A Question About Emissions Additives

"Jay, the practical enthusiast" (jay-m)
06/08/2018 at 23:04 • Filed to: emissions testing

Picture unrelated

This is mostly for His Stigness, but maybe other Oppos know something about it as well. A long time ago Florida had emissions testing and my mom’s 2 year old Saturn somehow failed. The technician showed me that it was just a little bit out of range and told me to go to any auto parts store and buy an emissions additive.

I followed his advice and chose one that guaranteed I would pass. A week later it passed well within range. The stuff didn’t just work, it dramatically reduced my emissions. I just checked amazon and you can still buy it.

Florida doesn’t test anymore, but my question is: in states that do emissions testing, how would you know if someone was using it?

Bonus question: How does it work? Does it actually reduce emissions or just confuse the testing machines?

DISCUSSION (12)

His Stigness > Jay, the practical enthusiast
06/08/2018 at 23:50

While I have not done any research on the specific “guaranteed to pass” additives, as I actually lump them in with other snake oil products, I’m glad that it worked for your mom. And judging by the success I would gather it works in the same way my induction service does, ie: it cleans the fuel system, the combustion chamber, the oxygen sensor(s), and the catalytic converter.

The inductions service I do involves using BG products, which I believe can now be bought at auto parts stores. I use 44k (PN 208) in the gas tank, and then with a special tool I use BG 206 (Intake System Cleaner) and introduce that into the intake system which can clean any built up carbon on the valves (which is possible even on a port injection car if you use low-quality gas and never do an Italian Tune-Up); it cleans the combustion chamber of carbon build which reduces compression, which in turns raises emissions; after it’s cleaned the combustion chamber it moves into the exhaust where it can clean up built up crap on the oxygen sensor, and finally it cleans out the catalytic converter(s).

So I imagine those guaranteed to pass things *can* do the same thing my induction service does. But I have generally not seen it work because most cars have an underlying issue. If a car has high readings across the board (HC, CO, and NOx) then it is generally a bad catalytic converter. But I have used a modified induction service to actually clean them out and pass with acceptable numbers.

Now, having said all that, the technician that told you or your mom to go get that stuff is an old school tech, and he wasn’t giving you the best advice. Yeah, it worked, which is great, and it sounds like she should have just been using Top Tier gas and give the car an occasional Italian Tune Up. But generally, most cars need some sort of work. Even slightly worn out spark plugs will cause a car to fail because you’re not getting complete combustion. And when you combine worn out components with constant crappy gas, you’re going to have a dirty combustion chamber which doesn’t have full compression, so now you have more of an issue.

But here’s what I recommend for any car, no matter if it gets tested or not:

Go out and get a few cans of BG 44k and add a can to a full tank, and then two tanks later add another can. This will ensure that your fuel system will be nice and clean.

Then:

Use Top Tier gas. Using Top Tier gas all of the time will ensure that your fuel system stays clean, and it will also help to minimize buildup in the combustion chamber.

And lastly: do an Italian Tune Up. If you already drive your car nice and hard a lot, great!

Those methods have worked for me in my Mercedes to great effect. My car has over 160k miles on it, and I bought it with a 130k, and I’ve tested the emissions quite a few times and the numbers are all at zero. I’ve tested other identical cars to mine, with fewer miles, but not driven or cared by me, and their numbers are much higher. And I have done many induction services on customers cars and I have verified with my gas analyzer that the cleaning was effective. And in terms of the just the 44k, I’ve told a few customers to try it and to come back, and the numbers were lower. Not enough to where they might pass in two years, but it was only one can.

So hopefully I answered your quesiton. If you have any more I’m happy to provide what answers I can.

Spanfeller is a twat > His Stigness
06/09/2018 at 00:16

“Do an Italian Tune Up.”

It’s probably irrelevant, but my grandfather turns on his car, and then leaves it running for 15 minutes before setting off, he says it’s to make sure the car’s engine is warmed.

He drives a c200 bluetec.

I suspect such behavior could cause carbon buildup in modern cars, but I could be wrong.

