I took my car in today for a smog and it failed. I was told that the drive cycle hadn't completed so they couldn't run the test. I have not unplugged the battery in months and just got back from a 10-hour roadtrip, so it seems like the system should have gone through its checks. I did clean the MAF sensor and intake prior to this trip, but it still should have reset by now. I noticed this morning that the air temp sensor had fallen out and I reattached that but am not convinced that would cause and issue.

Does anyone have any ideas?

Thanks.

 

If you recently reset your ECU, then it makes sense that the drive cycle hasn't completed yet. I think it takes a couple of weeks of normal driving for the ECU to be ready for inspection. If you didn't reset the ECU then sorry, can't help you...

 

Thank you for your response. I think the check engine light came on 2-3 months ago and I reset it then. Unfortunately, I have driven over 1500 miles since then. Any other ideas?

 

There are 8 monitors. Do you know which one is not ready? There is a section in the Owner manual to get the car ready for emission testing.

 

I don't know which one is not ready. I wasn't able to find anything in the owner's manual, but did find a small section in the Chilton manual about extracting codes and read through that section. The check engine light has not come on for about 2-3 months. What would you recommend doing?

Thanks.

 

How to get car ready for emission testing (Owner manual chapter 10-18)
1. Start the engine when the engine coolant
temperature gauge needle points to C. Allow
the engine to idle until the gauge needle
points between the C and H (normal operating
temperature).
2. Accelerate the vehicle to 55 MPH (88
km/h), then quickly release the accelerator
pedal completely and keep it released for at
least 6 seconds.
3. Quickly depress the accelerator pedal for a
moment, then drive the vehicle at a speed
of 53 to 60 MPH (86 to 96 km/h) for at least
5 minutes.
4. Stop the vehicle.
5. Accelerate the vehicle to 35 MPH (55 km/h)
and maintain the speed for 20 seconds.
6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 at least 3 times.
7. Accelerate the vehicle to 55 MPH (88 km/h)
and maintain the speed for at least 3 minutes.
8. Stop the vehicle and turn the engine off.
9. Repeat steps 1 through 8 at least one more
time.
If step 1 through 7 is interrupted, repeat the
preceding step. Any safe driving mode is acceptable
between steps. Do not stop the engine
until step 7 is completed.