Question : 3100 O2 sensor and emissions question

[primesuspect]

I am going in this week for an emission test. I have a service engine light on. Car is sluggish, but has brand new wires on it. have sprayed out the tb with cleaner. I suspect my O2 is bad. wondering if anyone has tips on waking this thing up a bit. Will aged plugs wreck the new O2? dont want to waste the cash on a new o2 and bugger it up with plugs that are so so.

[60dgrzbelow0]

It might be worth a healthy dosing of a full tank of quality gasoline with a Beer Mug sized gulp of Chevron Techron...and then take the car for a leisurely drive on the local Interstate. Make a note (or even a brief sound/video) of your idle RPM and any sputtering or stuttering B4 you doctor the gas tank ...and of course... have close listen to the car when you get home after the jaunt and pull into the driveway. Listen and compare it to what you heard B4 you left.

[primesuspect]

passed the etest. HC was at the limit though.

[60dgrzbelow0]

Cool Beenz... For the sake of the work you just performed...Is there any chance that you are using any non-synthetic- Racing Motor Oil... like Valvoline... or Royal Purple? The reason I mention it is that those lubricants are out of spec for PCM/ECM controlled motors because they contain additives like Zinc that are designed to harden and protect the metal parts in the engine...but it plays Hell with all O-too sensors and will completely coat the Platinum screens in catalytic converters...making all that hardware FUBAR.

[primesuspect]

yea man. I'm thinking i may slap some new plugs in it. I have Bosch Platinums but i wonder if they are any good. They are not old, but I have racked the KM's on em

[60dgrzbelow0]

Plats are good for around 100K as long as they were never dropped or touched for adjustment. Sparks are cheap enough though ...and are the next logical thing to R&R...even if you keep your Bosch Pins in the holes. It also easy to forget to open any Haynes Manual you might have to the page about, "How to Read your Spark Plugs" and lay it on the fender ...as you pull each plug... you can make quick comparison to the book images and see if anything is a'miss'...

[primesuspect]

Yea I have looked at the front three and they look alright. Its snowing out here though, so i dont really want to yank the motor forward to get at the back three. argh. I need a shop. I'm gonna slap on a lower k EGR as well to see if I get a bit of benefit. And im gonna splurge and get an OBD II scanner.