2G Not passing smog because of monitors

[toojung2die]

1997 Eclipse Spyder GST a/t

OBD-II indicates I have three monitors stuck in a not ready condition. Nevada smog will allow up to 2 monitors not ready. Not ready are Catalyst, EGR system, Oxygen sensor heater.

There are no problem codes logged and no CEL. The car passes this part of the test. My friend runs the smog test station and he ran some diagnostics for me. Both O2 sensors are feeding back and the pre-cat sensor is in closed loop during idle. He reset the ECU and I drove almost a full tank of gas before bringing it back. The systems are still reading not ready and there is no CEL. The CEL turns on for about 5-10 seconds during start-up and goes out normally.

I replaced both O2 sensors and ran another half tank of gas, multiple trips. The sensors are still not ready with no errors logged and no CEL.

Mods: 3" catback exhaust, Injen style intake w/filter, "knock" LED on boost solenoid. All hoses, sensors and solenoids connected. Basically stock. Car runs great. What can I do before I have to take my baby to visit Satan.

 

[Admiral]

Man, I'm having a problem getting my car inspected now too, since I had the battery disconnected after some maintanance. No sensors are ready.

Can someone at least post the drive cycle for my 97 Talon AWD? At least I can try that...if that doesn't work, on to plan B (which is- I have no idea...)




:thumbdown

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Man, I'm having a problem getting my car inspected now too, since I had the battery disconnected after some maintanance. No sensors are ready.

Can someone at least post the drive cycle for my 97 Talon AWD? At least I can try that...if that doesn't work, on to plan B (which is- I have no idea...)




:thumbdown

As far as I know, you have 2 options. The first one is to (NOT DISCONNECT THE BATTERY AGAIN) and go to the smog place and tell them your situation. This should be a common problem for our cars as well as some others. They will either tell you that you need to drive around and probably tell you the drive cycle or they will do the cycle for you. When they do the cycle they will hook up to your ECU while your car is still running and if everything went according to plan then your monitors will be in the ready status and bingo your passing. Its the ECU that is screwing everything up.

Option 2- Take your car in to get smogged and when you dont pass due to the OBDII then you need to make another appointment with them as well as with the Dealership (satan) Tell the dealership whats going on and then they will perform the cycle and not turn off your car until you come pick it up. You then drive to Smog place have them hook up the OBDII test and bingo you pass. You will have to pay the dealership unless you can do the drive cycle yourself. Good luck, and i will let you know how mine goes.

 

[toojung2die]

Option 2- Take your car in to get smogged and when you dont pass due to the OBDII then you need to make another appointment with them as well as with the Dealership (satan) Tell the dealership whats going on and then they will perform the cycle and not turn off your car until you come pick it up. You then drive to Smog place have them hook up the OBDII test and bingo you pass. You will have to pay the dealership unless you can do the drive cycle yourself.

To perform the drive cycles as described by Mitsubishi you need a long, straight, lonely section of highway many miles long. You have to drive very steady at various speeds for pre-determined amounts of time occasionally stopping and shutting off the car. One of the drive cycles requires you to start the car while cold and immediately drive at highway speeds for a set amount of time. Whose garage is located on the on-ramp of a highway? The dealership avoids these problems by using the MUT-II diagnostic scanner that can manipulate the settings in the ECU, something we don't legally have the ability to do.

What I don't understand and the dealer hasn't explained to my satisfaction is why don't the monitors stay set after the MUT-II sets them to a ready state? Twice the dealer has done my smog test and shown me the passing test results yet when I check the readiness monitor status they're back to not ready.
Jon

 

[Defiant]

It's also interesting that in order to sell cars here, Mitsubishi is required to see to it that they meet emissions regulations. I don't understand why they aren't obligated to do this mystical setting for us, without charge.

But Mitsubishi doesn't seem too clear on the customer-seller relationship anyway.

I can't see ever considering buying something from them.

 

[sypderdude31]

I also had this problem and tried to set these sensor with the drive cycle procedure (theres one in the manual).
Landed up having to go to TX DOT and request a waiver after failing. The car tested fine and they KNEW about these ECUs. Problem is they are still not on the exception list and there really is no fix.... :thumbdown

 

[Grn95GST]

What about the 95 ecu's? I noticed they were listed in the list of years affected.

 

[toojung2die]

I posted the Mitsubishi TSB that details the drive cycles that are supposed to set the readiness monitors to the Advanced 4G63t Tech forum:

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172773

I am very interested in knowing if anyone is successful in performing these drive cycles and getting their non-continuous readiness monitors to set. These drive cycles are different than the ones in the Service Manual.

