I’ve had this car for just over a year. Bought a newer vehicle so I wouldn’t have problems with it. It now won’t pass NYS inspection because the monitors are not ready. ODB II scanner says no codes found in module. I’ve taken it into Advance Auto and had them run their computer on it, no codes (for anything that needs to be repaired occur). I’ve run the recommended drive cycle on it twice, done the cold start with everything possible turned on, etc. NADA! I’ve been told to just drive it…3,000+ miles later, no dice.
There are no indicator lights on in my dash, no check engine indicator, nothing.
Any ideas on how to get these monitors to reset? What do I do if they don’t? I have four years left on my loan…
I can see how this is frustrating to you. Have you disconnected the battery for some reason? When the battery is disconnected, the monitor are reinitialized, and must go through the specified driving routine before they’ll complete. If you’ve driven 3000 miles and never disconnected the battery, something is truly amiss. No way to tell for sure via the internet, but I’d guess either the ECM is faulty, or there is an intermittent electrical connection to the ECM which is constantly making the ECM think the battery has been disconnected.
It sounds like the ‘keep alive’ memory is not working. Have you checked the fuses?
Long shot…with car off, take BOTH battery cables off and clamp them together for an hour, then reattach.
Here’s the drive cycles for your vehicle.
Catalyst monitor:
Ambient temperature must be at 41 degrees or higher.
Gas tank must be filled 1/2- 3/4’s full.
Start engine and let idle for 5 minutes with AC rear defogger on.
Turn off AC and rear defogger and allow the engine to idle until up to operating temperature.
Drive vehicle until 56 MPH is reached.
O2 monitor:
Follow the same steps for catalyst monitor.
When at 56 MPH, release the accelerator for 10 seconds or longer.
Accelerate again to 56 MPH.
Keep the speed at 53-60 MPH for 10 minutes.
Stop the vehicle and let it idle for 1 minute.
Accelerate to a speed of 30-35 MPH for five minutes.
Stop the vehicle and let it idle for 45 seconds.
Accelerate to a speed of 53-60 MPH for 5 minutes.
Allow the vehicle to roll to a stop without using the brakes.
Allow the engine to idle for 45 seconds.
EVAP monitor is reset when the O2 drive cycle is performed.
Tester
I believe the cat monitor won’t run until the oxygen sensor monitor is complete
Something to think about
@db4690
Before the O2 sensor monitors can run, the catalytic converters must come up to operating temperature first. Or in the closed loop mode.
That’s according to Mazda Motor Vehicle Manufacturing Of North America, where I got the information from at http://www.ondemand5.com/
Tester
That seems to be different than Ford and GM
In my experience, the cat monitor doesn’t run until those other monitors are complete
Let me add something else, to clarify
In my experience, the cat monitor is usually one of the last to complete, if not THE last
This is a long shot, but see if the horn works.
When I had the same problem with one of my Fords, a quick look at the diagrams told me I needed to see if the horn worked. It did’nt
The keep alive memory for the monitors & the horn were both wired to the same fuse. Replaced the blown fuse & drove it normally for 3 days while the monitors reset and passed cal smog no problem.
As Bustedknuckles sez look for a blown fuse.
Thank you for all of the feedback! A few responses to the comments: we unhooked the battery only after having driven the car over 3,000 miles as a last resort.
There was a PCR (I think that’s what it was called) recall on my car affecting emissions and potential inspection failure, to which I had brought it into the dealer to have that issue addressed.
Have checked the fuses, one was bad and was replaced, all else have power and are fine.
I had run the drive cycle as indicated above, twice.
And, yes, the horn works. =)
I did get a call from an old friend of mine, his father is a mechanic…basically, my car has probably not gotten hot enough to trigger the monitor reset. Going to try his suggestion this weekend (block the radiator (partially) so there is a larger increase in temperature in the engine.
Again, thank you all for the advice! I’m going to run the drive cycle again, block the radiator, and hope for the best! =)
If the engine was running cold, the check engine light would be on & a PO125 trouble code would be stored in the computer. At around 140 degrees the PCM/computer comes online to fine tune engine operation If the temp doesn’t make it to 140 degrees the PO125 is set.
You need a very good shop to look at this. If by tiny chance you live near Placentia, Cal I can recommend one
My bad, I see you are in NYS. My BIL owns an auto parts store & sells parts to many of the local mechanics. He knows which are good & not so good. You might want to check with the local parts stores & see if the same name comes up for one of the local shops.