I know you probably can't in Cali, but I yanked all my smog off an 88 R/C I had and it ran 10x better and still avg'd 17.2mpg combined. I had the same issues, ran like poo poo sputtered, hesitated, I could tune it out so I yanked all the unnecessary garbage and problem solved.
Ya I wouldn't ask my friend to pass a truck like that so I would be looking at paying $100 extra every other year to bribe some other smog tech to pass it. I would rather just fix it right.
I swear it's running hotter than normal and it boiled over when we did the smog. I'm sure it wouldn't have boiled over if we had put the fan in front of it but oh well. When I worked there we didn't bother to put the fan on unless it was really hot that day or the vehicle looked suspect. It didn't really get that hot and it was clean so the test was short. But it did boil over after he turned it off. And it was leaking out the radiator cap. No other leaks. Made me think bad radiator cap or bad fan clutch. But the radiator cap is new. I cleaned it off and topped off the coolant and drove it all around today. It runs perfect on the freeway but when I get stopped at a light it doesn't overheat but it does seem to inch up a little bit. Makes me think fan clutch. Also, everything else it new.
Cap
Radiator
Hoses
Thermostat
CTS
Water Pump
Other than the running hot issue it does still have hesitation on acceleration at low speeds, on the freeway it runs perfect. It almost feels like I'm driving with the E-brake on until I get past 35 or so. Feels a bit underpowered.
