not passing emissions
 

so i have taken my car in 4 times to get the virginia emissions test done and each time they tell me it can't be tested because the obd II monitor readiness thing says it is not ready. here's the break down of the 5 monitors:

Catalyst - not ready
Evap system - not ready
O2 sensor - ready
HO2 sensor - not ready
EGR system - ready

now, if the HO2 sensor is the down stream post-cat sensor then i dont have one. i disabled the codes in the pcm with powrtuner so no SES light comes on. i thought i would still be able pass emissions by doing that and i swear i have before. i dont know if VA has some advanced software now or what the deal is but this is a pretty big problem because my tags expire on saturday. does anyone have an idea on why it keep saying not ready? after they tell me it's not ready they say i have to drive it so it runs through all of the checks, but i put hundreds of miles on it this past weekend when i went to BPO in jersey so im sure that's not it.

I'm unfamiliar with the powrtuner and how it handles codes. What are they set to?

i think they are actually set to 'no reporting' and are not totally disabled. the problem is my laptop that has the program is not operational right now so i can't check.

I have been exempt the past 10 years as my car is lowered and has 20's on it and cant fit on the dyno....I know they just use the plug but they exempt me every year. This year (actually due before 12/23) I have been told they took the dyno out, so I may have a similair problem. My friend tried to hook up a dash-hawk to read my numbers and it was unable to detect my car.

I do not know if that is a similar problem, I havent done any reprogramming, but I may have a problem passing this year as well.

Is it possible that their diagnostic tools cant detect our cars....I know its OBDII but maybe there may be something else that may cause it.

Maybe with yours if your PCM adjustments is blocking emissions diagnostics. You may need to revert back to orginal settings and modify whatever it was that set your SES light. (worst case scenerio)

If they take the dyno out, then they can't check any pre-OBD2 cars. I don't see that happening. That's how they check my 1995 Escort.

Anyway, does the VA emissions place provide any guidence?

Dude you need to get your inspection done in a small town in VA, because the city "folk" will stick you. When I lived on the Eastern Shore of VA...all we got checked were brake lights, headlights, wind shield wipers, and turn signals..it didn't matter if you came in pushing the car. If those things worked then you would pass.

I think they are only removing 1 dyno out of their 4 bays...(this is the one in harford county)

That's exactly what they did for me, although they gave me a hard time about the window tint and loud exhaust. I got the legal limit 35% in MA, but the meter read 30%, passed me but he said he won't do it next year.

well each state has different regs to follow and what is tested, in MD unlike PA there is no annual inspection, but we have a bi annual emmisions test and that is all that is tested and must be tested every 2 years, no way around that. (unless you know someone to sign off) but generally there is a diagnostic report as well, and for my prior years I just get a waiver being exempt, my lexus gets the printout since its not lower they take me over the dyno and then plug in the OBDII

These are readyness monitors, they have to run on several key cycles, if you've disabled them with the power tuner, then they will never "RUN" and post ready.

Anytime you just CLEAR codes, it resets the readyness monitors, if you disconnect the battery (Usually the poor mans way to turn off the SES) it resets the readyness monitors.

So if youve been runnin around with the light on and just cleared the codes it will never pass. All they do is hook up a scantool and check system readyness, In NC emission inspection counties , if there is more than one NOT READY the car fails. I've failed one this morning so far on a modded Corolla with no CAT.

ya I had the same problems in my last car and the told me to drive more and for some reason it passed the third time.

they say that for people who have disconnected battery before being tested to try to clear codes. the PCM will record normal operation and that may be what the emmisions is looking for, when the codes are cleared sometimes they will tell you to not disconnect battery and let it be (or drive more)

You have it set to not report faults, so your check engine light won't come on. It also doesn't report any data to any of the monitors, so none of the checks are run on those circuits and the readyness doesn't even show (since, of course, you can't run O2 and catalyst diagnostics without an O2). The OBD did exactly what it was supposed to and so did the inspection (that is, catch people who try to tamper with emission control devices on their car).
Advice: move, or fix it.

Try reading this...

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/pcm-di...need-help.html

Hold your horse's pardner...cause if MD means Maryland I've lived here for the last 4 years and prior to leaving for a year...4 years before that....I have never, ever...on any car I have had...had an emissions test every two years..either you are getting screwed or I'm screwed for not knowing...LOL

A lot of times it depends on the county you live in, at least that's the way it is here.

