You should be able to easily meet 2% CO without a cat.  (Are you sure the limit is 2%?  We have to be under 1.5% (or so) here in NC.

Your idle CO reading says the engine is running rich at idle.  This can be caused by oil that is contaminated with gas, bad O2 sensor, improper adjustment of the idle mixture, leaky injector(the injector leaking fuel into the engine, not a bad seal leaking air), and probably a bunch of things I forgot.  The tune up work you suggest (plus changing the O2 sensor) is a good idea, but also having the idle mixture adjusted by someone who can measure the CO would make it more likely to pass.

Bill
--------------------------
I've had several mechanics tell me to run a couple of tanks of High
Octane before getting smoged.  Also, when was the last time a new Cat
was put on--it might be time.

Richard

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
Of S.Harrison
Sent: Monday, April 14, 2003 9:03 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: 82 Failed CA Smog Test- help!

82 Vanagon Westy. 89K on original engine.

Took it to a local garage that is certified to smog test vehicles up for
the
CA biennial inspections. Drove it for a about 2 hours prior so it was
good
and warmed-up.

I passed all aspects of the test but the CO% at idle -- I was at 5.56%,
with
a maximum allowable of 2.00. The CO% at 2500 RPM measurement was fine,
about
0.62%.

So what could help? I'll be changing the oil and filter, installing new
plugs, cap, rotor, and points before the next check, but any ideas on
how I
can lower the CO percentage? Could the AFM be at fault? Leaky injector
seals?