Hello all,

First post and that too, a cry for help. I bought used 1999 Dakota Sport with a 318 in it, and over 205,000 miles. Went straight for an emissions test (we have to get that done here in Toronto) and it failed!! I was miserable after that. Did a lot of research and reading, but found no concrete solutions.

I am very tight on the budget and have found that sometimes, you have to replace the cat, EGR valve or both. I dont have the money to do it, so I looked into finding ways to circumvent it (temporarily), so I can get my validation sticker. Found different solutions, ranging from Methyl Hydrate to Sea Foam. Now here is the dilemma - both these products perhaps have mutually exclusive effects. I will explain after sharing my test results:

1. HC - Acceptable limit - 50....mine was 56 (FAIL)
2. CO - I passed
3. NOx - Acceptable limit is 550...mine was 846 (FAIL).

I have learned that Sea Foam helps with bringing the NOx numbers down. And methyl hydrate helps with the HC numbers. However, putting methyl hydrate would cause the engine to burn fuel faster, which will heat up the engine and cause NOx increase, right? How do I take care of both then? If I use Sea Foam, it will eliminate the crud and carbon stuff from the system (I poured half a can into the intake manifold thru the brake booster vacuum line) and poured the rest into the gas tank that was around 1/8 full.

Here are my questions. I am very new to the Mopar world, and despite having read a lot on this and other forums about the emissions issues, I still am drawing blanks as to WHAT I need to do and WHEN, in what sequence. ANY help would be appreciated.

1. Should I wait till I run it dry and then refill that gas tank it for emissions? The gas tank has around half a can of sea foam in it mixed with petrol (87 octane)
2. Use methyl hydrate as well? When?
3. Will a higher octane fuel HELP lower the HC numbers or increase them?

It is very cold here and I have no place to work on the truck to fix things. What are the different things I can do in the engine bay without spending an arm and a leg to fix this high HC and NOx problem? I was looking for info on how to do the EGR valve and TB clean-up but couldnt find much.

I just want to pass the e-test.

Please help me.........

(Sad to put this up as my FIRST post on this forum)

Munib

 

Are there any codes on evap?

 

I have no idea what an evap is and how to find the codes. Do I need some special sensor/gauge for that?

 

No one to help?

 

First I'd try a good tune up. Plugs wires, cap and rotor. I don't think higher Octane will help much but sea foam might. Also check you air filter.
PS or you may need a new catalytic converter.

 

Thanks for the replies, guys.......

Cats are expensive to replace. I will keep that as the LAST resort since I have lost my job and am really tight on finances. Right now, I have time & money only for cheap solutions and all I want to achieve is to pass the emissions. Many people on numerous car forums on the internet have provided solutions that worked from them, ranging from making holes in the cat-back exhaust, to using sea foam to reduce the NOx levels, to methyl hydrate for lowering the HC levels. I was wondering if Dakota owners have had experiences like this, where they used many products to achieve lower HC, CO and NOx readings, without needing to replace any parts.

BTW, is it true that a 1999 Dodge Dakota Sport with a V8 Magnum does not have an EGR valve? Or is it just true for USA and not for California or Canada (we have similar ****ty emissions standards as Cali, BTW)? I have been searching for a manual to understand my truck's engine bay, but so far no luck. I dont even know where the TPS or EGR are located. My experience is with Skylines, so please pardon my ignorance with the Mopar stuff.....

 

No egr. To check for codes turn your key to the on position 3 times(dont start) wait till the odo pops up then turn off and repeat 2 more times. On the third time leave on and the codes will pop up. If there is none then done will appear in the odo.

 

I was asking if you had a check engine light which indicated an evap or emissions problem. If so it might be easier to narrow down.

 

its probably o2 sensors. they usually are the main culprits to failed emissions, then a bad cat.

 

Alright, pardon my ignorance, but the Odometer is the one on the left bottom corner of the gauge cluster, right? My truck also has something overhead that gives fuel economy, trip, distance to empty, etc.. data.

My odo continuously just shows the total mileage, and nothing else.

I did the key turn thing, and the odometer just showed me the total mileage. I was looking for 'done' on it, but that word never appeared. Maybe I am too dumb to get it, but did you mean that the code would appear INSIDE the space where the odo numbers are? Or would it be in the form of one of the check lights (tranny temp, ABS, engine, fuel, washer fluid, etc..)? Because I didnt get any codes flashing inside the odo and all other signal lights went off one by one.

So confused. Am I doing it wrong? I turned it to ON position three times, but not sure if I did it quick enough or slow enough. When I do it, do I wait for the whole gauge cluster to light up every time and then turn it off? Or do I do ON-OFF fast enough to not let any lights pop up? And then the second round, how fast do I do it?

PS: I dont think my O2 sensors are faulty because it passed on idle. It was only at a certain rpm that it messed up. And if there were problems with the cat, wouldnt I feel a loss of power due to clogging? Im not sure.

At any rate, I also feel that in Canada, they did put the EGR valves on. Do they have EGRs in California? And I see so many ads for 1999 Dakota EGRs and their gaskets. Not sure what it true. Anyone have a pic of the EGR that COULD be on this engine and where it would be?


Thanks......