1999 V70 emissions fail for "not ready" status Topic is solved

Post by **pfmet** » 30 Sep 2018, 08:53

Good day all, As stated we just failed for not being ready. The attendant was rude to my wife suggesting we weren’t going to get away with just resetting the CEL and that we had to burn 2 tanks of gas before we could get tested. So the last time the CEL was on was 2800 Miles age when we had to address the ABS module repair. That was done and we have been cruising CEL free since, plenty of time for all the sensors to reset. In case it matters, Catalyst, Evaporate System, and O2 Sensir are” Not Ready”. Comprehensive Component (whatever that is), Fuel System, Misfire, and O2 Sensor Heated are “Ready”.Other systems listed are shown as “Not Supported”. The emissions test 2 years ago was done 262 Miles after I’d replaced the L-hose in the Evap sys. Readiness failed for the same sensors not being ready. We did just drive her for what ultimately was a total of 722 Miles from hose replacement to Test number 2 and we passed. The inspector told my wife at that time, “these Volvo’s can take awhile”. Okay. We went 2800 Miles this time and we’re apparently still not ready. I haven’t done a thorough search yet but I wanted to get this out. Thanx to all for the past guidance you’ve offered, hope there are some answers or clues or hints out there. As of course, best wishes on your projects. Peter

Post by **jimmy57** » 30 Sep 2018, 10:23

2 things: 1. weak battery can cause these to not stay in tested/ready as the battery voltage during initial starter engagement can drop with weak battery enough to dump the engine control module memory and makes it need to start over. The ones that are clear are ones that will clear in 5 minutes after engine warms up.
2. All the ones failing are dependent on oxygen (O2) sensor passing its evaluation. You don't mention any fault codes but O2 sensor can be "lazy" and pass the DTC detection but not support OBD readiness testing.
There are a few ways to address this. There is a fuel additive sold at Autozone and other places (https://www.autozone.com/fuel-and-engin ... 128434_0_0) that can get oxygen sensors cleaned up and functioning better. Put that in a less than full tank and start engine cold and then go drive it 30 miles with as much expressway, especially some hilly expressway, in that drive as possible. The catalyst test has to see a rhythmic pattern of O2 signal change with fuel trim change. If the sensor(s) have their ceramic tips clogged then it takes a lot more fuel trim change (rich to lean, lean to rich) for the sensor signal to switch from lean to rich indications. The ECM can't readily detect whether it is catalyst or sensor issue but it fails readiness. The fact that the sensor change from rich to lean and vice versa will keep it from condemning the O2 sensor. The evaporative won't test until the readiness for those other two is done. The evaporative test on that car has to have trusted oyxgen sensor readings to know if the purge valve operates properly. I am not a fan of stuff poured into tanks to fix things but I know of several cases where cars passed after the additive in link, or a similar additive from other suppliers, was used. I think Autozone's scan tool can check readiness. You cn probably swing a deal to buy this stuff and then come back in a couple of days and get the readiness status checked.

Post by **pfmet** » 30 Sep 2018, 11:40

Wow, great write up Jimmy57 and thank you. With a reread and some pondering it all makes sense and full disclosure, the battery is a 4 yr old Walmart Everstart that sits a lot. Our spare car and all. It was dead early this spring so it came into the shop for a three day trickle and has performed well since but could be suspect . I didn’t do a load test. One of the O2 sensors is new. I will run the additive thru may be swap out a battery. Again, greats answers and I’ll stay in touch.

Post by **wizechatmgr** » 30 Sep 2018, 17:45

If you have VIDA, you can force it to do the test provided the engine is up to temp.

I'd suspect a weak battery.

Post by **pfmet** » 30 Sep 2018, 20:12

I forgot the year in my subject line for my 99 v70. So sorry I broke that basic rule.

Post by **pfmet** » 22 Jan 2019, 09:35

Been some time since we addressed this issue and it remains unresolved. The battery wasn’t the issue. Old bat was indeed shot. So replaced it drove 700 more miles and still not ready. Put prescribed additive in 1/2 tank and drove and drove and then took it to our Indy who is very capable with Volvo’s. He said he hooked his tester(I WILL get the make and model) and waited 20 minutes for the tester to determine the status on all counts was ready and that they passed. He also is giving me a driving protocol the is supposed to help with this readiness status. Now I need to convince the inspector to wait patiently while my car decides to cooperate? This should be fun. If the evidence will ultimately show the emissions will pass as Frank claims and I have no reason to doubt him, then the Inspector should be obliged to be patient. Hope she’s having a good day...Have any of you had or heard of such a circumstance? Best, Peter

Post by **abscate** » 22 Jan 2019, 18:42

Added yeAr and model to title.

Post by **pfmet** » 31 Jan 2019, 08:48

After arrempting to follow the driving cycle as closely as possible I checked for readiness and it’s down to 2 not readys, cat and EVAP. The o2 has become ready and I assume that’s the upstream sensor. Perhaps the additive is working its wonders. see above. However if the downstream o2 sensor is still “lazy” and not setting a DTC yet not performing well enough to complete the cat readiness test should I just replace it and be over this anxiety. Now with the cold around we won’t be within temp parameters for the cold start and drive cycle till next week. On the DC, I can leave my house and drive 6 min at 1500-2000 rpm, if I go down the road a bit and turn around.I need to downshift occasionally to keep speed reasonable for our quiet country road. The 45 mph road is hilly so there is some coasting and I downshift to keep rpm on somewhat and speed reasonable. I hit the timing well and do the idling in Drive as specified. Now I’m about 8 min from home at this point so I just turn the car off as directed, wait 2mins and start the car and drive home normally. I hope that the DR got “logged” and that when in run another they will become cumulative and so forth. It seems there’s little leeway in the driving sequence when I read more about it. Is the downshifting while driving a nono and nix the protocol? CT will allow 1 not ready monitor and it can’t be the catalyst. I need to test this car again as I’m past the grace period for retesting and I’m afraid they’ll pull our registration. At least it will show we’re driving and 1 more sensor is ready

Post by **pfmet** » 31 Jan 2019, 08:52

As a follow up to the above post, the 45 mph parts af the cycle I mean that portion where we’re driving between 1800-2200 rpm. I assumed the rpm was more crucial than the speed and that’s why the down shifting

Post by **pfmet** » 31 Jan 2019, 14:03

Thank you for looking and offering advise. Whether it was the CRC additive or time or a combination we will never know but the cat became ready 1578 miles after the new battery was installed. 880 miles after additive put in tank. EVAP still not set. Two runs of my version of the Drive Cycle were completed then some short random errands around town then off to the emissions where we passed finally. Best, Peter