Clean-Air Computer

The task of cleaning up the trail of pollution that technology leaves behind looked a lot tougher when it began than it does today. One reason is that technology itself has advanced faster in some areas than its trail of pollution.

For example, in the pioneering days of smog control, it is safe to say that there were more abacuses than there were computers and most computers were too big to carry in small trucks, let alone be tucked under the hoods of automobiles.

Now a small, cheap ($45) computer is in reach that not only will be able to tell whether an engine is burning as clean as it was designed to run but also diagnoses the problem so a mechanic can go directly to the faulty spark plug or the fuel injector or whatever else may be causing the problem.

The state Air Resources Board decided last week that the technology tests out well enough to order it installed on all cars sold in California, starting with the 1994 model year. The nation’s major automobile manufacturers balked a bit. They would rather wait until 1966 to install the magic gadgets to give themselves more time to fiddle with them and make sure that they work properly. Manufacturers said they want to avoid producing computers that give false signals.

But the stakes for clean air, particularly in Southern California, are too high to waste time. Keeping automobile engines running at peak efficiency would be enough to cut the number of pollutants in air over greater Los Angeles by 80%. As Steve Albu, the state board’s chief of engineering studies said, the device will do more to clean up the air than any one step the board has ever taken.

As for delay, even signals that have been tested year after year in service on aircraft give false reports on oil pressure and other engine readings occasionally. The due date for installing the magic gadgets is still five years away. The air board can always let the deadline slip if anything goes wrong.