 

[spyderturbo007]

I received a copy of the 486,000 drive cycles from Mitsubishi last year when I first encountered this problem. I spent 2 days, and countless hours trying to complete all of the drive cycles, with no luck. I wouldn't recommend that you even waste you time. Some take 1h or more to set and the requirements are rediculous such as: drive at 40% throttle for 5 minutes maintaining a speed of 45 mph, blah, blah. Sorry but I would need a really steep hill to keep the throttle at 40% and maintain the same speed :thumbdown . Others require you to turn off the car after completing that particular drive cycle.....uh, duh that's why the monitors reset (turning off the car). Satan told me that they have to hook up to the MUT-II, increase the sensitivity of the readiness monitors, drive the car for 20 or 30 minutes and then run the emissions test. He told me that they don't turn off the car before hooking up to the emissions machine. Anyway, enough rambling.

 

[c5chris]

I failed smog at a Test Only station last year due to this. I took it to Satan and they would not help me or offer any solutions. I was stuck and cursed the hell out of the service department.

I bought a 99 ECU from a tuners member and swapped it with mine. I took it to the same place and the car passed.

 

[c5chris]

It's also interesting that in order to sell cars here, Mitsubishi is required to see to it that they meet emissions regulations. I don't understand why they aren't obligated to do this mystical setting for us, without charge.

But Mitsubishi doesn't seem too clear on the customer-seller relationship anyway.

I can't see ever considering buying something from them.

By law, nobody cannot sell a car that will not pass emissions.

Mitsubishi should be held liable and a class action lawsuit should be filed by every Mitsubishi owner affected by this.

 

[Bigglesworth87]

I was thinking of doing the exact same thing....So it does work, sweet! I am going through the same shit right now. Does was it a GSX ecu that you got or does that even matter?

 

[c5chris]

I was thinking of doing the exact same thing....So it does work, sweet! I am going through the same shit right now. Does was it a GSX ecu that you got or does that even matter?

I used both a 99 GST and GSX ECU to swap mine, both work fine. Hell, borrow one from somebody you know for smog day.

ECUs are cheap now so instead of paying Satan to reset my ecu, I bought a used ECU and kept it in the car.

 

[toojung2die]

I used both a 99 GST and GSX ECU to swap mine, both work fine. Hell, borrow one from somebody you know for smog day.

ECUs are cheap now so instead of paying Satan to reset my ecu, I bought a used ECU and kept it in the car.

I don't understand how this would work; if the ECU is disconnected it resets. When you swap in the ECU it's monitors are reset and won't pass smog until you satisfy the monitor drive cycles. How do you get the readiness monitors to set on the swapped-in ECU?

Does this swap-in work because the original ECU was defective and wouldn't allow the readiness monitors to set? The dealer doesn't reset the ECU for smog testing... He SETs the ECU monitors to the ready state required to pass smog.

 

[c5chris]

I don't understand how this would work; if the ECU is disconnected it resets. When you swap in the ECU it's monitors are reset and won't pass smog until you satisfy the monitor drive cycles. How do you get the readiness monitors to set on the swapped-in ECU?

Does this swap-in work because the original ECU was defective and wouldn't allow the readiness monitors to set? The dealer doesn't reset the ECU for smog testing... He SETs the ECU monitors to the ready state required to pass smog.

I just did this and it passed the Test Only Center. It works and I already had a newer ECU in my car right now. I believe some ECUs are bad and some work fine.

 

[toojung2die]

I bought a 95 EPROM ECU with two goals in mind: 1 - Get one with an EPROM so I can get a chip or DSMLink in the future, 2 - Get one that will set the readiness monitors and keep them set when the ignition is turned off. I installed the 95 ECU and swapped the plug wires to match the different firing order. The car runs fine without any sign of the inverted CAS signal problem. After about an hour of mixed highway/city driving I took it home and hooked up my OBD-II scanner.

All but one of the readiness monitors were set. Great! That's good enough to pass OBD-II smog testing in Nevada However the "MIL is ON" error was indicated. The Check Engine Light is not illuminated and works normally. There are no problem or pending DTC's. I reset the ECU which turned off the readiness monitors but it wouldn't reset the MIL error indication. It's looking like I traded one OBD-II bug for another All I've been able to find about this MIL problem is a little bit on the DSMLink site, "OBD II fix: Fixes the OBDII MIL bug in the '95 ECU. Mitsubishi did a recall on the '96 ECUs but offered no fix for the '95."

Is what I'm observing with this EPROM ECU the "MIL bug"??? Do all 95 EPROM ECU's have this bug? Is there a fix other than buying DSMLink?

 

[mkspyder]

I bought a 95 EPROM ECU with two goals in mind: 1 - Get one with an EPROM so I can get a chip or DSMLink in the future, 2 - Get one that will set the readiness monitors and keep them set when the ignition is turned off. I installed the 95 ECU and swapped the plug wires to match the different firing order. The car runs fine without any sign of the inverted CAS signal problem. After about an hour of mixed highway/city driving I took it home and hooked up my OBD-II scanner.

All but one of the readiness monitors were set. Great! That's good enough to pass OBD-II smog testing in Nevada However the "MIL is ON" error was indicated. The Check Engine Light is not illuminated and works normally. There are no problem or pending DTC's. I reset the ECU which turned off the readiness monitors but it wouldn't reset the MIL error indication. It's looking like I traded one OBD-II bug for another All I've been able to find about this MIL problem is a little bit on the DSMLink site, "OBD II fix: Fixes the OBDII MIL bug in the '95 ECU. Mitsubishi did a recall on the '96 ECUs but offered no fix for the '95."

