bigdragon Faiakes said: Well done to the gentleman but I'll have to ask. Why, apart from financial difficulty, continue to use a 32 year old emmisions factory? Isn't the weather terrible enough as it is? Parts are cheap and abundant for those old Cherokees. They're also easy for owners and independent mechanics to maintain. No need to visit a dealership or buy an entire assembly of things to repair something. Registration (possibly historic) and insurance should be significantly cheaper too. They're perfect if you don't drive often or for long distances, and they also excel at driving through/over difficult conditions. Just beware the noise, uncomfortable seats, and neverending battle against rust. Reply
King_V Here's what I don't like about this: What was actually causing the emission failures/high NOx readings? Sure, he's got the thing running to compensate for it, but the factory control system should be able to do that just fine. What other component was broken or not functioning correctly that the factory system couldn't compensate for? Dirty injectors/irregular spray pattern? Bad catalyst? Malfunctioning EGR? Sloppy fuel pressure regulator? Vacuum leaks? This sounds like an electronic band-aid that's hiding a deeper problem. Reply
expired56k King_V said: Here's what I don't like about this: What was actually causing the emission failures/high NOx readings? Sure, he's got the thing running to compensate for it, but .the factory control system should be able to do that just fine. What other component was broken or not functioning correctly that the factory system couldn't compensate for? Dirty injectors/irregular spray pattern? Bad catalyst? Malfunctioning EGR? Sloppy fuel pressure regulator? Vacuum leaks? This sounds like an electronic band-aid that's hiding a deeper problem. Yeah, sure sounds like it. Article said it was running too rich, but I find it really hard to believe it was due to ecu. There are other problems that cause ecu to run it too rich. Given the vehicle age it can be any of the above but my guess it's probably a catalytic converter or sensors which cause ecu to run too rich (they also degrade with time and go out of spec). So it's really at best a temp fix to pass emissions, though I am unsure why he wouldn't get historic tags unless it's a daily driver vehicle. Probably done as a cheaper band aid fix, I wonder if he actually knew the real problem but had reasons to take this route. Reply
Maxor1 Admin said: An AI enthusiast managed to get his old 1994 Jeep Cherokee to pass the California smog tests thanks to the help of AI, a little electronics wiring skill, and $15 of components. 1994 Jeep Cherokee owner hacks 32-year-old car with Claude AI to pass California smog tests : Read more Way less emissions to continue to use an old car from the 70s on than to build a whole new car unless you're driving a truly huge amount. (This includes electric cars) Probably not putting big miles daily on said 30+ year old car. (This is also why cash for clunkers was really part of the automakers bailout more than a real environmental policy that has also served to cause quite a bit of social/financial issues with the car marketplace and beyond.) As to the other gentleman commenting about underlying issues and bandaid covers. Hard to say, could be covering an underlying issue, could be something like the media in a catalytic converter with 30 years of deposits on it isn't breaking things down as quick as it was a few years ago and needs hotter exhaust gas to add more energy to the exhaust gas breakdown which was performed by a slight change in valve timing and is equally as effective for a couple of years as replacement cats. The whole basically hobby hacking a old Grand Cherokee into being obd2 compatible including updates is neat for model/class of vehicles that aren't and had limited ecu control if you didn't have the manufacturer tools. There's also a surprisingly large number of them still around as a off roader hobby vechiles that self transport and are used as occasional other transport. (The environmental impact of both offroading as a whole and the driving a old jeep to work on Friday to go over landing from there when you leave at noon or on a weekend ski trip to Tahoe isn't really for this forum either) Which is a practical thing and wish the details were shared to make it easier for the next guy. (Not me my most recent experience with these is about 4 years old now and the lady who I was working on it for sold it stupidly.) Reply
sneezinhatch Seems like just a California thing, any vehicle over 25 years old doesn't need an emissions test in any other state, lastly this guy pro could have made a few dollars helping others out with the same issue Reply
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