Sine my car is reg in Bucks county and is considered a Philly burb, it's required to pass the really strict emissions. If I lived in the sticks, a lot of times they'll pop the hood, see the emissions stuff, close the hood and pass the car.

As for your problem, IDK if the PCM isn't reporting a problem, it should pass. What kind of emissions testing do they have down there?

I PM'd you some info on that, rather then crapping up the thread.

Yep I got it thanks!

ok i finally got my laptop fixed and the powrtuner operational. the codes that i had messed with i have set to both disabled and no reporting. it is 2 separate tables. im wondering if i need to enable them but leave the other table set to no reporting...

Can you put up a screen shot of those tables? I'd like to see how they compare to HP Tuners'..... I just scanned mine, and the readiness tests show all "incomplete" except for EGR. And that makes no sense, since it's been disabled....

i'm having trouble connecting my tuning laptop to the internet but if i can fix it tomorrow then i will put up screen shots. i'm not so sure i can check the readiness tests with powrtuner. sure wish i could...

While scanning yesterday, I did a "save file" to desktop after warm-up, it came out as a text file:
That's from the DTCs section of the HP Scanner. I don't know what to think of it, it seems to read the opposite result I expected...

the powrtuner dtc section is not that comprehensive. the only function is to change the reporting or disable the dtc altogether. no readiness monitors or anything.

I just went and scanned my '03 Alero, which is totally stock, and it read all tests "complete" as opposed to my '99 modded, above....I do have some things set to "not reported" or otherwise changed in the '99. This won't help you, but it looks to me that those tests are not changeable, either.

yea i guess not. i dont understand how other people have passed emissions but doing what i did though. lame.

I'll go try one more thing on this -- change the "not reported" ones to "no SES" and see if it makes any difference...

i dont think i have that option. i dont have it in front of me but it's either 1 trip, 2 trip, service on, or no reporting.

One issue you may have, even if they are set to not reporting, the Inspection station has a book and im sure the computer has what systems are supposed to be on the car. If they are set as Not reporting and you dont have and exemption of some kind, it will still fail.

I changed everything back to "SES enable" for each relevant code, but still no change. In my case I am using a different PCM, (the box itself, that is) with a 2001 model program flashed into it.

I reflashed it with the original stock 1999 program, but then ALL readiness tests, including EGR, read incomplete. I don't know what would happen with the original computer module in there.

Now, my car passed in Colorado in spite of that, although it did take a second run through to do it.

the good news is i re-enabled all the codes last night and after 15 miles of driving the car the SES light came on. i still have to check it out to see which codes were thrown, i'm guessing all of the down stream o2 and cat codes lol

the bad news is i went by the shop who does all of my motor work and they can't weld in the o2 bung and install the sensor until wednesday. i also went to the dmv and got a 3 day driving permit for $5. as long as the cat is not bad/doesn't throw a code (it's a high flow carsound) i should be legal by thursday. fml what a hassle.

Good luck, man

thanks, i need it.

i just checked the codes...PO140 (down stream o2 sensor no activity -no kidding) and PO442 which is a small leak in the evap system. the second one chaps my ass since the stealership charged me $130 because of this code and all they did was replace the gas cap. obviously that's not it. i'm thinking it is the charcoal canister or the hoses connecting to it are cracked.

You would think if there was a prob with the OBDII they would just do the funnel test, I am hoping thats the case for me. Im about to leave work now and go handle mine......hoping the dyno is in and maybe ill get another waiver, lol.

wow, i just got back from emmisions and I passed. The first time my car has been tested. They took out the dynos so i had to have it tested. I disconnected my battery approx 45 mins prior to having it tested and it passed. After the guy handed me my pass report, i told him and he said it should have been rejected but it wasn't. maybe if you reset the settings disconnect the battery to reset, reconnect, and try it....worse case it still fails, but you may squeeze through.

Maybe the rues are different outside the Baltimore-Washinton DC area, but around here it's every two years, and been that way for a while. It's no big deal though.

I thought that this article was pretty good:
http://www.easterncatalytic.com/education/po420.php

The Misleading Nature of the PO42O Code

Its all of MD per the VEIP site

i had the down stream o2 installed yesterday and passed the emissions test today! the nightmare is over!

congrats dude.....2 years to go till next time, lol unless its dif for VA

yea it's 2 years. cost me $86 for a 2 year sticker. was about $300 all told for the o2 sensor and installation which i think i got raped on by midas but i had to have it done and didn't have time to shop around.