OG member here, car essentials:

1995 Maxima SE 5MT, CALI-spec
2xxk miles on body, unknown miles on newer engine.
Pre OBDII -- so can't plug in for scanner. I stand corrected on this.

Passed sniffer test with flying colors, but CEL won't turn on (stays off), so smog tech failed car.

Speed; HC; CO; NO (average # for passing in parenthesis)
15 mph; 4 (21); .02 (.03); 148 (279)
25 mph; 2 (13); .00 (.03); 120 (256)

CEL turns on first thing in morning, dad waits for CEL to turn off before starting car. After that, CEL does NOT turn on for rest of the day, no matter how many times we turn car on/off.

Most threads are for CEL ON and I did a quick search, so any help is appreciated.

 

All 4th gens are OBD II.

 

My dad's 95 Maxima has no OBDII plug in for scanner.

My brothers 97 Maxima has OBDII plug in for scanner.

 

There should be a plug for the OBD2, since 95 models came OBD2 compliant from the factory that way.

 

Yup. Maxnine, the connector is located above the ECU on the passenger side of the center console.

 

I stand corrected on OBDII scanner plug in. Posted test numbers in original post.

Still doesn't answer how I can make CEL light turn on for smog test. Bulb is not burnt out since it turns on first thing in morning, then nothing.

 

I thought they would just want to see it light up and turn off, just to see it works, once car is running and CEL staying on in Cali=Fail....

 

Any thoughts on why CEL won't turn on after first start in the morning?

 

No idea why it only comes on the first time you start the car for the day. I've got 2 options for you to make it come on though.

1. Leave the battery terminal a little loose and when you get there pop the hood and unhook the battery for a few minutes. Hopefully when you hook it back up it will think it's the first start of the day and work properly. Might want to test this theory out before using it.

2. I did this in my neon because I put a standalone computer in the car and the check engine light was always on. I pulled the cluster and found out what wires triggered the check engine light and the oil light by reading a factory service manual. I then cut the wire for the check engine light. Then, the end of the wire coming from the cluster I just spliced into the wire for the oil light. Since the oil light always comes on for a couple seconds at startup so will the check engine light. Granted I live in a state that doesn't do smog test but I just wanted to do it.

Probably don't want to do either one but it's all I got for you at the moment.