I had the same problem a few months ago. I drove around for months and it still didn't set. I posted a similar thread and got a response from "leet" who had the same problem, so you're not the only one. You have to get your OBD-II system reset. "leet" said after that his car passed fine. I called my local mitsubishi dealer and they said it would be about $300. I was lucky enough to find a guy to hook me up, wink wink . Getting it reset is the only way to set them.

Reset the ECU, hmmm... I thought that's what happened when you disconnected the battery for awhile and let it go dead. I have the Mitsubishi service manual and I'm searching it for information on the ECU and what it takes for these systems to go ready. No luck yet, but I'm a service technician in another field and I know how poorly indexed manuals can be. If Satan knows how to do this special reset it's supposed to be in the service manual, or am I wishful thinking?

Speaking of ECU's and CEL's, what should I shop for when buying an OBD-II scanner?

Jon

Yeah there's no way to reset the OBD-II system. I tried everything also, battery, pulling the fuse, etc. My friend got a decent OBD-II scanner from Kragen for about $100. I've used it a few times and it works fine.

Smog problem has been resolved but I'm not happy with the "solution".

I sucked it up and brought my car to Mitsubishi. The service writer knew immediately what I was describing. He said that 1995 - 1999 Eclipse and some Chryslers are having this issue with the smog test since Nevada started checking the readiness monitors this year. According to him the monitors I was failing the smog for will not go ready under normal driving. It's highly unlikely they will go ready even after carefully driving a couple of OBD-II drive cycles.

The only way to pass the test is to have Mitsubishi hook up the MUT diagnostic tool and temporarily set these non-continuous readiness monitors to ready before running the smog test. As soon as the ignition is turned off they revert to not ready again. This little procedure cost me $118.19. Unless there is a change to the ECU or the law, that's what it'll cost me each year to pass smog.

I now own an OBD-II reader. The morning after my visit to the dealer and after a half hour drive through highway/city traffic, my readiness monitors are once again stuck at not ready.

I believe having the dealer temporarily set the monitors to ready in order to pass the test amounts to legally cheating the test. It's easy to see who benefits here ($$$).

This situation bites.

Yeah that sucks. I'm glad you got it taken care of though. That's the reason i didn't want to go get it done, because you can't shut the car off because the monitors will go back to the same thing. I've heard a lot of people having this problem also, i wonder why it's not a recall??

I'm not done with this. I called the Nevada Emissions Lab and Mitsubishi Customer Support. They both agree that something is wrong. So far the ball is in Mitsubishi's court. By Federal law the ECU and Catalytic convertor are warranteed for 8 years or 80K miles. It appears the Eclipse ECU may not be in compliance with Federal emissions. Mitsubishi has opened a case and I may get this resolved under warranty. If they balk, I'm going to plan "B". Stay tuned...

Yes, this needs to be corrected on the State's end. Keep us posted on the outcome if you can.

Update from Nevada DMV:

Model Year: 1996-1998
Vehicle Make: Mitsubishi
Vehicle Model: All models except V6 models noted under “vehicles that have readiness
monitor variations used for pass/fail decisions
Problem: Some monitors are difficult to set to “complete”
Notes: Manufacturer provides recommended driving cycles in its service
information to assist technicians operate the monitors
Mitsubishi TSB #00-13-005 (for 1996-1997 MY affected vehicles)

I have tried the OBD drive cycle described in the service manual. I suspect it may be different in the TSB mentioned above. How can I get a copy of this Mitsubishi TSB? I need this information when I go back to the dealer so he doesn't try to snow me.

I'm surprised more DSM owners aren't having trouble with passing their state's smog tests. The non-continuous readiness monitors are supposed to stay set once set or until the battery is disconnected (according to the dealer). My ECU doesn't keep them set.

One thing to keep in mind is that everytime you "reset" the computer via a scanner or disconnecting the neg. cable for 30secs... ALL the monitors will have to run and complete their cycles..the bad part about OBD-2 is that what monitors run when, how many times and under what conditions is OEM and not known to techs (smog or otherwise) only mitsu techs have that info.

Well I got pulled over and had my hood popped..again. And you know what that means, appointment with the state referee I've removed all my modifications from the engine bay, with everything back to stock. I've since then taken the car to the inspection center. It passed the emissions portions, the visual inspection, but failed under a category called "MIL/Check engine light." My Check engine light isn't on, but I was told my "monitors" were putting out codes, and that I would just have to "drive a while" to get rid of them.

I took the car home, and discovered 3 MAJOR boost leaks throughout the crappy stock pipping (not a surprise because the car had been running like crap). I'm guessing these could be the reason for these codes? Now the car runs great, but I'm wondering how long I'll have to drive before these codes don't show up. I know Satan can manually remove them, for about $250 and 50 miles on the car. Yeah..... I'll just drive thank you. Any suggestions?

Take it on a long drive (at least an hour, two if possible). Do not shut the car off for the entire duration of the drive. Try to do it on a freeway.

I had to go through this crap when trying to smog, except my DSM was one of the lucky few whos OBD2 system was ####ed up from the Factory. It never clears so I have to get it reset and smog RIGHT afterwards.

leet said:

I had to go through this crap when trying to smog, except my DSM was one of the lucky few whos OBD2 system was ####ed up from the Factory. It never clears so I have to get it reset and smog RIGHT afterwards.

Click to expand...

Yes, there's some issue with some ECUs, and I can't find the damned thread. I think it was about a year ago.for search: reset ecu reset reset ecu ecu reset reset reset dealer reset ecu ecu dealer reset reset

Defiant said:

Yes, there's some issue with some ECUs, and I can't find the damned thread. I think it was about a year ago.

Click to expand...

