Passing Smog Emission Sensors...

[jari8378]

Ok here's my deal, i just bought my 97gs-t and i need to pass smog for the registration process, thank cali emission laws and bs! Anyway, thankfully i have a good mechanic friend that will inspect my car pretty much for free, and has his snap-on link for the ecu. He told me that he knows what to look for to see if a car will pass smog or not. When i brought the car in, the car showed no codes by the snap-on link, he continued to check the response rate of my sensors. He said, and showed me that the sensors have not turned on and that if we smog test the vehicle it will fail due to no response from the sensors, which his friend who owns a smog shop next door checked for me, just incase(free ) Has anyone had this problem? or know how to turn on these sensors?
Ive read other threads regarding passing smog and emission laws. I think that the general notion is to have your gs-t run for a long period of time prior to testing, I drove from colton to pomona, which is a good 20-23 miles highway, at about 80-85 mph running with my boost controller on high at a limit of 16psi. The only thing that my mechanic told me, is that my car needs to run longer for the sensors to turn on. Any ideas? please help. Thanks

 

[ChicksDigBoost]

When they plug in for the test they are looking for no codes obivousily, there also looking for the ecu has done its self check. They want to make sure the EGR and Purge are working. Drive around at cruising speed and light throttle not 85 at 16psi. You should have no problem passing unless a code pops up on the cruise.

 

[c5chris]

I do not know if driving/cruising around on light throttle will miraculously turn on the sensors. You need the dealer's tech tool for that and you have to go straight to the smog test center after they do this procedure.

I changed my ECU to a 99. I pass every other year on Test Only Centers.

 

[Bigglesworth87]

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/search.php?searchid=1837072

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177181&highlight=OBDII+MONITORS

The first link should help you out.... It sucks but alot of have this problem.

 

[ChicksDigBoost]

I do not know if driving/cruising around on light throttle will miraculously turn on the sensors. You need the dealer's tech tool for that and you have to go straight to the smog test center after they do this procedure.

I changed my ECU to a 99. I pass every other year on Test Only Centers.

Thats what you do to have your ecu do a self check for OBDII. Looking at the thread though I see that this is not the problem. It looks like the system needs to be reset.

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Thats what you do to have your ecu do a self check for OBDII. Looking at the thread though I see that this is not the problem. It looks like the system needs to be reset.

What are you talking about? Have you ever experienced this? Its not as easy as resetting the ecu, (unplug battery for a few minutes) in fact it will only make matters worse. It seems that his monitors are not set. Meaning that when they hook up to the ecu/obdII port it shows them in a NOT READY status. Having more then 3 not set is an automatic failure. So in this case he would need to either invest in a 99 ECU like C5chris said or take it to the dealership and have them set the monitors to ready with their own computer. Then as soon as its set, take it in to get smogged without turning off the car.

 

[ChicksDigBoost]

I never said anything about disconnecting the battery

 

[bomextalon]

ok if you reset the ecu it will makes things worse because it erases all of the fuel trims that the eco has stored for that vehicle and runs it of a base program. and to "turn on" particular sensors you actually have to do certain things to complete a drive cycle and it actually rarely happens i dont have the books with me that actually explain it but the sensors are on the ecu just actually hasn't ran a check on them. and if you want i can post for you the actual gas readings that you must meet to pass an emissions test.

 

[jari8378]

I have the monitors not ready crap going on. What am i to do? I look on ebay for the ecu for an 99 eclipse, but none are listed... Anyone in the area with a good ecu so i can pass? I need to pass smog by june 12 to complete my stupid registration process. Ive heard of local crooked shops in the area, that charge like 150 but i don't want to go through that crap. I would rather fix it... I guess ill try to call the dealer(stealership) and see what supportive words of encouragement they have for me. I question, if i take it to get "reset," I can't shut it off why? Well thanks guys, post more links or good info please.

 

[Bigglesworth87]

I have the monitors not ready crap going on. What am i to do? I look on ebay for the ecu for an 99 eclipse, but none are listed... Anyone in the area with a good ecu so i can pass? I need to pass smog by june 12 to complete my stupid registration process. Ive heard of local crooked shops in the area, that charge like 150 but i don't want to go through that crap. I would rather fix it... I guess ill try to call the dealer(stealership) and see what supportive words of encouragement they have for me. I question, if i take it to get "reset," I can't shut it off why? Well thanks guys, post more links or good info please.

Well since you have a friend that works at a smog shop I would do the following!

1. Smog the car and have him/her give you the print out of why it failed.

2. The call up the dealership and explain the situation to them. This is not going to be the first time they have had to do this. You should get 2 options from there. One being that they set the monitors for you and then from there you drive over to the smog shop yourself and get smogged or they will smog it for you through their own place. If you are lucky enough to have either of those 2 options work for you then your good to go.

3. Another option would be to take the print out from your smog shop and set up a time for you to go visit the state referee. Your car would have to be 100% bone stock. They will pass your car for you and check everything manually.

Oh and why shouldn't you shut off your car after the monitors are on? Simple, when you shut off the car the ecu resets and it erases the memory of the monitors of being set. That is the reason for all the problems in the first place. It doesnt keep the memory of the self diagnostic checks.



Good luck!

 

[markGSX]

Well since you have a friend that works at a smog shop I would do the following!

1. Smog the car and have him/her give you the print out of why it failed.

2. The call up the dealership and explain the situation to them. This is not going to be the first time they have had to do this. You should get 2 options from there. One being that they set the monitors for you and then from there you drive over to the smog shop yourself and get smogged or they will smog it for you through their own place. If you are lucky enough to have either of those 2 options work for you then your good to go.

3. Another option would be to take the print out from your smog shop and set up a time for you to go visit the state referee. Your car would have to be 100% bone stock. They will pass your car for you and check everything manually.

Oh and why shouldn't you shut off your car after the monitors are on? Simple, when you shut off the car the ecu resets and it erases the memory of the monitors of being set. That is the reason for all the problems in the first place. It doesnt keep the memory of the self diagnostic checks.



Good luck!

Mr. Bigglesworth is giving good advice.
When I had my 96 NT smogged in SoCal last year, the sensors were "not ready", and it was a known problem for my particular year. The 1996 Eclipse was on some kind of an exempted list, but the Talon wasn't. Since normal smog shops cannot bypass it, I had to go to the state ref. The car was bone stock and they ran it on the dyno... and passed it.
Your other option like Mr. Bigglesworth said is to bring it to the dealership and have them manually set the sensors ready, but as soon as you shut off the car they sensors will default back to "not ready".

 

[Bigglesworth87]

Mr. Bigglesworth is giving good advice.
When I had my 96 NT smogged in SoCal last year, the sensors were "not ready", and it was a known problem for my particular year. The 1996 Eclipse was on some kind of an exempted list, but the Talon wasn't. Since normal smog shops cannot bypass it, I had to go to the state ref. The car was bone stock and they ran it on the dyno... and passed it.
Your other option like Mr. Bigglesworth said is to bring it to the dealership and have them manually set the sensors ready, but as soon as you shut off the car they sensors will default back to "not ready".

**cough**cough**add to my rep points**cough**cough**

 

[markGSX]

**cough**cough**add to my rep points**cough**cough**

done, but only out of pity

 

[Bigglesworth87]

OUCH!!......JERK!
hahaha