I have had problems getting my car to pass inspection. Here is a write up by a wiseman on the site:
98GSSpy's car came in to the shop last week after he talked with me about the inspection issues he's been having. I'm both a mechanic and State inspector and somewhat familiar with the procedure so we went ahead and attempted the inspection. The initial attempt resulted in a "No communications" failure. Basically, the DMV computer tries to talk with the ECU/PCM and if it does not the vehicle fails inspection. The second attempt resulted in a "MIL Commanded-On" failure. This basically means the ECU/PCM is telling the DMV computer that the MIL is being commanded on. In the event of a MIL Commanded-On status, the vehicle will fail the OBDII portion because of what it believes is an emissions failure.
In reality what happened is that the MIL bulb works during bulb check and does not stay illuminated despite what the computer BELIEVES is happening. The computer is saying that the light is on but it's not MAKING the light come on. Regardless, the DMV computer doesn't pass a vehicle because of the condition this particular vehicle is exhibiting.
I verified that the data link connector has power and ground which frequently causes this type of issue. Additionally, there were no fault codes stored nor active. This was confirmed by my stand-alone scan tool, the DMV computer reported no codes and 98GSSpy's PDA showed no codes as well.
This same condition was present on numerous Mitsubishi products from the 1996 year model as described in these links below:
http://www.dmvnv.com/pdfforms/ecnews1st03.pdf
AAA - On-Board Diagnostic II Problems
The final solution there seems to be a newer computer with a different software version that either legally allows a bypass of certain inspection steps OR corrects software glitches making the software fully operational. But this does not specifically mention failures of this nature on a 97-99 model year Mitsu. In the later years there seem to be more issues with readiness monitors being set to a "ready" status when the vehicle is being inspected. Some tricks around this problem are turn the car off and then back on really quick or leaving the car running the entire time you inspect it (you're commanded to shut it off at certain points but this causes a reset of the readiness monitors for some reason).
From what I've read, 96 and newer Mitsu electronics prevent reflashing of the ECU to correct much of anything. ALL Chrysler electronics (2gnt's) are reprogramable so you can simply go to the dealer or advanced level repair shop for assistance with your ECU/PCM on those vehicles. 95 year models are not OBDII compliant though they do have numerous OBDII compatible programs and emissions components. 95 is also EEprom and you can reflash them. It may be worth researching DSMLink and some of their OBDII related sections to see if you can set certain criteria to a "ready" or "Don't fail my car" status without having to swap computers in and out each time you're due for inspection.
I have a 98 spyder n/t with CA emissions. I swapped in the turbo ecu, will an eprom be able to bypass the problem?
