Sunday, July 03, 2005
Doing my bit for the environment
I have a 1994 Ford Ranger truck which doesn't look anything as macho as in the picture below. I use it often to go to work and make runs to the Home Depot and garbage dump (sometimes it's hard to tell which is which,) and normally I don't turn the front wheels when I park to make it look more menacing. But still I feel a bit guilty because I am sure I can do all of those things with a Honda Civic econobox or a hybrid Toyota Prius which impresses but costs a lot more. The Ranger, despite being American-made, has been exceptionally reliable. I change the oil and do a tune-up once in a while and that has been all it needed. Oh, and I replaced the tires and brakes once in 90,000 miles.
Since I live in California and in the Bay Area, I have to do a smog check every other year. Recently they tightened the criteria, requiring the test to be run on a "dynamometer" which is basically a vehicle treadmill; the truck is smogged both in idle and in a simulated run which mimics actual driving conditions. A lot more vehicles have failed the new test so I was a bit apprehensive when I took the Ranger to a smog station yesterday. It wasn't showing any obvious problem but then it was 11 years old and a Ford, so it couldn't possibly do that well.
Well, here were the results:
Hydrocarbons: 5 ppm at 25 mph, vs 12 ppm average for passing vehicles and 54 ppm allowable
Carbon monoxide: 0 (yes, zero) measured vs 0.05% average and 0.80% allowable
Nitrous oxide: Another 0 measured vs 124 ppm average and 770 ppm allowable
It just goes to show that there are at least a few things American that are still done right. We sure love trucks and use a lot of oil, but we know our HC, our CO and our NO. And that's a great Independence Day statement. And pffffft to all of you doubters.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 10:27 AM
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I just ran my 1985 and got zeros (I was shocked!) for CO as well, up here in Fairbanks. Only reason they make us take the test is to get high CO vehicles out of circulation in the winter, when temperature inversions can drop air quality. It's really the wood fires that drive up the CO, and in the big city (Fairbanks) it's probably a health issue. Hope you have a happy 4th!!!!
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