Emission issues

[Firstang001]

Hi Friends,
I don't know if this is the right place to post this or not. I own a 2013 V6 mustang right now on 91 tune from AmericanMuscle(BAMA). I was due for emission and when I went to take emissions it didn't fail, but the message said that the "Vehicle's Computer system is "NOT READY" to be tested as reported". They asked me if I had got any work done on the car and if battery was disconnected. Answer to which was NO. And asked me to let it go through is drive cycle and come back day later. Is it the tune which is causing the issue? I need to know as I am due to registration Jan 15. Please help!!

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Mojo88]

Best guess - some monitors have been turned off in tune. I went through same thing last year when I bought car from out of state. Interestingly, the first shop I went to (a Mustang hot rod shop where all they do is Mustangs), I asked this question of the head tuner, and he stuck his computer on there, and then said I should drive car to reset the monitors by doing 'drive cycles'.

Well, that didn't work. So, after some sleepless nights, I went to another tuner (Pete in NH) and he quickly (in 5 seconds) saw that there were monitors turned off in the tune. So Pete did me up a new 'emissions' tune, after which I had to do a complete 'drive cycle' to reset the monitors. The drive cycling took me about 25 miles.

If you have SCT device or similar, then I would consider putting the original tune back in, and then doing drive cycle. Then go to someone who understands how to correctly ascertain if the monitors are "ready". Once they are all "ready", and if you have no CEL's, you should be all set to pass emissions test.

Of course, this assumes you have cats and sensors still in place.....;

In my state, I am allowed to have ONE monitor in "not ready" status, not sure about your state. Bottom line - this is fixable, but you'd be best served with professional guidance of some sort. Good luck!

 

[Firstang001]

Thank you for the response!! I have all the sensors and cats in place never removed them. I will put back the stock tune today and will drive back home and back to work tomorrow. That will add 50 Miles to the stock tune. I am located in PHX and do not know of any tuner here. I might have to do some research on that!!

Thank you!!

Best guess - some monitors have been turned off in tune. I went through same thing last year when I bought car from out of state. Interestingly, the first shop I went to (a Mustang hot rod shop where all they do is Mustangs), I asked this question of the head tuner, and he stuck his computer on there, and then said I should drive car to reset the monitors by doing 'drive cycles'.

Well, that didn't work. So, after some sleepless nights, I went to another tuner (Pete in NH) and he quickly (in 5 seconds) saw that there were monitors turned off in the tune. So Pete did me up a new 'emissions' tune, after which I had to do a complete 'drive cycle' to reset the monitors. The drive cycling took me about 25 miles.

If you have SCT device or similar, then I would consider putting the original tune back in, and then doing drive cycle. Then go to someone who understands how to correctly ascertain if the monitors are "ready". Once they are all "ready", and if you have no CEL's, you should be all set.

Of course, this assumes you have cats and sensors still in place.....;

In my state, I am allowed to have ONE monitor in "not ready" status, not sure about your state. Bottom line - this is fixable, but you'd be best served with professional guidance of some sort. Good luck!

 

[Mojo88]

Glad to help!

After you reload original tune, here's the basic Ford drive cycle: http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

If you follow those directions, you should be "ready" in about 20 miles of driving.

I am not sure why so many tuning 'experts' have trouble telling if the monitors are on or off in the tune. I was quite surprised at the process I had to endure. It sucked, LOL, but it was a good learning experience.

 

[Firstang001]

Thanks so much Mojo!!
According to the steps. Do I have to clear all the codes in prep section?
Are these steps to be followed in order? If yes, It is little tough to find the right traffic situation .

My commute to and from work is 25miles and out of which 50% is rushhour traffic and rest is cruise at 70-75 Mph. I already put the stock tune back in and will be driving it back home.

Glad to help!

After you reload original tune, here's the basic Ford drive cycle: http://www.obdii.com/drivecycleford.html

If you follow those directions, you should be "ready" in about 20 miles of driving.

I am not sure why so many tuning 'experts' have trouble telling if the monitors are on or off in the tune. I was quite surprised at the process I had to endure. It sucked, LOL, but it was a good learning experience.

 

[Mojo88]

Thanks so much Mojo!!
According to the steps. Do I have to clear all the codes in prep section?
Are these steps to be followed in order? If yes, It is little tough to find the right traffic situation .

My commute to and from work is 25miles and out of which 50% is rushhour traffic and rest is cruise at 70-75 Mph. I already put the stock tune back in and will be driving it back home.

RE: clearing codes... do you have CEL on? If so, clear the codes, and then do 'drive cycle'. The drive cycle thing can be finicky. I would definitely try to do as much of the steps as possible, following the protocol as closely as possible.

