What you have told me has definitely helped me and enlightened me. Thank you. I recently sold a classic saab 900 that i bought from a neighbor. Since there was a very recent smog cert. with the sale I did not smog the car when I bought it. Now I know why. But I did sell the car without smogging it for the buyer. That was a mistake. And I made a mistake with this merc. My 'friend" has skipped to Oahu. And my wife's uncle (who is a "mechanic" and owns garages) told me about the NOX and that this car is on the state's list. We believe the car has original cats and that it wasn't used much at all in recent years. It's a time warp of a car. I have all the original owners records and he barely drove it. The second owner barely maintained it. But both must have garaged it.
Would taking it in for a complete tune-up get me within range? I think the car has not been driven right for a long time. It needs to get the HCs out of it. I did have it at my uncle's smog guy. We fiddled with the air intake mix. It's not dumping fuel now. we were able to get it right down to ay with in range for all for measurements. it just wouldn't kick over. So I could not get it passed. The car really needs a 100 mile run on an open highway. I figure a spec tune-up first with new plugs and hoses first. Then an italian tune-up. Do you think this may help me? Or is this considered a motor that's just a dog in California? Perhaps doing the injector cleaning and replacing and hoses and plugs and checking the distributor and throttle would help. But maybe a new OE cat is needed too. the list is growing before my eyes.
Jason