Windveil Blues
OLD FART
Well, my pony car finally passed the MO emissions test after much hair pulling, senseless spending and cussing. This directly relates to Phill's recent post about coming off the boat to a dead battery, too. Apparently why my car failed the first time, was due to the fact that the friggin' battery died about a week before I took it in for inspection, and I don't drive it daily.
What happens is this: when you remove a battery cable or it goes dead, the computer writes a hidden trouble code to the PCM (NO CEL) to tell the emissions testing computer that the computer has recently been 'rebooted or reflashed.' Most likely due to some programmer's paranoia that just because the battery was disconnected, that the owner is trying to fool the emissions computer in some way.
Here all this time I thought my custom tune was NOT 50 State Legal, and DiabloSport put the screws to me. The REAL case was the battery died a week before testing, and the code popped (P or T 1000) and told the emissions computer that I was dicking around with it.
In reality, all I needed to do was drive the damn car for two or three complete 'drive cycles' (see the index in your owner's manual). The idiot tester I went to told me "it will never pass because of this code, because I was trying to trick the computer."
ASSHOLE... I called the service manager at Sunset Ford, and it just so happens he has had the same issue with his '06 S197 and Predator U7140. He told me to clear the trouble codes even though I couldn't see any, reinstall the factory tune, drive it for two or three complete drive cycles and take it back and get it retested. I did, and it passed.
The point of this whole bullshit fiasco is if your battery goes dead, it writes a trouble code to the PCM without , and it will not be in "readiness mode" for testing for the required drive cycles, period. The thing that kept failing on mine was the Cats were "unavailable."
So the moral of the story is after a new battery, a new scanner, paying for the third retest and two weeks of screwing around with the car on expired plates, all I really needed to do was drive the car for a couple or three complete drive cycles and it would have passed with the custom friggin' tune.
Lesson learned. I applied for the 'Missouri Emissions Exemption based on Mileage Waiver' (driven less than 12,000 miles biannually between inspections), and if they give it to me, the cats are history and there will be a shiney new off-road x-pipe in their place immediately.
Thanks to those that helped with feedback and info...
Jim
What happens is this: when you remove a battery cable or it goes dead, the computer writes a hidden trouble code to the PCM (NO CEL) to tell the emissions testing computer that the computer has recently been 'rebooted or reflashed.' Most likely due to some programmer's paranoia that just because the battery was disconnected, that the owner is trying to fool the emissions computer in some way.
Here all this time I thought my custom tune was NOT 50 State Legal, and DiabloSport put the screws to me. The REAL case was the battery died a week before testing, and the code popped (P or T 1000) and told the emissions computer that I was dicking around with it.
In reality, all I needed to do was drive the damn car for two or three complete 'drive cycles' (see the index in your owner's manual). The idiot tester I went to told me "it will never pass because of this code, because I was trying to trick the computer."
ASSHOLE... I called the service manager at Sunset Ford, and it just so happens he has had the same issue with his '06 S197 and Predator U7140. He told me to clear the trouble codes even though I couldn't see any, reinstall the factory tune, drive it for two or three complete drive cycles and take it back and get it retested. I did, and it passed.
The point of this whole bullshit fiasco is if your battery goes dead, it writes a trouble code to the PCM without , and it will not be in "readiness mode" for testing for the required drive cycles, period. The thing that kept failing on mine was the Cats were "unavailable."
So the moral of the story is after a new battery, a new scanner, paying for the third retest and two weeks of screwing around with the car on expired plates, all I really needed to do was drive the car for a couple or three complete drive cycles and it would have passed with the custom friggin' tune.
Lesson learned. I applied for the 'Missouri Emissions Exemption based on Mileage Waiver' (driven less than 12,000 miles biannually between inspections), and if they give it to me, the cats are history and there will be a shiney new off-road x-pipe in their place immediately.
Thanks to those that helped with feedback and info...
Jim
