1999 S70 vs. California Emissions Test

[Matty Moo]

I've seen that brought up before, supposedly they're supposed to waive you on that.

At times I'm puzzled why they still do emissions testing. Sure, there are some polluters out there, but the majority of the cars on the road put out next to nothing of what a typical car from the 70's-80's did.

We haven't had it in MI in years, but never had safety inspections. At times I wish we did have safety, you see people driving things that have no business being on the road.

[JRSC EP3]

I was having the same issue with my 98 V70. After 300 miles of driving, the monitors were still in not-ready mode according to my two different OBD-II scanners. I finally decided to just take it to a smog place so they could fail it for me and I could get a temp operating permit. The smog tech did the test and said it passed the "functionality" test even though none of the monitors were ready. He said it was the first time he's ever seen a car pass even though none of the monitors were ready. I didn't question it! I had the paper saying it all passed and was on my way out the door with a huge grin on my face! So like the OP noted, some shops might just pass you even if the monitors aren't ready!

[donis222]

California emissions v. Volvo:

I fix Volvo's in my back yard. I have encountered this drive cycle problem many times. After much hair pulling, I found a SMOG Tech that told me certain era Volvos did not need any drive cycle 'ready' indicators.
To read about this solution search CA, DMV, (Schedule, or Appendix) J. This was instituted as there were so many Volvos with the same problem. It instruct the tech to override the question. I believe that all 1996, 97, 90 series and 850s are included. There are more as my 960 was passed with 4 not ready codes. The above SAS problem with the O2 sensor explains why there is no readable O2 voltage until that problem is fixed.
I brought a copy of the rules with me, but the Tech knew(he is a Volvo fan).

OBD II did not begin with no flaws.

I don't know about other States, but the "J" list looks to me like it came from the Feds.