Jay, the practical enthusiast > His Stigness
06/09/2018 at 00:18

Thanks for taking the time to give such a detailed answer. I honestly never even thought about all the underlying causes to a failed test.

His Stigness > Spanfeller is a twat
06/09/2018 at 00:30

I’m 25% sure that it would.

15 minutes? Why can’t we have a happy medium between the zero seconds people give cars now, and that 15 minutes? I only wait 1-2 minutes and then take off gingerly.

His Stigness > Jay, the practical enthusiast
06/09/2018 at 00:33

If your not a technician than why would you?

But really the key to passing an emissions test is just maintaining your car and using good fuel. Most of the cars I fail are just due to lack of maintenance. Oxygen sensors being a big part of that. BMW recommends them every 100k miles, and everyone should follow that. As an O2 sensor gets old, it gets slow. And a slow sensor means shitty fuel response, so you’re not running the engine at its best, so you cause other problems.

Spanfeller is a twat > His Stigness
06/09/2018 at 00:37

must be a thing of cars with carburetors.

I generally let the revs settle and then I set off with calm until the car reaches operating temperature.

Alfalfa > His Stigness
06/09/2018 at 02:38

Ae there clear advantages to BG products vs other cleaning additives like Seafoam? Have you looked for any difference between products in emissions testing? I’ve always used Seafoam, but if there’s something better then I obviously want that instead.

MM54 > Jay, the practical enthusiast
06/09/2018 at 10:43

I came here for the FB. They look very sharp in white.

Ever seen all the emissions control crap under the hood of one? They don’t call it the rat’s nest for no reason.

Also, what magic did you have to do to get Florida to stop doing emissions testing? Need to work out that spell here.

His Stigness > Spanfeller is a twat
06/09/2018 at 12:51

It definitely is.

I do the same. But some cars take a while. I borrow my friends Tundra often but it takes forever for the revs to settle. I guess that’s common for Toyotas. But on my Mercedes, it only takes about 30 seconds.

But in a quest to reduce the wear in the engine, which I’m sure you know occurs mainly on a cold start, I switched from 5W40 in my Mercedes to 0W40. And I do oil analysis on every oil change and I’ve verified it was the right choice. It also helps that I use an extra additive package and I add MOS2 at the start of each interval.

His Stigness > Alfalfa
06/09/2018 at 13:04

I’ve tested BG vs Seafoam and there are clear measurable differences between the two. So much so that I think Seafoam is worthless as an additive and the only effects you might notice are from the placebo effect. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, “Jack of all trades, Master of none.” That’s how Seafoam is. In the gas tank, it’s far too diluted to be effective at all. For the same price as Seafoam, you’re better off getting a bottle of Techron and putting it in there. In terms of using Seafoam to clean the combustion chamber, again we have the problem of it being designed to work with too many things. It’s not powerful enough to be effective. And in terms of putting it in the oil, well, I am still not a fan of using engine flushes, and I had to open up an engine before and after, and have the BG sales rep do a hard sell to get me to use their oil flush on customer cars and my own (BG EPR 109). BG EPR is the only engine flush I will use or recommend because I know it’s safe, but even then BG recommends NEVER to use it on an engine with heavy sludge because you run the risk of loosening chunks in the engine and clogging up oil passages or the pickup screen, and then you’ve just fried the engine. The reason I use BG is that it works little by little, and it eventually breaks down in the oil.

If you were just using Seafoam in the gas tank I would say just add BG 44k to the tank every 500-1000 miles depending on the size of your tank and how many miles it takes to empty the tank. Basically, add it every 3rd tank to make sure you don’t have any 44k left in the tank. But once you do that a few times then just do it every oil change.

Jay, the practical enthusiast > MM54
06/09/2018 at 15:41

When I took that picture the owner wasn’t around and I was in a hurry. But if I could have gotten them to open the hood I bet it would have been incredible.

Our emissions testing was stopped mostly because the governor (I think it was Jeb Bush) said it was a waste of time and money because Florida already met federal air standards.

MM54 > Jay, the practical enthusiast
06/09/2018 at 18:05

I’d take a picture but it seems to have fallen off mine, whoops!