Failed emissions inspection! 89 Camry

[cammunition]

I'm new to DIY car maintenance, so I'm looking for some wisdom from some of the forum members who, I hope, have been down the same road as myself.

I live in California and have an '89 Toyota Camry that's served me well. I've owned it for about 8 years and use it primarily for commuting. It had 55k miles on it when I bought it, and just the other day I passed 90k miles, so it's still got a lot of life left in it.

The reason I'm on the forum is because the car failed the smog test for the first time ever. The reason? High NOx. At 15 mph it measured 679 with the maximum being 549. At 25 mph I measured a 676 with the maximum being 507.

Fortunately, a couple days before, the check engine light came on while I was driving to work on the freeway. On the way home I took surface streets it didn't come on, and hasn't come on since even after driving the same route on the freeway. What I'm wondering is whether the check engine light is associated with the reason I can't pass.

I checked the codes tonight and found that one problem is with the ignition signal. Chilton says the problem is "the IGF signal from igniter is not input to ECU for 6 consecutive ignitions." It points to an open or short in IFG or IGT circuit from the igniter to ECU.

The second code is an EGR system malfunction. The manual says "EGR gas temp sensor signal (THG) is below 131 degrees F for M/T, 140 degrees F for A/T after driving for 60 seconds in EGR operation range." It points to open in EGR gas temp sensor circuit, a BVSV circuit for EGR, EGR vacuum hose disconnected, valve stuck, Clog in EGR and the ECU again.

Should I still test the O2 sensors just in case the two problems above aren't the reason I failed? Any advice you can send my way would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[eyeball96]

to TN

I moved your thread to the proper forum to help you find solutions to your problems

[Doctor J]

You need to attach a vacuum gage to the hose that goes to the EGR valve and verify that at 15 and 25 mph cruise yiou are getting at least 15 inches of mercury vacuum. (tape the gage to the windshield); if so remove the EGR valve and clean all the gas passages (this including a metal pipe from the head to EGR valve.)
If no vacuum is present, check the EGR vacuum modulator, BVSV and the throttle body prots for cleaningless.
Most offen the vacuum modulator fails, but check it first before installing the new one

[Sturdavj]

WOW …..90K and it failed the California emissions test ? Why’ I had better take it off your hands, the test isn’t that tuff in Oregon

In all seriousness your follow Doc’ J advice and you’ll have at least another 250,000 mi left in it Then we can talk about me taking it off your hands, I hate that new car break in period........