting with NO airflow and reving above idle for 20 minutes its going to run hot. Idleing for 20 minutes the computer should be able to run the fans properly to keep it within limits. I still don't like mine to run much over 200, but i've made changes ie. alum radiator, t-stat, electric H2O pump, that help keep my temps low.

There is no way that the EGR valve would be causing it to run hot, maybe fail a sniffer but not run hot. Sounds like you need to go somewhere north of Orange County, or at least find a different inspection station.


G

 

[toptechx6]

Changing inspection locations won't help unless you change the address on your registration since the car must pass the correct test for the county where registered.
Perhaps the test technician is telling you Nox is high and believes that is caused by running too hot, that scenario is entirely possible.
The advice to take the car for inspection when stone cold could be a mistake, HC and CO usually test higher under those conditions. You may pass the Nox portion and fail for HC or CO, good luck.

 

[Corsis]

Changing inspection locations won't help unless you change the address on your registration since the car must pass the correct test for the county where registered.
Perhaps the test technician is telling you Nox is high and believes that is caused by running too hot, that scenario is entirely possible.
The advice to take the car for inspection when stone cold could be a mistake, HC and CO usually test higher under those conditions. You may pass the Nox portion and fail for HC or CO, good luck.

Yea, i have an address in a different county that i would change the registration too. if this is the course of action i take.

 

[Corsis]

I still would like to know the temps that the mechanic was seeing. These C4's were designed to run over 230 coolant temps, since mine with the stock setting didnt turn on till somewhere around 235, and the booster not coming on until later then that.

The guy told me the car was running over 240 oil temp and with 10 degrees for the coolant. The car finally did successfully run the dyno without running hot, after doing it the next morning when it was cold. However it still failed the emissions. So im going to see if i can look at the EGR this weekend. That would make sense at least why the NOx was too high.

Thanks for all the advice though to everyone.