I spent $3,000 in order to get my 1991deville to pass CA's smog test in Nov, 2010 and trouble in the previous two years. It appears to involve the catalytic convertible. I'm retired with a bad back and the car is very comfortable and the interior and exterior are clean. I hope that I won't have to replace it and have it "junked". What do you think? Thank you.

if cali hooks up to check electronics is only way

It hardly matters what the dealer says, what matters is what they will put in writing for you to show the smog station - maybe a printout of the relevant page of the parts catalogue showing your car vin and the quantity of CATs, preferably with a helpful picture of the exhaust system.

It isn't usual for a 4 cylinder to be fitted with two CATs but it would for a vee engine due to the modern requirement for the CAT to be fitted as close as possible to the engine which heats it quicker to the "light up" temperature and so cuts the high emissions during warmup.
This trend has brought about the introduction of the "manicat", a combined tube steel manifold and CAT. Where a cast iron manifold is used a new type of CAT is being used that bolts directly to it.

A very high performance 4 cylinder engine might have a long branch tube steel manifold or header. This is known as an extractor manifold and brings two pairs of cylinders into a common outlet. It is conceivable this type could be fitted with two CATs.

Your car has presumably passed the smog test previously and will be a matter of record? Could be the smog test guy is new...

I am really glad we don't have this trouble in Europe - we go to the testing station and a probe is placed in the tailpipe and it either passes or fails...

Here is the info on how to do drive cycle successfully...


How to Perform Basic Drive Cycle

Not sure how old the vehicle is, or model, or engine, so I can only give general suggestions. You may need new catyitic converters, or O2 sensors. They sometimes can't be corrected, just replaced.

Check everything that is connected to a vacuum line, check the CAT and the injectors and last run a compression test.

Take it to autozone or another place like it and have them read the codes and tell us what they are.

Hi!
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Good Luck!! A HELPFUL - 4 THUMBS - rating for this solution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for using FixYa.

16 Degrees if you have the 1.8L PFI DOHC 4cyl

If it was originally intended for Texas, it's probably been made as a 49-state-compliant vehicle (CA has stricter emissions). To pass in CA, you may need some new parts for the truck in order to get it to pass. Or you may find that the best course of action is to sell the truck and buy a CA-emissions car.

The CA DMV may well have information available on how to get non-CA-compliant cars to pass the CA emissions testing.

CA you can take the car to a referree and get a one time waiver if you have spent a minimum of $450 on repairs not including smog fees. Gives you two years to get it fixed. Smog Referee Call Center
Toll Free: 1.800.622.7733
You can also sell the car to the state for "up to" $1,000