My truck failed inspection

Another California perk.

 

I've got family back there. You have to do an annual inspection and, depending on your area and vehicle, have an emissions test, right? DFW is somewhere in the top 20 most polluted metro areas in the country.

 

Here in Kentucky, it's "Inspection? What's an Inspection??"

 

New vehicles require inspection after two years and then annually afterward. So, yeah.

 

Typical, although, I've never had the issue, but in NY:

How Many Monitors Have to be Ready?
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines allow up to two monitors to be in a "not ready" state for model year 1996 through 2000 vehicles and one monitor "not ready" for 2001 or newer model year vehicles.


What Causes a "Not-Ready" Report?
Causes of a "not ready" report:

• Recent vehicle repairs in which diagnostic trouble codes have been cleared with a OBDII scan tool; or,
• if the battery had been recently disconnected or replaced; or,
• if the vehicle's computer requires a software update; or,
• a pending problem has not yet illuminated the "check engine" light.

What Do I Do Now?
To allow your vehicle's monitors to perform their tests and reset them to a "ready" state, your vehicle will have to be driven in a special way called a "drive cycle." Running through the drive cycle sets the readiness monitors so they can detect any emissions failures. Your vehicle's specific drive cycle can depend on the vehicle make and model, and which monitor needs to be reset. In most cases, two drive cycles are required, separated by a cool down period.


What Are My Options?
If the only reason your vehicle failed the inspection was due to readiness monitors not being in a "ready" state, and your current inspection has already expired, the inspection software will issue a 10-day extension that will allow you to legally operate your vehicle on the highways. During those ten days, you can either:

1. Drive the vehicle as directed by your owner’s manual (look under OBD); use the generic drive cycle on the back of this brochure; or consult with a qualified auto technician who can tell you how to complete a vehicle or monitor specific drive cycle. Be sure to return to the inspection station within ten days to get the vehicle re-inspected.
2. Negotiate with the inspection station to have a technician perform the drive cycles according to manufacturer specific guidelines for a fee you will pay.

If you take the vehicle from the inspection facility to perform the drive cycle yourself, the inspection station operator can charge you an emission re-inspection fee, up to the maximum fee allowed for an original emission inspection.


How Do I Avoid This in the Future?
Tips to consider:

1. If your check engine light comes on, do not wait until your annual inspection to get your vehicle repaired. Not only will it help clean the air, but it could save you a lot of time, as well as future repair and fuel costs.
2. Refer to your owner's manual to see if your car has a readiness monitor check. Some newer model vehicles have this function programmed in, which enables you to check your vehicle's monitors before an inspection.
3. Inspect your vehicle early! Do not wait until the end of the month to get your annual inspection.

Generic Drive Cycle
The purpose of the OBDII drive cycle is to run your vehicle's onboard diagnostics. This, in turn, allows monitors to operate and detect potential malfunctions of your vehicle's emission system. The correct drive cycle for your vehicle can vary greatly, depending on the vehicle model and the monitors that need to be reset. When a specific drive cycle is not known, or drive cycle information is not available from an owner's manual, the generic cycle described below may assist with resetting your vehicle's monitors. However, this generic cycle may not work for all vehicles.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to use the generic drive cycle below, you must obey all traffic laws and drive in a safe manner. Also, be sure the required preconditions are met prior to performing the drive cycle.

1. The OBDII drive cycle begins with a cold start (coolant temperature below 122 degrees F and the coolant and air temperature sensors within 11 degrees of each other).
2. The ignition key must not be left on prior to the cold start – otherwise the heated oxygen sensor diagnostic may not run.
   • As soon as the engine starts, idle the engine in drive for two and one-half minutes, with the air conditioning (A/C) and rear defrost turned on, if equipped.
   • Turn the A/C and rear defrost off, and accelerate to 55 mph under moderate, constant acceleration. Hold at a steady speed of 55 mph for three minutes.
   • Decelerate (coast down) to 20 mph without braking (or depressing the clutch for manual transmissions).
   • Accelerate again back to 55 to 60 mph.
   • Hold at a steady speed of 55 to 60 mph for five minutes. Decelerate (coast down) to a stop without braking.

 

What the hell are you people talking about..? Monitors should be ready regardless if the engine is warm or not. The only reason monitors aren't ready would have to be from a battery reset, or code reset. Your 400mile trip would have monitors ready.

It is possible you have a weak battery and monitors are reseting. Low voltage can cause wacky symptoms in new vehicles.

It is also possible you have a lazy catalytic converter or O2 sensor and that's why monitors aren't set ready. But with our modern systems codes should set.

 

That was my understanding. Regardless taking the truck back after a drive allowed it to pass. It starts on cold mornings just fine.

 

Wut?

 

Next time, just take it to the stealership for them to do the inspection. I always take it to them and I never warm up the truck. I guess if needed, they are probably doing it.

 

Thanks for the follow up. I guess this one will remain a mystery. Possibly a bad batch of gas from your trip, who knows!

 

wow, I love these threads! It teaches those who dont live with emmisions testing how to deal with it if they have to in the future!

 

I'm glad I live in FL

 

Former CA smog tech here and this is spot on. Monitors are run frequently and if you fail the tests twice, you get a hard code. When they pass, that state is saved as "ready." The only reason you would have a not-ready state and no code is if it was reset and never had the opportunity to run a complete drive cycle (cold start, idle 30 seconds, drive at cruise about ~3 mins).

If you ever cold start and drive for more than 15 minutes at a time, there is no reason it should not run the monitors. Something is probably fucky and resetting the monitors.

 

I guess there's a couple benefits.

 

But he has passed now. My only guess is bad fuel on his trip set off the cat or o2 monitor for whatever strange reason.

The only time I could never get a vehicle to pass I never had the opportunity to figure jt out, as the customer sold off the truck. Multiple test drives, even personal off the clock drives, never got cats ready. And my only guess at the time was a lazy cat.

 

This is my truck this morning cold and then after driving. Cold is normal operation and the ECM will not code out for normal operation.
Cold, not even started 9°C


At operating temperature.

 

Yeah the monitors are actually a set of tests and while the converter will pass many with a lazy cat or O2, there are some cars that have some freakishly difficult monitors to set because of one or two tests in the set. I know on multiple occasions I had to do 30+ minute test drives just to set them before I could smog after repairs. If my shop wasn't 3 blocks off a straight and flat CA freeway, there's no way in hell I could have set them.

From what I can remember, monitors never go into an unset status unless you reset codes/battery or have a failure. It will re-run each test individually when the conditions are correct - all the ready status means is that the car has passed all the monitors since they were last checked.

But hey, it's been 10 years since I was in front of a smog machine so it's quite likely standards and procedures have changed.