Sanity draining Smog 'Readiness' indicators [98 850] Topic is solved

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 06 Nov 2018, 19:19

All you NY and CA 850 owners probably know this story already, attaining those evil readiness indicators to prep for smog..
Of the three (3!!!) 'Drive Cycle Procedures' floating around, I've spent 4 hours each of the last 4 days Up And Down the highway here, narrowly avoiding accidents while micromanaging my RPM, and needlessly torturing my suspension and tires pulling onto the shoulder every 4 - 6 minutes.. all for NIL! I'm losing my mind here!!

Is there ANY advice anyone can offer? If I don't get this thing smogged by the end of the week I'm driving it to the scrap yard and walking home

I'm stuck at 3 / 9 flags 'unready', and while I thought I thouroughly ran my flywheel adaptation yesterday- the 6 drive cycles since then still aren't triggering for some reason..
The only other thing I can imagine is the temp requirements for starting a valid 'TRIP' in the ECU.. I've looked in the manual and there's no way to deduce real numbers from the dash' temp gauge, how am I supposed to know if it's within the 84-122 range? Break out the IR gun?

(Side note: Good on CA for enforcing needless emission regulations, I'm sure I've hurt the environment more in the past 600 miles of pointlessly driving in circles than if you let me live my life burning fuel on a uncalibrated ECU...)

Post by **Clemens** » 07 Nov 2018, 00:14

You could try that IR gun. Maybe you are out of the range after all. Measure the coolant hose near the temp sensor , this should give a close reading.

Post by **abscate** » 07 Nov 2018, 07:46

AC off?
Do not exceed 60 mph
Throttle in range 1/4-3/4 only
A good scan gauge can monitor tank pressure so you can confirm the purge valve is pulling the tank to the correct pressure.

What other monitors aren't ready?

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 07 Nov 2018, 07:50

Just think in a couple more years you can register your 850 as a historical vehicle and become emissions exempt.

Constant highway driving should maintain your temperature within 84-122, unless you have a fault in the cooling system. It's possible your ECT is reading out of spec.

ToriWhite wrote: ↑06 Nov 2018, 19:19 (Side note: Good on CA for enforcing needless emission regulations, I'm sure I've hurt the environment more in the past 600 miles of pointlessly driving in circles than if you let me live my life burning fuel on a uncalibrated ECU...)

I believe it was the state of Ohio who recently conducted a study that concluded: emissions and safety inspection are just a money grab that do nothing to protect motorists or the environment.

Post by **abscate** » 07 Nov 2018, 07:58

I believe it was the state of Ohio who recently conducted a study that concluded: emissions and safety inspection are just a money grab that do nothing to protect motorists or the environment.

The Stanford Research Institute published that cars don't cause smog in 1955, in response to a flavor chemist at CalTech who figured out NOx caused ozone.

If it isn't peer review, it's a political piece.

WhatAmIDoing · Post by **WhatAmIDoing** » 07 Nov 2018, 08:06

abscate wrote: ↑07 Nov 2018, 07:58
I believe it was the state of Ohio who recently conducted a study that concluded: emissions and safety inspection are just a money grab that do nothing to protect motorists or the environment.
The Stanford Research Institute published that cars don't cause smog in 1955, in response to a flavor chemist at CalTech who figured out NOx caused ozone.

If it isn't peer review, it's a political piece.

The study I read was conducted by the State Highway Patrol at the request of state congress. Guess that puts it somewhere in the middle between peer reviewed and political piece.

Post by **jimmy57** » 07 Nov 2018, 08:15

I know from working on cars in TX that cars and trucks in the counties where emission systems get checked the stuff works at least part of the time and most of it works most of the time. I lie in edges of the tested area and the ones I work on in the non-testing area often don't get things fixed that have no bearing on how it runs. Many of those have problems that make the exhaust stink or have catalysts removed. You can remove a cat and use an oxygen sensor extender tube and the light will stay off on many.
There is no diesel emissions check in Texas, the land of the diesel emissions delete and rolling coal.

Post by **jimmy57** » 07 Nov 2018, 08:28

Back to the issue. What readiness indicators remain other than flywheel adaptation?

You can take a coolant sensor plugged into the connector and hold it away from engine and pour some water over it. Then start engine and tuck it by the thermostat housing with some aluminum foil on top of it. It will get enough heating to warm up there. That will allow you to do a warm up cycle without overnight wait. If you have tired oxygen sensor(s) then it will never complete. You can try the pour in tank stuff sold at auto stores (I guess they sell it in CA..) to get marginal sensors restored for a time. CRC Guaranteed to Pass, and STP emissions reducer are a couple. Nothing in a bottle fixes a faulty one but if the ceramic tip is a bit "poisoned" by oil consumption, too heavy use of fuel injection cleaner, too many Sea Foam intake treatments, driving with it misfiring, etc then this stuff can clean sensors.
Flywheel adaptation usually passes is you find somewhere and can coast at 45 mph or more. The injectors will be off and the ECM can interpret the irregularities in perforation in sensor surface and complete the process only with injectors off. If it has low compression on a cylinder, like 40% off the others then it may not complete flywheel phase.

Post by **rspi** » 07 Nov 2018, 08:30

I recently purchased a '97 850 R. Jumped the car and drive it 7 miles to have the codes read and cleared. A couple were transmission related. Drove the car another 5 miles to the emissions station. While waiting, I had it in park, as soon as I shifted into drive, it popped the transmission code and I was in position to get it checked, cleared the code and shut the car off. Started the car, drove around for about 10 minutes, maybe 4 miles, got it checked and it passed.

My experience is that the '96 - '98 cars pass with just a few miles on them. Sad to hear about your struggles.

ToriWhite · Post by **ToriWhite** » 07 Nov 2018, 09:21

jimmy57 wrote: ↑07 Nov 2018, 08:28 Back to the issue. What readiness indicators remain other than flywheel adaptation?

As far as memory serves: My sensors are always either 3/9 ready, or all Off. Read somewhere in the procedure that 850 with motronic(?) 4.3 behave like this, where individual readiness codes are hidden, and they'll only all pop over once they're all flipped. Either that or leaving my harbor freight bottom tier reader in my glovebox all year cooked it, and it's reading wrong..
Going to try with IR gun today, and if nothing works, swing by mechanic friend to borrow a professional OBD-II read, just in case!