California smog check “not ready”

[y_p_w]

I’ve been garaging the car for a few months, so this is a new one for me. I just needed to get this done before registration renewal, and for years there’s been no actual tailpipe test for newer cars, but rather just plugging into the OBDII port and checking the emissions diagnostics. The tech suggested maybe driving it around for 50 miles, so I did and brought it back where his assistant used a scan tool and saw it still needed a few more diagnostics. Maybe more cold starts. A little frustrating, but I paid a no pass fee and will be going back.

 

[c502cid]

I just had this happen to me with my kids older car in So Cal. The front O2 sensor wasn't lighting up so it would never show ready, no matter how long I drove it beforehand. I'm not saying this is what is happening to you, but the "not ready" was something I never heard of before this test.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

They are most likely looking for the car to have been running in "closed loop mode" for some time, thus necessitating the reason to drive the car some distance or on a more regular basis. The car will run in open loop ok without any real signs of any malfunctions, but they probably cannot submit test results to the state that show testing was done in open loop mode.

 

[Bill_W]

Check for your car’s drive cycle. It resets for smog check.

 

[atikovi]

Get yourself a cheap OBD2 scan tool to see what monitors haven't completed before taking it in and wasting your time. Usually it's evap monitors. In general, gas tank has to be between 1/4 and 3/4 full for that to run. 10-15 minutes on the highway at 55-60 and few minutes around town should do it. Some cars are stubborn and can take much longer.

 

[thastinger]

Did you battery go dead while the car was being garaged? If so, or if you needed to jump start it, you'll have to put some drive cycles on it IOT establish the long term fuel tables.

 

[NismoNVT]

Torque free available on the android has a drive cycle check, and it will list the monitors available and ready to go.

EVAP and Cat monitors are the stubborn ones

 

[Soft Cars]

Same thing happened to me. I've since then been putting the car through some drive cycles to get it ready.

Smog Tests

Lesson learned: Don't unhook your battery if you're going to get your car smogged anytime soon. That's what I did last week when I replaced the front valve cover gasket. The service manual said "disconnect battery" as the very first step. I went ahead and did that so as to not put the computer...

bobistheoilguy.com

 

[2strokeNorthstar]

Evap isn't necessary, can be not ready and still pass. All others are fairly easy to set. You need a few complete cold-warm (operating temp)-cold-warm cycles. Just driving once won't set them all to ready.

 

[y_p_w]

Did you battery go dead while the car was being garaged? If so, or if you needed to jump start it, you'll have to put some drive cycles on it IOT establish the long term fuel tables.

Not that I know of. I even hooked it up to a battery maintainer. It needs a bit of work and I stashed it in my garage for over three months.

 

[atikovi]

but I paid a no pass fee and will be going back.

You didn't get a receipt saying what caused it to fail?

 

[The Critic]

You didn't get a receipt saying what caused it to fail?

Probably the monitors are not ready.

 

[atikovi]

Probably the monitors are not ready.

There are a dozen or so. If he paid for a test, it should state what failed, otherwise how would he know what to fix?

 

[The Critic]

There are a dozen or so. If he paid for a test, it should state what failed, otherwise how would he know what to fix?

In order to pass, you can only have one monitor that is not ready - and usually that one is EVAP.

 

[y_p_w]

You didn't get a receipt saying what caused it to fail?

The standard printout just says “not ready”. I did get a brief look at the handheld scanner, but saw that it mostly had green indicators and one or two red indicators. I was told it needed more cold starts.

 

[The Critic]

Not that I know of. I even hooked it up to a battery maintainer. It needs a bit of work and I stashed it in my garage for over three months.

If it still needs work in order to be road worthy, why not renew it as non-op?

 

[atikovi]

In order to pass, you can only have one monitor that is not ready - and usually that one is EVAP.

Even the cat monitor? I don't think so. And OP doesn't now which one it is.

The standard printout just says “not ready”. I did get a brief look at the handheld scanner, but saw that it mostly had green indicators and one or two red indicators. I was told it needed more cold starts.

And you had to pay for that? I'd be asking, "which one is not ready".

 

[y_p_w]

Even the cat monitor? I don't think so. And OP doesn't now which one it is.


And you had to pay for that? I'd be asking, "which one is not ready".

I had to pay a no pass fee as soon as I got the original result. It's pretty standard whenever it doesn't pass at all, although I think I can apply that to the standard fee once it finally passes. I didn't pay for the pre-check when I brought it back. I suppose they don't typically do a pre-check before each test.

 

[Lubener]

I’ve been garaging the car for a few months, so this is a new one for me. I just needed to get this done before registration renewal, and for years there’s been no actual tailpipe test for newer cars, but rather just plugging into the OBDII port and checking the emissions diagnostics. The tech suggested maybe driving it around for 50 miles, so I did and brought it back where his assistant used a scan tool and saw it still needed a few more diagnostics. Maybe more cold starts. A little frustrating, but I paid a no pass fee and will be going back.

Maybe the battery was disconnected prior to testing.

 

[Shel_B]

I don't quite understand this. My place is less than a mile from the smog test, and both with the Camry and my previous car, 2003 Buick, I'd drive from home, starting from cold, to the test, and the cars would pass. Is there something about newer cars that's different than on a 2003 Buick and a 2011 Camry?