Toyota Repair: Failed Calif. Emissions (HC very high), 1990 toyota camry, spark plug wire

Question
Hello, I would like your thoughts on a 1990 Toyota Camry LE 2.5L V6 DOHC EFI-Auto. Transmission. This car failed miserably on the emission test, very high HC output.I would like any information on problem areas that you may have experienced with this particular engine. Thank You, David

Answer
High HC emissions are caused by only one thing, incomplete combustion, this could be due to an engine misfire, an intake air system leak, a burned valve or low cylinder compression on any of the cylinders.
What this means is that the engine is not burning all of the fuel in the combustion chamber and expels most of the fuel out of the tailpipe without converting it into CO, which means there is a problem with one or more of the cylinders.
It could be simply a bad spark plug or spark plug wire or a loss of engine compression in one or more of the cylinders, I recommend having the basic engine functions checked for a misfire condition