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Payback Time



Well, despite all the negative press the V8 gets, mine has been virtually 
trouble free, at least untill now. Here in Maryland, they have instituted an 
emissions test for AWD vehicles that simulates a road test. The V8 failed 
both hydrocarbons (2.87 vs required 2.0 GPM) and oxides of nitrogen (7.4 vs 
required 3.0 GPM). With 122K miles, the car is due a set of distributor caps 
and rotors, and a new set of plugs, so that part is painless. The other 
potential culprit is the cat. Before I launch into anything drastic is there 
any BTDT advice I could benefit from. BTW, the oxygen sensors probably come 
into play somewhere, but I am leery of that solution, because my car had one 
of them disconnected (dealer goof found when I replaced a front CV joint 
boot) for over two years,and passed the old (no load) emissions test with 
flying colors. I saved the recent data on caps and rotors for a rainy day and 
sure enough- it rained. I have always ignored the info on O2 sensors, and 
would appreciate some guidance there. Out of curiosity, would pulling the 
codes help isolate this problem?
Frank Santoro
1990 V8
1998 A8