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Forum > Failed Smog Test > Question

I have a 1993 Toyota Camry 4 cylinder engine with 199500 miles on it and my car fail a smog test.

2 years ago my Toyota passed smog. I think it's because I must have been driving it for 30 minutes before taking it the the smog place, but now I brought my car to the shop after just leaving my house when the car was cold still basically and not running for 30 minutes and it failed. Do you think it's because I didn't warm up the catalytic converter?
Answer:

Yes, this may in fact be correct. The catalytic converter must be properly warmed up in order for your Toyota to pass the smog check specially if the weather was cold during the smog test and the smog check as taken in during the morning. It all depends on how badly your Toyota failed the smog test. If the emissions results were border line then maybe warming up the car prior to the next test will do the trick. If your Toyota failed the test with well above the maximum requirements, then more then likely an emissions problem exists and simply warming up your car more will not help it pass. In fact, depending on which emissions it failed for, warming up the car more then necessary may worsen the emissions results. NOx emissions in particular are increased when engine temperature is high. You may want to have one of our smog technicians take a look at your Toyota's vehicle inspection report (VIR). Following the link below... http://www.smogtips.com/smog_evaluations.cfm posted by SmogTips Support

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