Hey guys. I resetted my light after tinkering with my evap cannister. I think a hose was loose. Drove 60 miles and the light didnt come on. I drove continuously, including taking side streets of course. That should do it right? If the light hasnt come on, it means good to go? The last time, I drove 46 continuous miles when the light came back on when I accidentally reset it without writing down the blinking. The mechanic shop told me to drive it 50-100 miles continuously....but like I said, the lights came back after 46 miles. All the weeks that I drove it for more than 100 miles it never came back again until I took it in to smog and it wouldnt pass. The computer said it couldnt do the test because the diagnostics didnt cycle through yet or something.

I've read other posts and they talk about silly driving patterns, etc. I am pretty sure those are extraneous as the lights magically came on after I decided to take the car on the highway and drove 90 miles round trip (again, the lights came on after the initial 46 miles, no need for 100 miles etc).

So just curious if anyone else took their car for a spin of 40+ miles on the freeway and when their engine light came back on.

 

Its not the distance, but the circumstances. On some cars you need to be at a half tank of gas at a certain speed and engine load.

Just drive it until it resets.

 

I've had to do this every other year for 6 years now. Let me find the info and I'll put it up. It's kind of a pain, but it's the only way I can get my car to pass a smog check. Ridiculous really, because the emissions readinings always fall well within acceptable limits, just can't get the CEL to stay off! (Burnt out the bulb 2 years ago!)

 

by the way, what you need to do will vary depending on your model year and transmission type.

 

ok, so if you check here:

http://www.lyberty.com/car/Maxima_A3...NTB98-018c.pdf

there are instructions for the 4th generation drive cycles. find your car and good luck!!

I have never been able to successfully complete the drive cycles exactly as they are listed for my 96 M/T Maxima, but I have had success completing portions of the drive cycle enough to pass a smog check. (in california, anyway)

 

You really need an OBD II code reader/eraser to tackle this problem. I got mine a few years ago from autozone for like $120, and I can't even tell you how valuable it has been.

THIS IS HOW I PASSED MY SMOG CHECK - vs. a never-ending code 1320!

You will need:

1. OBD tool
2. printout of System Readiness Drive Pattern for your model (yes it is silly)
3. Access to a freeway that is not too busy (you will be travelling slower than normal traffic and trying to hold maintained speeds)
4. You should also try and do this starting with a little less than 1/2 tank of fuel.

** I've found that the best freeway system to do this will have 6-8 continuous miles of flat or upwards sloping hills, followed by a downslope. In or around Los Angeles, you can get on the 5 south at Magic Mountain and by the time you reach the top of the hill, it's the perfect time to down shift and coast.**

Abbreviated Systems reset procedure. (At least for my car!)

1. get your car close to your freeway on-ramp. (make sure it is warmed-up)
2. reset CEL
3. Start car and let idle for 1.5 minutes - leave A/C off for now
4. Get on freeway, get up to 4th gear and try and hold the RPMs just over 3000 (3100 should be fine) you should be travelling around 60-63 MPH. HOLD THIS STEADY FOR 3 MINUTES>
5. Shift into 5th, steady speed around 56 MPH, turn A/C on, set cruise control, HOLD FOR 3 MINUTES.

At this point you should be getting close to the top of the hill, wait until you crest the top, then...

6. Down shift into 4th, take your foot off the gas and just let it go for 5-6 seconds, then drop out of gear and let it coast for 1 minute without braking for as long as possible.

At this point, 4 of my 5 systems that need to come back online had reset. (I've successfully done this on 3 separate occasions.)
If you leave your OBD tool hooked up while driving you can check the status by looking at the I/M Indicators. The 5 that we're looking for are O2 Heater, EGR, Catalyst, O2 Sensor, and EVAP.

7. Get off the freeway and go the the first smog check place you can find. (probably helpful if you plan that out beforehand)

In California, my understanding is that you can take the smog test with a maximum of 2 system readiness indicators not ready, but no more than that.

So the plan here is to get at least 3 of your 5 SR indicators back online, then get the smog check before the CEL comes back on. You don't have much of a window to do this, and I would recommend limiting turning off and restarting the car as much as possible. I've even let it idle in the front of the Smog place while I went and checked in.

Out of the 3 times I have done this the CEL has always come back within 10 miles of leaving the Smog Check, 2 years ago, it came on as I was pulling out of the lot. Luckily, I had just passed my test. But I have always had a small window to get it done before the light comes back. It's actually pretty nerve-wracking sitting in the smog check place praying the damn light doesn't go on during the test. But if you pass, it's completely worth it. I feel like framing my last pass certificate.

Obviously, I can't guarantee that this will work for anyone else, as every car is a little different, but I have been able to make this work for me on multiple occasions and it has saved me thousands of dollars of unnecessary parts to try and fix a 1320 code that just won't go away. I've replaced every sensor, all the coils, twice, plugs with ngk platinums, the condenser, actually just about everything except the wiring harness, which I am not willing to replace. I just got tired of dropping over a thousand dollars in new parts into my max every other year when I needed the CEL to go off for smog check. (Mind you none of these things - except the ignition condenser - made any difference in how the car actually ran) the new coils would keep the light off for a little while, but it always came back. I just can't put much more into a car with 189,000 miles on it.


Anyway, good luck!

 

Thanks everyone. You guys are right. I didnt read this post before taking it for a 1.5 hour drive and putting 106 miles on it. The readiness monitors are still on but no engine light. What a drag. Waste of time and gas. Went home at 1:30AM since I started driving at 11:30AM. Almost all freeway miles. It's a 96 maxima GLE, automatic btw.

 

@ floydthedog : Yeah the windows of time you got is flippin short!! Seems if your lucky the cel come on right after you leave the smog place!!! If youre lucky!!!

I got lucky once.. but i never had to do it again!

@ preludexl : Look in your other thread i posted the screen shot for the pattern you must do for an automatic(96)!!

 

Because these old threads were such help to me, I just wanted to post my resolution.


Like most, I traced down the drive cycle SRT and watched things with my laptop and ScanTool.


After a month, and hundreds of miles, of seeing the o2 sensor, cat, and evap not ready, I decided to replace the front o2 sensor (bank 2 I think--front center of car) figuring it had gone tired. Success. FAST success.


Well, actually it took a couple days to get to the point where EGR System was the next domino to fall. But a couple 3min+ drives at 45 mph (watch the rpm's, not speed) did it. Then the 10 minute idle, and just one 6 min loop for the cat/srt triggered the o2 sensor ready. I did not want the cat or evap ready tests to trigger (prep for an emissions so didn't want to create troubles


It also triggered a p0150 pending code (but no light). So I took it in to see, and it passed.


Keys to remember: the blank gaps between test patterns can be any driving, and the o2 sensor took just one pass. So if you're driving around like I was and it just isn't working because your o2 never gets ready--even though your o2 sensor said ready 6 months ago--try swapping it out.


When it's truly ready, it turns on fast.