1997 850 readiness monitors not resetting

thedancingfiddle · Post by **thedancingfiddle** » 10 May 2018, 06:04

Hi all,

It's been a while since I've posted here, but my trusty 850 is giving me a mysterious issue and I need help.

When I got it inspected last month, it showed a "conditional pass" and the shop said this was because 5 of the readiness monitors hadn't reset.

The battery had died back in Jan in the cold of winter, and I replaced it then, but the car hasn't lost power since, and I've driven over 4000 miles since then, so I would have thought that anything would have reset already.

There is no CEL on, and no codes. This is a 1997 850 wagon, in VT.

Ideas? Thanks!

Post by **850 LPT** » 10 May 2018, 08:27

97' and 98' Volvos are notorious for this. It's a well known problem that has been discussed here.
These cars take forever to set all the monitors in ready mode.
Because of this they are exempt in my state, which is CT.

Dirk

Post by **erikv11** » 10 May 2018, 09:19

Yes, it just takes a ridiculous amount of time to hit the drive cycle requirement. If you are good with TurboTuner you can set a turbo ECU to a 0 cycle requirement.

I think every state exempts the readiness monitors requirement.

thedancingfiddle · Post by **thedancingfiddle** » 10 May 2018, 10:25

Ok, that's what I thought, but it seems like by 4000 miles, they should have reset!
The people at the inspection place thought that this wouldn't fly next year if they still weren't "ready", but maybe they don't know. This is in VT, where they just implemented this whole new computerized inspection thing last year.
Fingers crossed....

Post by **abscate** » 12 May 2018, 05:15

Everything except EVAP should go ready on 50 miles, if you have a small Evap leak that can take a long time. I once went between inspections without resetting...about 15000 miles.

I found a tiny split in my canisters shutoff hose, replaced it last week, and EVAP went ready in 150 miles.

You can force it even faster with this protocol.

Gas tank 1/2 full
AC off
Take car on a 5 minute trip to get beer.
Turn off car, put beer in fridge.
Come back out, start car, drive for 20 minutes at 45 mph
Do not exceed 55 mph during trip y
Pull over into driveway and let car idle for 5 minutes
Go in and get beer.
Come back and confirm Evap ready
Consume beer.

thedancingfiddle · Post by **thedancingfiddle** » 12 May 2018, 07:32

Ok that's what I thought, but wouldn't the check engine light come on if there was even a small EVAP leak? I've had it come on for small EVAP leaks in the past, but no sign of it now.

I'll see if I can try that procedure—I'm not sure there is a road around here where I would be able to drive for 20min at 45mph without coming to a stop sign or a 25mph curve or something. And driving only 45 on the interstate wouldn't go over well.....

Post by **abscate** » 12 May 2018, 09:17

Route 9 should do. You can slow down for towns, it’s the exceeding 60 mph that cancels the test cycle

My small leak never coded over months.

Post by **erikv11** » 12 May 2018, 09:53

Every state eventually exempts the readiness monitors requirement on P80 cars. If reading them is new in VT, I bet they will come around ...

Here is a little more detail on the drive cycle, it is safe to assume it may take more than one cycle. http://forums.swedespeed.com/showthread.php?144938

thedancingfiddle · Post by **thedancingfiddle** » 14 May 2018, 15:06

Thanks everyone. I'll let you know when I know more, whenever I get a chance to do any of this! (Maybe next time I need to drive to Bennington, with time to kill....

Post by **abscate** » 14 May 2018, 18:11

Bring back some nice pottery...