To get your vehicle registered in Atlanta, GA, it has to pass an emissions test every year. This can be a pain if your automobile fails the test. Before you can register your car, you have to get the problem fixed and a passing grade on the emissions retest. Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered here at McCurley’s Shell. We can find the reason why your vehicle failed, fix it, and retest it.
Determining Why Your Vehicle Failed the Emissions Test
The quickest way to figure out why your vehicle failed the emissions test is to decipher the error code returned from the test. Suppose this doesn’t give us all of the information we need. We’ll run a vehicle diagnostic check on your automobile to get to the root of the problem.
Reasons Why Your Car Failed the Emissions Test
Anything that can throw off your vehicle’s exhaust balance will cause it to fail an emissions test. Your vehicle’s exhaust is only allowed to have a certain amount of carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, nitrogen oxide, non-methane organic gases, particulate matter, and other emissions in it.
If anything pushes the numbers above the maximum allowable amount, your automobile will fail the emissions test. Generally, the problem is found in the exhaust or fuel system, although engine trouble can also affect vehicle emissions. Things that will make your car fail the test include
- Dirty motor oil that increases the release of hydrocarbons into the emissions output
- An air/fuel mixture that has too much gasoline in it and, thereby, too many harmful emissions
- Worn spark plugs that cannot complete the combustion cycle in the combustion chamber
- A loose/leaking gas cap that does not seal off the gas tank and releases evaporated gas.
- A dirty air filter that increases the hydrocarbon levels in the emissions like dirty oil does
- A check engine light for any reason whatsoever, including a false check engine warning
Any of these things can cause an emissions test failure and, except where noted in the bulleted list, they are usually attributed to a failing MAF sensor, a bad oxygen sensor, or problems with the catalytic converter, which converts carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide before releasing it into the exhaust.
As we said above, a failed emissions test is not the end of the world. Bring your automobile into McCurley’s Shell in Atlanta, GA, and we’ll find out what caused the test failure. Once we know what’s wrong, we’ll fix it and retest your car, truck, or C/SUV.
