Emission Inspection Fail: Evap & Air Not Ready

[Cisc0]

So I take my X to get the emissions inspection done (NYC) and I have failed. When I ask the dude why he says that my Evap & Air monitors are not ready. I ask what the trouble codes are and he says 'None'. Told me to just drive it for almost 150 miles and come back. I drive the Sav for 4 days straight, almost 100+ miles a day, come back and still not ready. I have no SES light or any other light on cluster. Now he is telling me that this is caused by the cold weather and that I would need to leave the vehicle overnight, to sleep indoors because I have outdoor parking.

Has anyone ever dealt with this bullshit? And what's with the 'No trouble codes' but systems not ready?

Any help is appreciated.

[Ricky Bobby]

Usually when the system doesn't pass readiness its because of a tune or something else to that effect altering it, at least in my VW experience.

Do you have access to DIS to scan for pending faults?

I don't know what your NYC inspections are like but in good ol' dirty Jerz they just run you through real quick now for emissions, plug in and get on the road. I haven't heard about readiness not being set because of the weather however.

Sometimes cat converters could fail readiness if they arent given enough time to warm up, but I'm theorizing here, you might have a secondary air pump going south at your age and mileage which may not trip the SES but still fails readiness.

[upallnight]

If you or someone clear the code(s) in your X and you haven't driven the X much after the code(s) were clear, you will get the notice that the system isn't ready. This feature was installed to prevent people from clearing any codes prior to taking their cars in for emission testing.

[OptimusPriM5]

I have but only on cars way older than yours as they take time to warm up but like I said this should not affect your vehicle. Weather doesnt have much to do with it as on my older cars it didnt make a difference. That guy is grasping at straws IMHO

Not sure how these efforts are done in NY but was this at a dealer and if not do they have the equipment to pull and interpret the codes effectively? I have noticed in VA the local shops are not capable. Maybe drop by dealer for an emissions they may be able to troubleshoot better or a BMW Indie.

[Cisc0]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Usually when the system doesn't pass readiness its because of a tune or something else to that effect altering it, at least in my VW experience.

Do you have access to DIS to scan for pending faults?

I don't know what your NYC inspections are like but in good ol' dirty Jerz they just run you through real quick now for emissions, plug in and get on the road. I haven't heard about readiness not being set because of the weather however.

Sometimes cat converters could fail readiness if they arent given enough time to warm up, but I'm theorizing here, you might have a secondary air pump going south at your age and mileage which may not trip the SES but still fails readiness.

I do not have access to DIS. The secondary air pump was replaced on my X this past summer and when that started going south, I did get an SES light on my cluster. Now there are no lights at all and there were no light prior to the emissions test.

[Cisc0]

Originally Posted by upallnight

If you or someone clear the code(s) in your X and you haven't driven the X much after the code(s) were clear, you will get the notice that the system isn't ready. This feature was installed to prevent people from clearing any codes prior to taking their cars in for emission testing.

There were no codes prior to the scan (at least that I know off). Unless there is/was a previous trouble code that does not trigger an SES light on the cluster. But, shouldn't anything that has to do with emissions trigger an SES light?

[Ricky Bobby]

Sometimes you could have a "soft code" or "pending code" which isn't triggered the SES light but is recorded in the software.

That is weird if you replaced the secondary air pump already however, and they are saying readiness is not good at air pump and evap. Evap I would point to purge valve, but if that was clogged, you'd know it as the X would randomly shut off when idling, etc.

Stumped man, sorry I can't be of more help. If you want to come out to Central Jerz I can scan your X with DIS for free though.

[Cisc0]

Originally Posted by Ricky Bobby

Sometimes you could have a "soft code" or "pending code" which isn't triggered the SES light but is recorded in the software.

That is weird if you replaced the secondary air pump already however, and they are saying readiness is not good at air pump and evap. Evap I would point to purge valve, but if that was clogged, you'd know it as the X would randomly shut off when idling, etc.

Stumped man, sorry I can't be of more help. If you want to come out to Central Jerz I can scan your X with DIS for free though.

RB,

PM when you are available and I will come out there.

[TerminatorX5]

upallnight is correct, if the computer was cleared/reset (even with zero codes prior to reset), it is not "ready" for emissions test. you need to drive about 100-150 miles, as indicated by the mechanic, to accumulate the road data in the computer to be tested...

however, it seems that your computer might be in this "reset" state at all the times (didn't you post a similar post last week when they charged you $40-50 for failed inspection?).

this can be caused by many reasons, simplest being that the DME is not communicating to the OBD because of a broken/shorted wire... even though, i would think it should have indicated so, or have no connection at all...

If Jay can help you, go to NJ and have him scan you car... first off, I would wonder if the software is able to connect to the car... the next thing, scan the whole car and see which modules responded to inquiry and which did not... of the ones that did not, see if any are vital (like, DME not responding is a vital module... Japanese Navigation not responding because it is not there)...

Also, in some states they have a waiver - if you spend $xxx on emission related repairs (with valid receipts) and still have the same problem, you get a waiver sticker... in some places they have a waiver for emissions if you drive the car less than 5000 miles a year... not sure if NYS subscribes to these practices...

[Cisc0]

Originally Posted by TerminatorX5

upallnight is correct, if the computer was cleared/reset (even with zero codes prior to reset), it is not "ready" for emissions test. you need to drive about 100-150 miles, as indicated by the mechanic, to accumulate the road data in the computer to be tested...

however, it seems that your computer might be in this "reset" state at all the times (didn't you post a similar post last week when they charged you $40-50 for failed inspection?).

this can be caused by many reasons, simplest being that the DME is not communicating to the OBD because of a broken/shorted wire... even though, i would think it should have indicated so, or have no connection at all...

If Jay can help you, go to NJ and have him scan you car... first off, I would wonder if the software is able to connect to the car... the next thing, scan the whole car and see which modules responded to inquiry and which did not... of the ones that did not, see if any are vital (like, DME not responding is a vital module... Japanese Navigation not responding because it is not there)...

Also, in some states they have a waiver - if you spend $xxx on emission related repairs (with valid receipts) and still have the same problem, you get a waiver sticker... in some places they have a waiver for emissions if you drive the car less than 5000 miles a year... not sure if NYS subscribes to these practices...

Term,

I posted that on FB, when charged $37 for a failed emission and was given the "just drive it" resolution. Since then I believe I have drove the vehicle for over 500 miles and taken it back to get the same result of two out of the four tests being "not ready", only difference is this time I was told Evap & Air are not ready.

I don't know if NYS subscribes to any of those. I do only drive the X for less than 5k a year now since it is not my daily driver any longer. I will get up with Jay and see what we find in this DIS scan.