Crud! Im on the same boat! When I was searching I found a thread that speaks about mitsu ecu's from years xxxx not running the readiness tests or something like that when reset, and that the dealer can force them to run, too bad my local dealer is of no help!!

Ok guys, I think I found the thread we were looking for.

Not passing smog because of monitors - DSM Forums

I guess i too have to go pay mitsu to fix their mistakes.

EDIT:

I have also found another link hopefully it can aid us somehow.

Please Note

Your best bet is to buy a 98-up ECU for your car. 96-97 DSM ECUs will fail your Functional test even if you pass visual and the sniffer.

If you need your ECU reset WHEN running, I have an OBDII Diagnostic unit that can clear your codes so you do not have to turn off the key.

If i may ask what mods did the cop tell you were illegal?

c5chris said:

Your best bet is to buy a 98-up ECU for your car. 96-97 DSM ECUs will fail your Functional test even if you pass visual and the sniffer.

If you need your ECU reset WHEN running, I have an OBDII Diagnostic unit that can clear your codes so you do not have to turn off the key.

Click to expand...

My car's actually a 98 (first one was a 97). Will swapping ECU's still help?

SCdsmer, he told me anything and everything without a CARB eo sticker was illegal (intake pipe, intercooler piping, BOV, front mount, boost controller, etc.)

tt281gt, thanks for pointing out the thread. Doesn't look like anyone came up with a real solution besides going to satan to have the codes cleared


Haven't gone back to the inspection center yet. Right now I'm just putting miles on my car to school and back. Hopefully the codes will clear and I'll try passing within a week.

http://www.wivip.com/Analyzer10032final.pdf#search='mitsubishi%20drive%20cycle%20OBDII'

http://www.michaelsservicestation.com/OBDll.htm

I found these through a quick yahoo search. I had the same problem and had satan reset the monitors for me, took them a while to do the resetting process. Then when they were done i couldnt turn off my car because that would undo what they just did. So i setup my appointment right after satan was done.

When I had my car smogged, (it's a 98 GSX) it failed due to the ECU. I bought a 99 GS-T ECU and it did pass with flying colors.

Im too picky so I bought a "proper" 99 GSX for the car which I am running right now. I could use a GST or a GSX on the car BUT the GSX does not have the speed limiter like the GST.

Mitsubishi SHOULD handle this problem and recall the affected ECUs. It's not fair that we owners get penalized with an environmentally non-compliant. It's a big deal here here in California. Not passing smog will result to non-registration of the car even if it passes visually and the sniffer test.

c5chris said:

When I had my car smogged, (it's a 98 GSX) it failed due to the ECU. I bought a 99 GS-T ECU and it did pass with flying colors.

Im too picky so I bought a "proper" 99 GSX for the car which I am running right now. I could use a GST or a GSX on the car BUT the GSX does not have the speed limiter like the GST.

Mitsubishi SHOULD handle this problem and recall the affected ECUs. It's not fair that we owners get penalized with an environmentally non-compliant. It's a big deal here here in California. Not passing smog will result to non-registration of the car even if it passes visually and the sniffer test.

Click to expand...

That is why I will never live in Cali... WAY TOO ANAL about EVERYTHING!

Maybe this will be of some help, these are trip conditions to set the Catalyst and EVAP tests. I found it on http://www.obdiicsu.com/Docs/DriveTraces/AppendixB.html
Haven't checked it myself.

Catalyst Monitor Drive Trace
Pre-Conditioning Requirements:
MIL must be off.
Outside temperature must be above 14E F (-10E C).

Driving Procedure
1) Start the engine. Accelerate gradually to 45 mph or more.
2) Drive for about 5 minutes without stopping at highway speed (speed may vary).
3) Drive at a steady speed between 35 & 40 mph without moving the accelerator pedal for 90 seconds.
4) Decelerate with throttle fully closed for 10 seconds, accelerate gradually to 35-40 mph, then shut off.


Enhanced Evaporative System Monitor Drive Trace
Note: For Eclipse models with the Leak Detection Pump (LDP), use Chrysler=s LDP drive trace

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:
MIL must be off.
ECT must be 113E F (45E C) or less.
Outside temperature is between 41 & 113E F (5E C & 45E C).

Driving Procedure
1) Start and drive at 55-65 mph for 4 minutes.
2) Drive at a steady speed between 55 & 65 mph without moving the accelerator pedal for 150 seconds, then shut off.

Temper said:

Maybe this will be of some help, these are trip conditions to set the Catalyst and EVAP tests. I found it on http://www.obdiicsu.com/Docs/DriveTraces/AppendixB.html
Haven't checked it myself.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I have obtained a copy of the Mitsubishi TSB that describes the exact drive cycles required to set the readiness monitors for my model year. I have been unable to get any of the monitors to set. It's next to impossible to satisfy the drive conditions on a public road. I've had the car for almost two years now and occasionally hook up the scan tool to test the ECU and check the readiness monitor states. They're always off. My smog comes due in May '05 and it looks like another trip to the dealer to have them set the monitors long enough to pass smog.

I had one failure this past year that turned on the CEL: the MAP sensor (manifold differential pressure) went bad. I replaced it and hoped that this was causing the readiness monitors to fail to set. No such luck. It fixed the CEL problem though. I'm convinced there is something wrong that is preventing the readiness monitors to set but it's so intermittant or minor that it doesn't cause a failure severe enough to generate an error code.

I had the same problem last year and mine is due this month. I was told the same thing by the dealership....."uh, sorry we know it's broke but we aren't going to fix it, that will be $115. Thanks! See you next year."

I am just lucky that I haven't driven my car more than 5000 miles in the past year. That allows me an exemption sticker until next year.

I had/have the same problem....Any way we can sue mitsu?