OT - OBDII readiness rant...

[DuckRyder]

Good lord.... set a code or set ready but don't just go thousands of miles "not ready"...

So here's the story:

Back in June of 1996 my grandmother wrote a check for a new Acura 3.5RL. Sometime around 2000 or 2001 she became unable to drive and gave it to my mother who last week bought her second Prius and gave said Acura to me. The Acura had a battery put in it in march of this year and it runs fine, it has been several thousand miles and has no check engine light BUT it failed emissions because it isn't "ready". Now, I had a Mark3 VW so I'm well familiar with OBD readiness codes but this thing is a stumper (it never had to be tested in the rural counties it was in until I got it) I've put ~900 miles on it in every type of driving possible and it will not set 3 monitors to ready.

I've run the Ford drive cycle, the GM drive cycle , the generic drive cycle and the Acura/Honda drive cycle (which is ridiculous) multiple times still not ready... what a crock...

Oh and lest you think this thing is a POS, except for tires and the battery it has never been serviced anywhere except the very same Acura dealer it was purchased at and looks better than most 4-5 year old cars around here...

Thanks for listening...

[Sparx Macgyver]

If your having a problem with it I'll take it off your hands, free of charge.

No idea on the problem though. We have an '00 Mitsubishi Mirage.

[DuckRyder]

If your having a problem with it I'll take it off your hands, free of charge.

I'm not quite there yet...

Oh and just in case you think I'm joking about the Acura/Honda drive cycle being absurd, there are 17 steps, step 17 is "repeat steps 1-16" and this is an example of the other 16 steps:

Step 13
Accelerate gradually to 28 mph (45 kp/h) and back to 0 mph (momentary stop 1 second) within 50 seconds. Accelerate gradually to 27 mph (43 kp/h) and back to 0 mph within 55 seconds. Idle for 15 seconds.

[67camper]

Yeah i've heard its pretty ridiculous. why can't the shop just strap it to a dyno and stick a gas analyzer in the tail pipe, that's how they do it with obd1 cars.

[DuckRyder]

I'm actually seeing there might be a market for that, if you believe the internet Honda's are HARD to set readiness on though. Everything else I've ever messed with a cold start and a trip down the interstate would do it...

The Honda drive cycle is basically the EPA urban cycle, which of course is done on a dyno, supposedly the requirement is that it set ready within 23 minutes of the start of the cycle...this one is failing miserably on that point... and trying to do it on the street will get you killed...

On OBDII cars they just plug into the port, it can't have any codes, it has to have a maximum of 2 readiness monitors unset and has to pass a fuel cap test (which is a little ridiculous with evap monitoring), so if I could just get it to set one more it would pass...

[binder56jd]

from what i have read, battery swaps seem to bing them every time

here's a couple of links u may/or not have

http://www.aa1car.com/obd2help/


http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh ... ?t=1433620


given the problem is so common--there has got to be "good " fix

the main jest in the 2 above threads were o2 and evap

hope some of this is a help---i am sure learning

good luck duckie

if it gets too bad--put me in line for a buyer--mama needs a car like that---we are suspection free here in Okrahomer

[bluemoose]

Not sure if this is what you are talking about. I have a Volvo s70 from 2000. The check engine light has been on for 4 years due to evap leak. It doesn't affect performance. I simply disconnect the battery for an hour before I need to have it inspected and Voila. No check engine light for a few days, new inspection sticker on the window. Hope you can get things figured out.

Moose

[DuckRyder]

Yep swaping the battery clears the computer.

In the linked thread, the first drive cycle is a GM drive cycle, I also have the BMW drive cycle, but haven't done it yet (15 minutes at a steady speed below 60? thats going to be tough).

Bluemoose - if you haven't already replace the gas cap, thats probably the most common EVAP leak.

[crewcabfan]

hi. i don't think the problem is the drive cycle, i think something is preventing the computer from allowing to run monitors.
i was looking at the acura drive cycle and noticed that the first condition you have to met is a cold start, from the computer's point of view the ambient temperature sensor and the coolant temp sensor must be within 5 degrees of each other or monitors wont begin running. i've seen some weird ones at my shop. give me a call @ seven 73 491 3 one 23. i might be able to confuse you more, at least.

[DuckRyder]

I am all ears, it appears the CTS and outside temperature display are within the range... I do wish I had a scan tool that could perform output test...

It also does not appear that it is loosing power to the ECU because the EVAP is set ready and the "backup" fuse is good.

[DuckRyder]

hi. i don't think the problem is the drive cycle, i think something is preventing the computer from allowing to run monitors.
i was looking at the acura drive cycle and noticed that the first condition you have to met is a cold start, from the computer's point of view the ambient temperature sensor and the coolant temp sensor must be within 5 degrees of each other or monitors wont begin running. i've seen some weird ones at my shop..

I'm starting to agree, however, I was messing around with the Coolant Temp Sensor (AKA Engine Coolant Temp [ect]) and set a code today, so I had to clear it inturn resetting all readiness monitors. Did one cold start with ECT, IAT and Outside temp all within a few degrees of each other and EVAP, and heated O2 set ready within 3 minutes, so it is running at least some monitors.

I'm starting to think it wants to see a higher ECT than I'm getting (85-86C [186-187F]) I'm finding varying stories about what a Honda wants to see but many new cars run a 195 thermostat so I would think around 200 would be better, might try blocking the radiator and see if i can get it in the 200 range for a 5-10 minute steady cruise.

BTW it is O2, Catalyst and EGR that aren't ready, near as I can find they are all 2 trip monitors.

If that doesn't work, you may have me on your phone tomorrow...

[amishbuggy]

Have you checked out www.obd-2.com I bought a Trican from this dude when I was having fits with a Jetta I owned, it's the best couple of hundred I've spent in a long time.

[DuckRyder]

I have VAG-Com (VCDS) which includes a generic scanner...I'm missing the VW though, I could command it to run the monitors...

[amishbuggy]

VCDS sounds like a awesome tool, Car Code is a full feature diagnostic tool that is compliant with all passenger vehicles using ODB-ll standards. You use your PC or laptop as your monitor, oops battery is dying.

[DuckRyder]

VCDS is also run on a laptop, I have a DLC to USB cable.

I wonder if the software would work with the Ross Tech cable?

I really don't want to throw parts at it, but I need this thing to pass and the same 3 rediness codes won't set. Every enable criteria I can find for Honda/Acura on the internet has been met multible times and the O2 sensors appear to be functioning (the front 2 are crossing the rich lean threshold several times a second and the rear on is flatlining) so I really don't get it.