Recently I had my car undergo a "smoke test" prior to repairing whatever was causing my check engine light to come on, 2 months before emmissions test due. They found my purge valve was damaged, so I replaced it. When I returned to mechanic, they cleared my check-engine light for free. What they did not tell me is that I was not likely to pass emmissions until all the OBD monitors reset. So I went to do my emmissions test today (one day before registration due Nov. 30), and could not complete it, due to OBD readiness monitors being "Not Ready" (SID: 10497651). I was told I'd need to do a "Drive Cycle" diagnostic, which I found out online has many steps. There was none that I could locate for my specific make and model (perhaps because Saab is out of business?), but the suggestion was to use the process for GM vehicles. I am a bit dubious about this, and I'm not sure it will work anyway, as I drove the car right after the check engine light was cleared. I drove it some distance, and never followed the Drive Cycle process, because I didn't even know about it. Any suggestions? Do I need to pull battery power again and start over? I suspect that was how mechanic reset my system in the first place.
RepairPal Certified shops can diagnose and repair your 1997 Saab 900. They provide transparent pricing with a minimum 12-month or 12,000-mile warranty on repairs and services.
You have to let the engine cool down completely before the test. It will not even start until the engine has completely cooled off. usually ambient temperature, unless it's 30degF, you don't need to wait that long, but let it sit several hours.
The structured directions for this Drive Cycle is going to be a problem. I live in an inner-city location, and much of the cycle must be done at 55 mph. And it is not very clear if I'm supposed to do one part of this cycle right after the other. Does everyone "reset" their OBD monitors this way? This is what it says:
Generally all OBD2 equipped vehicles have very similar drive cycles, I can't find a Saab specifc drive cycle, but you can use this GM one as a template. Before performing your drive cycle, make sure you've had all or any stored OBD2 codes read and cleared.
This will cause diagnostics to be run on all sytems. Have scanner connected while testing, using freeze frame. A complete driving cycle should perform diagnostics on all systems. A complete driving cycle can be done in under fifteen minutes.
To perform an OBDII Driving cycle do the following:
1) C old Start. In order to be classified as a cold start the engine coolant temperature must be below 50°C (122°F) and within 6°C (11°F) of the ambient air temperature at startup. Do not leave the key on prior to the cold start or the heated oxygen sensor diagnostic may not run.
2) Idle. The engine must be run for two and a half minutes with the air conditioner on and rear defroster on. The more electrical load you can apply the better. This will test the O2 heater, Passive Air, Purge "No Flow", Misfire and if closed loop is achieved, Fuel Trim.
3) Accelerate. Turn off the air conditioner and all the other loads and apply half throttle until 88km/hr (55mph) is reached.
During this time the Misfire, Fuel Trim, and Purge Flow diagnostics will be performed.
4) Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for 3 minutes. During this time the O2 response, air Intrusive, EGR, Purge, Misfire, and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed.
5) Decelerate. Let off the accelerator pedal. Do not shift, touch the brake or clutch. It is important to let the vehicle coast along gradually slowing down to 32km/hr (20 mph). During this time the EGR, Purge and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed.
6) Accelerate. Accelerate at 3/4 throttle until 88-96 km/hr (55-60mph). This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 3.
7) Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for five minutes. During this time, in addition to the diagnostics performed in step 4, the catalyst monitor diagnostics will be performed. If the catalyst is marginal or the battery has been disconnected, it may take 5 complete driving cycles to determine the state of the catalyst.
8) Decelerate. This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 5. Again, don't press the clutch or brakes or shift gears.
That is correct; You need to be in a area that this can take place. If it was spring or summer I would suggest taking a picnic. Use your imagination on how to get this done, but it will have to sit for awhile before you run the test or it will not work. Maybe trailer it someplace to get nit done.
Saab, and drive cycles. These were so hard to complete monitors on that the EPA came up with another mode for global OBDII called "In Use Performance Tracking." Basically that is all about logging how many times the conditions were correct for monitors to run, as compared to how many times they actually completed. Here in Pa. we had(have?) a special policy for cars that simply would not run the monitors like yours and we could call into the help desk and they would be exempted from testing. Back when we were having to deal with these a lot of times they got sent back to the dealers who learned all of the tricks to get them to run their testing.
Anyway see if your emissions testing program has a special policy on these, and in the future don't clear codes on this unless you absolutely have to when you do a repair.
Thanks, I'll do that. If they don't, I guess my option is to park the car or drive it illegally. I guess my mechanic didn't know about this problem either, or they wouldn't have cleared all the codes.
The structured directions for this Drive Cycle is going to be a problem. I live in an inner-city location, and much of the cycle must be done at 55 mph. And it is not very clear if I'm supposed to do one part of this cycle right after the other. Does everyone "reset" their OBD monitors this way? This is what it says: Generally all OBD2 equipped vehicles have very similar drive cycles, I can't find a Saab specifc drive cycle, but you can use this GM one as a template. Before performing your drive cycle, make sure you've had all or any stored OBD2 codes read and cleared. This will cause diagnostics to be run on all sytems. Have scanner connected while testing, using freeze frame. A complete driving cycle should perform diagnostics on all systems. A complete driving cycle can be done in under fifteen minutes. To perform an OBDII Driving cycle do the following: 1) C old Start. In order to be classified as a cold start the engine coolant temperature must be below 50°C (122°F) and within 6°C (11°F) of the ambient air temperature at startup. Do not leave the key on prior to the cold start or the heated oxygen sensor diagnostic may not run. 2) Idle. The engine must be run for two and a half minutes with the air conditioner on and rear defroster on. The more electrical load you can apply the better. This will test the O2 heater, Passive Air, Purge "No Flow", Misfire and if closed loop is achieved, Fuel Trim. 3) Accelerate. Turn off the air conditioner and all the other loads and apply half throttle until 88km/hr (55mph) is reached. During this time the Misfire, Fuel Trim, and Purge Flow diagnostics will be performed. 4) Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for 3 minutes. During this time the O2 response, air Intrusive, EGR, Purge, Misfire, and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed. 5) Decelerate. Let off the accelerator pedal. Do not shift, touch the brake or clutch. It is important to let the vehicle coast along gradually slowing down to 32km/hr (20 mph). During this time the EGR, Purge and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed. 6) Accelerate. Accelerate at 3/4 throttle until 88-96 km/hr (55-60mph). This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 3. 7) Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for five minutes. During this time, in addition to the diagnostics performed in step 4, the catalyst monitor diagnostics will be performed. If the catalyst is marginal or the battery has been disconnected, it may take 5 complete driving cycles to determine the state of the catalyst. 8) Decelerate. This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 5. Again, don't press the clutch or brakes or shift gears.
That is correct; You need to be in a area that this can take place. If it was spring or summer I would suggest taking a picnic. Use your imagination on how to get this done, but it will have to sit for awhile before you run the test or it will not work. Maybe trailer it someplace to get nit done.