Is what I'm observing with this EPROM ECU the "MIL bug"??? Do all 95 EPROM ECU's have this bug? Is there a fix other than buying DSMLink?

Does it matter what year the ECU is in order for it to work?

 

[mkspyder]

I just did this and it passed the Test Only Center. It works and I already had a newer ECU in my car right now. I believe some ECUs are bad and some work fine.

Does the ECU have to be from a 99 eclipse?

 

[mkspyder]

Pm sent!

Did the ECU swap work for you?

 

[toojung2die]

Does it matter what year the ECU is in order for it to work?

My understanding and experience is that any 2g ECU from a turbo DSM will "work" in any year 2g turbo DSM. There are differences in the code from year to year and AWD vs FWD. As I stated, I had to change the spark plug wiring because of a different firing order on the 95 Eprom ECU. I currently have a 97 M/T AWD ECU in my 97 A/T FWD and I didn't need to change anything. The car runs as well as it ever did. The FWD ECU has a speed limiter, the AWD ECU does not. My A/T functions normally with the M/T ECU. The different year ECU's all seem to have their own unique set of "Bugs" when it comes to OBD-II. My original 97 ECU wouldn't allow the readiness monitors to set and neither will 97 ECU I replaced it with. The 95 ECU sets the readiness monitors but has a "MIL Bug" that indicates a Check Engine Light condition that doesn't exist. I haven't tried a 98-99 ECU yet so I haven't discovered what new bugs they possess.

 

[c5chris]

I haven't tried a 98-99 ECU yet so I haven't discovered what new bugs they possess.

On my first smog, I ran a 99 GST ECU in my 98 GSX. It passed however I was not content with a FWD ECU and its speed limiter. I reverted to my old GSX ECU and threw the new ECU in my toolshed.

On my 2nd smog test (btw, all my smogs were done in a TEST ONLY center), I had bought a 99 GSX ECU a few weeks before, installed it and smogged. It also passed with no issues.

I had ran this method twice with much success. Get a 99 ECU and you should be fine.

 

[sp00ln]

My understanding and experience is that any 2g ECU from a turbo DSM will "work" in any year 2g turbo DSM. There are differences in the code from year to year and AWD vs FWD. As I stated, I had to change the spark plug wiring because of a different firing order on the 95 Eprom ECU. I currently have a 97 M/T AWD ECU in my 97 A/T FWD and I didn't need to change anything. The car runs as well as it ever did. The FWD ECU has a speed limiter, the AWD ECU does not. My A/T functions normally with the M/T ECU. The different year ECU's all seem to have their own unique set of "Bugs" when it comes to OBD-II. My original 97 ECU wouldn't allow the readiness monitors to set and neither will 97 ECU I replaced it with. The 95 ECU sets the readiness monitors but has a "MIL Bug" that indicates a Check Engine Light condition that doesn't exist. I haven't tried a 98-99 ECU yet so I haven't discovered what new bugs they possess.

Have you fixed this MIL BUG problem yet? Im also interested in getting a 95 ECU to dodge this crazy smog testing we have here in nevada...

 

[toojung2die]

Have you fixed this MIL BUG problem yet? Im also interested in getting a 95 ECU to dodge this crazy smog testing we have here in nevada...

No, my 95 EPROM ECU still has it. I haven't decided on my upgrade path yet. I have to wait until the end of June to see if the re-program Keydiver Chips does will eliminate the bug. I know DSMLink will fix it. Or, I could go with a 99 ECU and SAFC. According to the posts in this thread the OBD-II bugs were worked out by 99. Lots to think about.

 

[mkspyder]

On my first smog, I ran a 99 GST ECU in my 98 GSX. It passed however I was not content with a FWD ECU and its speed limiter. I reverted to my old GSX ECU and threw the new ECU in my toolshed.

On my 2nd smog test (btw, all my smogs were done in a TEST ONLY center), I had bought a 99 GSX ECU a few weeks before, installed it and smogged. It also passed with no issues.

I had ran this method twice with much success. Get a 99 ECU and you should be fine.

Where can I find a used 99 ECU?

 

[Defiant]

Where can I find a used 99 ECU?

Um, duh? Where do you find most used DSM stuff? eBay, Classifieds, junkyards.

 

[mkspyder]

On my first smog, I ran a 99 GST ECU in my 98 GSX. It passed however I was not content with a FWD ECU and its speed limiter. I reverted to my old GSX ECU and threw the new ECU in my toolshed.

On my 2nd smog test (btw, all my smogs were done in a TEST ONLY center), I had bought a 99 GSX ECU a few weeks before, installed it and smogged. It also passed with no issues.

I had ran this method twice with much success. Get a 99 ECU and you should be fine.

Did you drive around for a few days before the smog test on the new ECU?