Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

Any thoughts on diesels and aircare? I'm the (very)proud owner of a super exceed which I purchased from a private seller who had imported it a few months ago. The transfer triggered aircare and she failed, Japanoid couldn't find any reason for the failure, they tried new injectors, air and fuel filters and thermostat but still no aircare. Their suggestion was to take her for a long, long run to blow the carbon out of the system and try again. I'm wondering if anyone has had this problem and/or if anyone has any suggestions.

Thanks in advance,

Rick

Well I can't see how it could fail but if you are really looking to solve the issue you should deal with a garage that knows diesel's. That is I would turn to CVI as they can actually help you.

I passed my air care even if the values where not that great. I thought these vans where in the same category as all other diesel truck, including dump truck and I can't see how it could put out more emission then a fully loaded dump truck...

Good luck,
Daniel

First things first: what did AirCare indicate that your van failed. They have to tell you which part failed, they can't just say "you got a crappy vehicle, get out here!" And make sure that testing station has tested Delicas before. Don't let them snow you with "we don't know what kinda vehicle dis thing is, so we'll just play this one by ear." Find out what the parameters are and hold them to it.

There are a couple of things that come to mind (after a quick review of the AirCare webpages): opacity, NOx.

Opacity is generally where a diesel can fail if the particulate is too great in the exhaust. Good way to get rid of this is to adjust the mix (fuel-air make it leaner), or to de-coke the engine (take it out on the highway and give 'er).

NOx emissions - check your converter, but other than that, a diesel engine produces only marginally more NOx than a gasoline engine. New diesel engines are adding an active system to target NOx emissions, but this is not something you can add to the Delica, so you won't be able to modify your ride.

marsgal42 has passed AirCare, twice I think she wrote, so you might want to talk with her. And there are plenty of others in the GVA but I'm not sure what the boundaries are for testing.

I've taken 2 Pajero's and 3 Delica's throught aircare. All without issues.

Unless you're blowing tons of thick, black smoke, it should pass.

If you fail, post your readings.

Gumdrop has indeed passed AirCare, and by a ridiculous margin. All they measure for diesels is opacity, i.e. smoke. Gumdrop was allowed 30% (which is pretty serious smoke) and they measured 9.6%. What did they measure for you? For a '92 they do the more elaborate pseudo-road course on the dynamometer. This shouldn't be an issue.

The HC and CO emissions of diesels are essentially nil, though there can be some NOx. This is why they don't bother measuring them.

...laura

Thanks for your thoughts.
She failed on opacity, the trace(I don't have the technical skills to post it) showed a low base level with occasional spikes which were what did the damage. Following the long road trip advice I'm hoping my ski buddy wants to join me for a trip to Red Mountain, Whitewater and Kicking Horse. If that doesn't do it I'll be posting again!

Cheers,

Rick

But what are the numbers? How badly did you fail?

The '92 and later test includes full-throttle simulated passing, and all diesels smoke when you do that.

...laura

The opacity reading was 73.13 which is way over the allowed limit of 30. The thing is that the trace showed minimal opacity over the whole range except for a few big (narrow) spikes and the reading is taken from the spike not the average. Japanoid's take on it was that the spikes were caused by carbon build up in the engine and exhaust system and when soot particles detach they cause the spike when they hit the aircare sensor. I'm hoping that is the problem and a nice long drive out to the ski hills will blow out all the gunk.

skaguy wrote:apanoid's take on it was that the spikes were caused by carbon build up in the engine and exhaust system and when soot particles detach they cause the spike when they hit the aircare sensor.

x2

You can do a few things, but a good suggestions would be to run it hard on the highway for a bit. If you're in Vancouver, take it up Cypress for blast to blow the carbon out.

You could also turn the fuel down a bit, put some seafoam in the tank - or another additive - and then run it again.

Spikes are probably carbon burning off on the exhaust system when it's under load.


~John
E4 Auto Repair
Radd Cruisers 4WD
Duncan, BC

Yeah, someone else suggested a fuel treatment to clean the goo out. My local parts supplier had an additive called Kleen Flo Diesel Lubricant so I'll give that a go.

Thanks to everyone for your help, I let you know how it works out.

Cheers,

Rick

Hi, rick,
if japaniod cannot fix let let me know no problem for me for aircare, you only need to tune & clean the egr valve.
egr valve must be clog. when you clean it up & it works the vacuum you should not have any problem.
no need to blow the carbon on your exhaust. just clean the egr. pls dont touch the timing of injector this wont work . also need to check your system if th previous owner dont see any defect on the system. to may things could go worng.
if need help you can call me anytime.
cheers;
Mardy

Thanks Mardy but it's not the EGR, that's one of the many things Japanoid looked at and ruled out.

Cheers,

Rick

hi, how could it not be EGR Valve if this egr is plug, did they look at it & take it out from the engine.
they cannot just say oh it not egr. you cannot do that you have to take it out from the engine before you can even see if egr is good..
i did fixed some of my delica & customer delica all i did is tune it up & clean the egr valve & it pass.
but if they say its not the one well its up to you to make decision. they can do whatever they want to do but if egr is plug. you cannot pass your delica as this pajero & delica is mostly control by egr for emission.
this is just a though from me as i fix some of the pajero & delica who happen to fail aircare it works for me no problem.
hope it works for you but if need help we can fix it for you.
cheers;
Mardy