If you read and follow the procedures in the Workshop Manual D:04:01-04 you will discover that you are measuring the HC ahead of the catalytic converter. It is VERY IMPORTANT that you follow the procedures exactly if you want to do it right. If after following these procedures and the HC is still too high then the catalytic converter MAY be bad. ONLY DO THE ADJUSTMENT AFTER VERIFING THAT THE FUEL AND IGNITION SYSTEMS ARE OPERATING PROPERLY. You cannot adjust ANYTHING to correct for an improperly running system! Variation in the HC can be caused by the Lambda system hunting, the idle system hunting, an intermittant breakdown in the Secondary ignition circuit, and a dirty fuel injector. Other possible causes could be valve adjustment, low compression on 1 or more cylinders, misfiring plugs, etc. The purpose of the "smog check" is to see if the car is in tune. Just fiddling with the adjustments won't get you there, something is wrong and you will not adjust it out. In the procedure one of the first things it says THERE MUST BE NO AIR LEAKS PRESENT, THE IGNITION SYSTEM IS OK AND CORRECTLY SET!!!!!!! If you know you have a vacuum leak you should not be touching the mixture screw as in all probability if you fix the leaks and tune up the ignition system you won't need to adjust the mixture. With the Lambda "dead" how can you adjust the mixture? Replace the dist cap, rotor, ignition wires and plugs, fix ALL of the vacuum leaks and try again. After getting the car running right the converter will be OK unless contaminated by lead or other contaminates from gasket sealer. MAKE SURE THERE IS A PLUG INSTALLED OVER THE MIXTURE ADJUSTING SCREW. If missing this causes a vacuum leak and throughs off the mixture. David Teitelbaum vin 10757 --- In dmcnews@xxxx, "rendy_cheng" <rcheng@xxxx> wrote: > Hi Everyone! > After adjusting air/fuel mixtures screw, the HC is a bit better, but > not good enough to pass the smog check.