I have a 1991 Accord station wagon, runs great with no problems. Am the 3rd owner of the car and its been taken care of pretty well. Passed the emissions testing today with flying colors but when they went to do the pressure check on the fuel system it did not pass. Supposedly they checked the gas cap separately and it was fine. This is in the state of Arizona.

Without yanking the entire fuel system out of the car checking every hose, connection and what not, has any else had this issue and would really appreciate some hints to where to start looking.

Car has 230,000 miles on it so its been around a while, but as I said runs great and mid-20's fuel mileage. Really appreciate some suggestions.

TIA,

CD

 

I'm not super familiar with those older fuel systems but they are pretty basic. I would start by simply crawling underneath and looking for cracked hoses etc. I think there is a fuel shutoff hose (for fuel nozzles) that runs from the gas tank back up to the neck where the gas cap sits. just reach around and start feeling for old worn/cracked hoses and see what you can find, if that yeilds nothing then it's on to some more drastic tests. Does it leak fuel at all?

 

Thanks and no leaks at all, or would have corrected that first.

Usually its the "O" ring on the fuel cap that goes, then anything else is deeper.

Am just hoping that its not a main fuel filler hose or something that requires me to pull the fuel tank as the tank is 80% full right now. No fumes what so ever and if it was something in that area would think that I would get a whiff of gasoline sometime, and have not.

Will keep looking. Its above 90 right now and too hot for me to be out there until the sun gets a bit lower in the sky, so trying to get some hints as to where to look when it cools off.

Thx,

CD

 

I am not sure what yu are talking about .. ,, the only thing that they test on the fuel system is if the gas cap holds pressure ,, then they test for CO and HC ..
So if you passed the CO and HC and the fuel cap tested ok ,, it should have passed emissions
Oh I am also in AZ.. was the chk engine lite on ??

 

DH,

Thanks and was hoping you would chime in. This was at the testing facility in Phoenix in the middle of town. Not sure if you are in Phoenix or or not.

No error messages on the car at all and the test results were very good. It starts, drives and works fine, no changes at all. HC was .26, CO was 5.23 and NOX was 1.48, all well within legal limits, and 50% under the max on all of the readings except the NOX.

Just looked at the paperwork they gave me and it shows that the gas cap passed the test. Also shows that the "Evap components" passed the test. Then it says "pressure test" Fail.

They put a pressure rig the fuel tank filler and pressurized the system to .5 psi. They then put a clamp on one of the hoses on the lower right side of the engine by the firewall. They would not let me look where they were clamping off the hose. Then let the computer run and it would not pressurize the system, so it failed. A woman was doing the test and she finally called a guy (looked like a supervisor) over and he put the clamp on a different place and it still failed. Not sure what was going on there...

Guy in the office gave me a sheet. Figure 8 shows "typical fuel evap system" and he said that I have a leak between the fuel filler neck and the charcoal cannister in the engine compartment. Excuse me, my computer generated form says "evap components" passed on the car but now he gives me a sheet and told me I have a leak in the "typical fuel evap system"...

I work with airplanes as a mechanic. Am pretty good around machines. This one has me baffled. Would appreciate any suggestions!

Thx,

CD

 

I am in Tucson and the test here is a lot different then up in Phoenix ( Chandler) for 1 thing we do not test for NOX or pressurize the system except the cap and for another the max on the CO is 1.20 , i see up there is a lot higher ,, Wow i would think that 5.23 would be way too high for CO,
sounds like there is a leak in the evap system,, it should be checked out , preferabilly by the dealer , could be as simple as a hose, 2 way valve or any other components in the system

 

Boy, a max of 1.2? My form here shows a max allowable of 12.00! Would think that Phoenix is stilffer on the limits due to our pollution.

Thanks for the info and will start looking for hoses and such that are getting old.

 

Can you go to a different emissions checking station? We don't have emissions checks here in MS so I am not familiar with it. But I would be pretty leery about that place if they said the evap system passed in one place, but then tested it again a different way and said it failed.

 

Well everyone.... Believe that we found the problem and its not the car, but the typical state/govt employee.

Took the car to a local Honda specialist shop and they spent an hour poking, prodding, doing the pressure and smoke test and found nothing out of the ordinary. Put pressure on the system and it held it for 5-10 minutes each time we tried. Pressurized it from the back and the front and still no problems.

Talked with the guys and they felt that the person doing the testing put the clamp on the wrong hose. $77 worth of shop time and half a day of my time out the window.

Took the car to a different inspection shop and let them run the tests. Guy doing the pressure test looked at me funny when I asked "which hose are you clamping" on the car. Told him the story, he looks at the paperwork and says "our shop did not do the last inspection" and I told him "thats why I am at your shop!" and he just smiled.

Car passed the inspection with no changes. I did buy a new gas cap as the gasket on the old one is getting old but the cap tested fine on the first test.

Last question on this is, with the second test my CO was a bit higher than the first one, coming in at 6.23 and NOX as well at 1.74. Limits here in Phoenix are 12.00 and 2.50, so I have some room to work with, but would like to have it as clean as possible.

Is there something in my fuel injection system that is letting out a bit much fuel or is the cat converter getting old? Fuel injection or injectors need cleaning? With 230,000 miles on the car its served me well and wondering if its time for some maintenance in this area.

Thx,

Joe

 

That is what happens when they let a woman get near a car to do any type of automotive work