It still astounds me that you can't get one at Sears Auto Center, Auto Zone, or similar places for the DIY auto mechanic. These are pretty basic tests to most cars made in the last 35 years. These are more useful on a modern car than a dwell meter or timing light ... which you *can* get at any auto supply store.
No smog test req'd in FL. Not since about 10 yrs. (for the record) KENCO knows that, some may not. Hey, KEN....if you find one, give me a holler down the street here , might want to use one in future. Good luck. Joe
Good day DGS, I think the reason for this is the availability of low-cost sensors needed for the application (low-cost DIY 4 gas analyzer). Given the range of sensors required, it is difficult to find one sensor modality (electrochemical, semiconductor, optical, etc) that would meet the price point for such an application. Further, since the sales volume would be much lower than say a computer, it would be difficult to recoup the development costs... unless the price is significantly higher... which explains what the units from Sun, etc are priced the where they are... Once the Sensor technology improves, I would imagine these type of devices will become more cost effective for the DIY'er Cheers, Sam
Cost is a matter of scale: If you have the market, it's just a matter of producing for it, and the costs will fall with mass production. The original 8008 CPU ran $250 when most ICs were $2-$3, and when a new Ferrari was under $60K. The 8080 dropped to $86. Saying that there isn't a market for them because the price is too high because we're not producing enough for the DIYers is circular logic. And the scope *is* increasing. Every repair shop or inspection station has one -- but the inspection stations have to have bureaucrat regulated "official" ones ---- which always raises the price. But the DIY market is potentially much, much larger than the current sales. Yes, trying to develop an economic mass production method for the sensors would involve risking some development funds. But I guess nobody makes that kind of risk anymore, unless a government program picks up the tab for the NRE.
Good day DGS, Just to be clear, I never stated that there is not a market for this type of device. In fact, I am sure that a market exists, however, what I did say was that I thought the limiting factor was finding suitably priced sensors to meet the price target of the DIY'er. Indeed, I agree with you on this as well. However, someone has to take the economic risk to see if this is the case. Given the costs involved, only well funded companies (i.e. large) would be in a position to do this... so unless the bean counters in these large firms see a large economic (profit) benefit in doing this, it will not be done. Hopefully a suitable sensor technology will soon be available that will allow smaller firms (like the one I work for) to develop and produce devices such as this. Cheers, Sam
OK, I ordered a CO tester, will set up my car this weekend, I will post the results. " hope it works.........." http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...&R= 200318179
It works! A little cheap, but will help you balance both banks. If money were no object, get a better one, but I seemed to get mine to work for reading my CO levels and adjusting my base idle mixture. Rating....................7, on a scale from 1 to 10
I also have the Gunson cheapie CO analyser and it works fine on my various old cars. The problem with the 308 carbs was that the individual sniffer tubes were well and truly blocked so I was left with only sniffing the end result at the muffler outlet. But then a 4 (or 40) gas analyser would presumably have had the same problem. I guess it depends what you want to do. If you are trying to adjust a modern car up to modern standards, forget it. If you want to get a 60-70's car through a basic smog test then it should be fine. Certainly OK for me.
