OT: Auto OBD not ready?

Same thing happened to me. Had to drive about 50 miles on the expressway and a few days of regular street driving to accumulate enough data in the OBD to pass the emmisions test. I have a mercury(ford) sable. Fortunatley retesting was free.

Best Regards Tom.

"azotic" fired this volley in news:kt6vgv$har$1 @speranza.aioe.org:

Demand that the bastards put a tailpipe analyzer on it, or pass you. They have no legal right to 'invade' your private space inside your vehicle, and they have no means to connect an OBD-II connector to your vehicle without doing so.

Such constitutes an unwarranted search and seizure without probable cause.

Lloyd

Aren't the state inspections written up so the techs have legal access to OBD ports? (Cars didn't yet have those when my smog license in CA was current, way back in the '80s.)

I'm not entranced by the State digging into our lives, but I was really sad when CA stopped its safety inspections after the ACLU took them to court over its Constitutionality. They got a whole lot of unsafe vehicles (and people) either fixed or off the streets. They would run a mirror under the car to check for holes in the exhaust systems, check all lights and turn signals, lean in the door and step on the brake pedal to check for unsafe brake systems/low pedals, and check the headlight alignment. They also caught a bunch of drunks and got them off the roads, so it was absolutely for the greater good. Now, all they're doing is looking for polluters and everybody's lights blind others all the time. Go figure!

Look up "obd2 drive cycle"

The drive cycle can be completed, with possible exception of emission monitor, in less than an hour. One monitor not set still passes.

Wrong.

Don't know for sure, but my brother is going through the same thing in a Toyota Camry. Over 200 miles, and all but one test is ready, but NJ won't pass it until every test is fully ready and there are no pending codes.

has the (long and tedious) steps to get 'er done, or you could just drive it for a while. Places like Autozone will check your computer for free.

you do not "fill up" the computer - you need to complete a specific series of drive cycles that set flags, which are different for each car, allowing all the emission related parts to be verified. On all the cars I am familiar with, these take at least two separate cycles of driving with the engine cooling off in between. on some cars it is quite difficult to get the flags to set, on others it is pretty automatic - you need to hook up an OBDII monitor and check the readiness flags before you go. On most cars it requires low power smooth driving, some start cycles (two to four) and an opportunity to check the CAT. you need to find the drive cycles for your car.

Thanks, that's what I was looking for. The procedure in the owner's manual (apparently) can't do it.

Kevin Gallimore

Driving is a privilege, not a right.

To get the privilege is you have to follow the applicable laws to get your license and get the vehicle registered. The smog rules are over-reaching and draconian, but they are the law so we have to follow them - until and unless we can get them changed.

I hope you brought your good walking shoes, because when your tags expire you won't be able to drive your automobile on public streets anymore, and they'll arrest you if you try doing it with expired tags.

And if you follow the same logic and don't let them check your eyesight when you go in for a renewal, you won't have a Drivers License either.

The moral of this story is, don't disconnect the battery for about a week before you go in for a smog check (if you drive once or twice every day for a good 15 or 20 miles) and all will be well. Or at least if it doesn't have any problems.

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Only in America.

You go out and put yourself in hock for five years to buy a car so that you can drive back and forth to work and when you take it to have it inspected they tell you that it doesn't pass? You can't drive it?

"only in America?" have you lost your mind - we have one of the most permissive set of automotive regulations in the developed world. Sure, in Afghanistan you could drive things you couldn't drive here, but have you ever even considered that there are other countries? Have you looked at the automotive inspection schedule in Japan, England, France, Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Holland? You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and you are whining because you can not impose the health costs of your car on others and are being forced to fix what is wrong with it.

Oh..another Gorbal Warming nutcase heard from.

My goodness. so what are you telling me? That although you can't get your new car to pass the smog inspection in America it is even worse in other places?

Well, I suppose it is. You can't even buy a new car in Singapore without government permission to do so.

Not, Only in America. Many countries are MUCH stricter with regards to vehicles.

We had a saying when I lived in Germany "Da TUV is tough." If they could put a screwdriver through _a_ rusty patch (and they knew where they all were) the vehicle failed the inspection. Fail three times, and you can not drive it 'home' but must get it towed from the Inspection. And that is in addition to lights, brakes, smog, etc - all of which must be in working order! And pretty much "stock" too. And "bald tires" - you could be ticketed and fined for those, even if the car was otherwise legally parked. Yes, you could be fined for bald tires by a 'meter madcchen" - each. As in a 25 DMark fine, per tire. Ja, ja - tell me how tough things are in the States.

tschus pyotr

p.s. There were many "funny" stories of foreigners trying to drive into Germany, with automobiles which literally had parts fall off. "Nein, das maschien gehen nichts! Ist verbot!"

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although more often, Age travels alone."

That's what happened when they hired Sgt. Shultz?

In the early 1970's American GIs didn't have to meet all the requirements the Germans did, or pay their huge gas tax, but the safety inspection was still more demanding than at home. For instance the hand brake must be able to stop the car by locking up both rear wheels. I heard that Germans couldn't even install spark plugs the maker hadn't recommended. jsw

Correct. My wife is from there. COE (certificate of entitlement) costs over $70,000(singapore dollars, about $55,000 US, if you are lucky enough to bid and get one). This entitles you to drive the car until it is 10 years old. Then you must bid again. Kind of kills the used car market.

All motor vehicles imported into Singapore are slapped with a customs duty of 41 per cent. There is also a Registration Fee to be paid. The fee is $1,000 for private vehicles and $5,000 for company vehicles. In addition, when a car is first registered (whether new or used), an Additional Registration Fee (ARF) of 150 per cent of the car's Open Market Value is payable.