DMV Failed Emmisions test

[newlife]

Hello,

I am new to the forum. I have a 2000 Boxter S, 40,000 miles, I live in Alpine CA 91901. I had a CEL come on and so I disconnected the battery cable to remove the alert. Now, I can't pass a California emmisions test. The CEL came on the day after I had a pre-purchase inspection and everything came out Excellent !. The following night I removed the gas cap, just to look at it and then put it back on. The next day the CEL came on. My smog guy told me I had to reset the computer monitor and that required a specific driving cycle. I have the drive cycle instructions, which is recommended py Porsche, and there are 17 steps. Basically I have to drive the car for 23 minutes and approximately 7.5 miles. Nothing against my smog guy, but I don't feel comfortable taking the car back and forth to check and see if it may pass emissions. According to the info I received from my smog guy, I am to check the status of the Readiness Monitors, check for DTC's, correct faults, clear DTC's before beginning the drive cycle. What are DTC's ? and is there a tool I can purchase to check the issues like the Readiness Monitors, DTC's etc so I can start the drive cycle ? Or is it possible my smog guy already did these things for me and the car is ready for the drive cycle ?

Thanks again for your comments

Rod

[Loren]

Turning the CEL off does not fix the problem that turns the CEL on.

You need to read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) and fix the problem(s) identified. Once the problem is fixed you will need to drive the car for a number of drive cycles (starting and stopping) to get the system reset to pass smog (Readiness) inspection. I have seen drive cycles take 2-3 days or even a week if you don't drive often.

[newlife]

Turning the CEL off does not fix the problem that turns the CEL on.

You need to read the Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTC) and fix the problem(s) identified. Once the problem is fixed you will need to drive the car for a number of drive cycles (starting and stopping) to get the system reset to pass smog (Readiness) inspection. I have seen drive cycles take 2-3 days or even a week if you don't drive often.

Hi Loren,

Thanks for that... is there a way I can read the DTC and fix them myself or should I go to my Porsche guy... What tool would you recommend for this? I would like to try and do this myself only because I want to learn, and its fun!

Thanks

Rod

[Loren]

if you plan to do future work on your car I would suggest purchasing the Durametric software. It can read/reset faults (including alarm and airbag) - so it is more versatile than the inexpensive code readers.

[mikefocke]

While Loren is right, the most common DTCs are found easily using a simple ~$60-100 code reader (Actron is a common brand).

Once the DTC is read an a Pnnn format code displayed, you then need a Porsche model year specific interpretation of the code translated into pseudo-english. And a list of what could possibly cause the problem. Some causes are trivial to fix, some devilish to diagnose and some beyond the ability of most shade tree mechanics. Fix the problem, turn off the DTC and then go through the cycle of drive and stops and your readout at the smog station should be good.

Without knowing the exact Pnnnn format code, tough to tell you anything more. The devil is in the details.

More info here https://sites.google.com/site/mikefocke2/acheckenginelight%28cel%29

[newlife]

Hello,

Okay, I took the advice of Mike Focke and purchased an Actron OBDII Pocket Scan for $65.00 at Auto Zone in San Diego. I hooked it up to the DME turned the key to "on" and this is what I got... (also the car has been sitting for 9 hours with-out running, so its cold"

0 codes

MIL off

Monitors

3 Inc

Catalyst

Evap

Sec Air

5 ready

Misfire

Fuel

Comp

02Snsr

02Htr

After that, on the advise from my "Black Forest Mechanic", I took the car out for a 20 minute drive. Stop and go traffic, top speed 53 mph, slowest speed 5mph. After returning home I checked the DME again and this is what I got... (Also, I did run the car with the pocket code attached per the Actron instructions for checking the MIL.)

2 codes

P1128

P1130

MIL off

Monitors

2 Inc

Catlyst

Sec Air

6 ready

Evap

Misfire

Fuel

Comp

02 Snsr

02 Htr

Your comments are appreciated with respect to the data I have compiled.

Thank you,

Rod

[Tool Pants]

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/32635-smogging-a-boxster/

Read the link. I was actually due for a 7th smog test last month but have not found the time to do it.. You did not fail the test - your car was not ready for the test. You cannot have a check engine light on. On my year there are 5 readiness codes. If you click on the link then click on the next link. On 3 of the 5 need to be set to start the test. Before I had a PST2 the smog guy would plug his machine into the obd port to make sure at least 3 were set. If they were then he would do the dyno test. Now that I have a PST2 I check the car while I am outside the shop to make sure at least 3 are set. If the are set then I give the keys to the smog guy.

I have not kept up on the Calif smog biz. There was a test only, test and repair, and then a gold something. Test only could only test the car. If it failed then you had to go a test and repair to see why. I don't even know if they will do a pretest anymore. Once I had the PST2 I was able to determine for myself if the car was ready for the test, so I have not kept up on things.

[logray]

+1 on Tool Pants comment.

If after you've cleared the codes 1128 and 1130 they keep coming back...

Based on the 1128 and 1130 you might also have a vaccum leak, fuel leak, bad maf, etc. preventing most of those smog tests from going to the ready state.

A quick search for those DTC's yields...

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/36892-p1128-and-p1130/page__p__195496__hl__p1128__fromsearch__1#entry195496

http://www.renntech.org/forums/index.php/topic/17106-my-first-check-engine-light-at-50k-miles/

[JFP in PA]

As you just purchase the car, and you live in CA, it is the seller’s responsibility in to certify the car’s smog. Perhaps time to go back on them?