1998 S70 EVAP and Other Emission Tests

[aong]

I finally passed the emission test. All monitors are ready now.

I followed the procedure above and completed all tests in one day. The key is to keep a steady throttle and follow the procedure pasted above. Repeat the procedure until all the monitors turn ready.

[850 LPT]

Congratulations!

I'm trying to figure out a route where I could do this too, but it's not easy. The problem also is the cool down part of the procedure. The good thing is that the weather is getting a little cooler now, that might help.

[aong]

850 LPT,

Have you passed the emission test?

Try find a least busy highway/freeway and drive at a speed with steady throttle. Find an exit and idle at a nearby gas station/street. You can repeat the procedure until they monitors are "ready".

[timmybdaddyof3]

Getting these cars "ready" can be a nightmare...I have been through the drive cycle 8 times and 2400 miles and it still has not come on-line. FWIW the above procedures are correct both according to Volvo and all-data/mitchell (inc. no AC and cold start)

For those in need of interesting reading:
Volvo TSB - Mar 2001 - Doc SB 2-23-0056 (Read the whole thing as it starts out about 96-97 cars, than later refers to 98 850's - esentially, all 96/97 and most 98's are covered - clearly states that ODBII does not have to be "ready" to function properly - Also clearly requests that emissions inspectors NOT notify customers when the system is not ready)

US EPA - Jan 2008 - Doc #:EPA420-F-08-009 (shows Volvo models under review for excessive "not ready" issues

US EPA - June 2012 - EPA-420-B-12-044 (tell test stations to reference above Volvo TSB, and that catalyst and evap are difficult to get on-line. - does not apply to 96 850 turbo which is totally expempt from readiness tests)

This should at least give you the ammo to start the fight of its a "known issue to the federal EPA, why don't you know about it?" to your local inspection stations - this got me an additional 90 day tag to try and get it on-line

Should you really run into a pinch, you can take your car (all except the 96 850 Turbo) to the dealer but when talking to one out here in Phoenix the line I got was "Its a flat $320, we will need the car for between 1 and 3 weeks, you will get it back with between 500 and 2500 more miles, and the emissions certificate cost will be added to the total"....I was so busy laughing that i didn't think to ask if after paying them $320 to drive my car for 2500 miles they could at least change the oil.

[850 LPT]

850 LPT,

Have you passed the emission test?

Try find a least busy highway/freeway and drive at a speed with steady throttle. Find an exit and idle at a nearby gas station/street. You can repeat the procedure until they monitors are "ready".

I have not

This car is killing me. This morning the CEL came on again, same code P0455 large EVAP leak. I'm at my wits end with this thing.

It's been about 5 weeks or so that I had major work done and the ECU was reset. New purge valve, new shut off valve, vacuum hoses replaced, smoke test done. All looked fine and I drove at least 2000 miles with no CEL.

I was waiting for the monitors to show ready. As off yesterday there were 3 monitors "not ready" and I thought I'm getting close to getting it tested again, now this. Last week I spoke to the mechanic at the emission station, and he confirmed that I can pass with 2 monitors not ready. So close, but no cigar.

I think I might drive it off the cliff somewhere.

[850 LPT]

I finally passed the emission test. All monitors are ready now.

I followed the procedure above and completed all tests in one day. The key is to keep a steady throttle and follow the procedure pasted above. Repeat the procedure until all the monitors turn ready.

Sorry for rambling before, but I'm just really p....d.

I have to come up with a plan to solve this and have a few questions:

Next thing is to try and find a stretch of highway to speed up the process and achive the same as you. How long did you wait after each run? Did you let it cool down again?

Hopefully it will work, but if the EVAP code comes back I have to dig into the system again. The only thing that has not been touched is the charcoal canister. My mechanic says it's rare, but they can go bad. What experience do you guys have?

I gassed up the other day at a gas station near my house where they pump for you (Normally I don't do that, but I was in a pinch). Since I don't trust that they closed the gap properly, I checked it at home. Sure enough, it was on somewhat loose, I could turn it quite a bit until it clicked. That drive home was only half a mile, but would that be enough to trigger a CEL?

I would appreciate your help,

Dirk

[abscate]

Dirk - not enough for the EVAP CEL. The cycle has to fail three times before it sets the CEL for an EVAP code IIRC>

[rmmagow]

P0455 is a tough one to get to reset or to even fix. Mine didn't clear until I ran it over 1000 miles. Cap has to be pretty tight, I press on it and make it a bit tighter than just the clicks. Takes a lot of patience and I've never gotten the ready situation using the drive cycle, but the drive cycle is pretty tough to do regardless. Good Luck.

[timmybdaddyof3]

I also just cam across a volvo tsb stating that a the 2-3 drive cycles must be from a cold start - and it defines a cold start as between 83* and 121*, for colder climates it recommends starting the engine and while watching a live data feed, idle the car until the temp reaches above 83 and below 121, turn the vehicle off, wait 5 seconds; restart and proceded with the drive cycles as described earlier.

[850 LPT]

Thanks so much guys.

@abscate:
Good to know about the cap, now I can focus on the charcoal canister and maybe check the vacuum lines again.

@rmmagow @timmy:
First challange for me is finding a highway with not a lot of traffic (difficult around here) AND not a lot of hills to climb (also difficult). I think I found a stretch on I-84 in NY state that should work. I'll scope that out next week sometime.
Interesting detail on the temp. I'm not sure how to measure that but it sounds important to get that right. I do own a nice scanner, but I don't think it does temp, I have to check.