Your basic OBD tool will probably not tell you if monitors are 'ready'. This is why I mention that you may need a little professional help, at least to see if monitors are 'ready' or not. The original shop you went to could do this, they might charge you for extra testing. You won't need a tune, obviously.

Try going back and forth to work a few times, then stop by that shop and let them see if monitors are 'ready'.

If CEL comes back on, well, then you got something else going on.....

 

[Firstang001]

I do not have any CEL codes. As you said i will try to follow the procedure and complete drive cycle. From my research I have found that after you turn ignition to ON position (without turning on the engine), wait there for 15secs
and if the check engine light stays solid then all monitors are ready if it blink 8 times then they are not ready.

RE: clearing codes... do you have CEL on? If so, clear the codes, and then do 'drive cycle'. The drive cycle thing can be finicky. I would definitely try to do as much of the steps as possible, following the protocol as closely as possible.

Your basic OBD tool will probably not tell you if monitors are 'ready'. This is why I mention that you may need a little professional help, at least to see if monitors are 'ready' or not. The original shop you went to could do this, they might charge you for extra testing. You won't need a tune, obviously.

Try going back and forth to work a few times, then stop by that shop and let them see if monitors are 'ready'.

If CEL comes back on, well, then you got something else going on.....

 

[Mojo88]

....From my research I have found that after you turn ignition to ON position (without turning on the engine), wait there for 15secs
and if the check engine light stays solid then all monitors are ready if it blink 8 times then they are not ready.

Oh, good job finding that. I think I found same info last year. Heck, you can go try that right now then!

But I didn't try that method, as I have an above-average OBD scanner which tells me status of each individual monitor.

Also, you might end up getting stuck with 8 blinkies, even after a bunch of driving, and you'll never know which one (or more) particular monitor not resetting. That shop should be able to tell you which monitor(s) causing the trouble. Armed with that information, you can then follow the drive cycle directions for that monitor specifically.

Do you need all of them 'ready' for your state????

 

[Firstang001]

Oh, good job finding that. I think I found same info last year. Heck, you can go try that right now then!

But I didn't try that method, as I have an above-average OBD scanner which tells me status of each individual monitor.

Also, you might end up getting stuck with 8 blinkies, even after a bunch of driving, and you'll never know which one (or more) particular monitor not resetting. That shop should be able to tell you which monitor(s) causing the trouble. Armed with that information, you can then follow the drive cycle directions for that monitor specifically.

Do you need all of them 'ready' for your state????

Why it has to be so complicated . And I stuck at work to go and drive. I will have to do this on my way back home and i will try to follow the procedure and see if it resets the monitors. Do you think Autozone or oreillys can check this?

 

[Firstang001]

This is what all they look at..

 

[Mojo88]

Yep, in that report, those monitors are obviously turned off in the tune.

Since you have reloaded an original tune, the monitors will now come back to life, and they will report as 'ready' once appropriate drive cycling is complete.

I looked it up and it appears you can have one monitor "not ready" in Arizona and still be able to test. You should be all set with a little driving. Keep us posted.

Local stores like Autozone have basic OBD scanners which will probably not be able to tell which individual monitors are ready or not, but you never know. It's worth asking them if they can check monitor readiness. That would be good to know. As I mentioned in my first post, I was absolutely amazed that local Mustang race shop tuner was apparently confused about this issue. He told me to just keep doing drive cycles, but the monitors were turned off in the tune and I could have done drive cycles for a hundred years and they would never have reset to 'ready'.

 

[Firstang001]

Yep, in that report, those monitors are obviously turned off in the tune.

Since you have reloaded an original tune, the monitors will now come back to life, and they will report as 'ready' once appropriate drive cycling is complete.

I looked it up and it appears you can have one monitor "not ready" in Arizona and still be able to test. You should be all set with a little driving. Keep us posted.

Local stores like Autozone have basic OBD scanners which will probably not be able to tell which individual monitors are ready or not, but you never know. It's worth asking them if they can check monitor readiness. That would be good to know. As I mentioned in my first post, I was absolutely amazed that local Mustang race shop tuner was apparently confused about this issue. He told me to just keep doing drive cycles, but the monitors were turned off in the tune and I could have done drive cycles for a hundred years and they would never have reset to 'ready'.

Great Info Mojo!! really appreciate all the help. I have been driving on stock tune for ~60 miles. Will continue this for more day and then go for emissions.
Thanks Again!!

 

[TaraFirma]

That's a pretty dick move to sell you a tune that turns off monitors that you don't need turned off which in turn fails you on your emissions test. I'd call AM and/or BAMA and let them know this was poor customer service.

 

[Mojo88]

Great Info Mojo!! really appreciate all the help. I have been driving on stock tune for ~60 miles. Will continue this for more day and then go for emissions.
Thanks Again!!

I was curious, so I looked around and found this YouTube video showing OBD scanner for only $55, and the guy is using it to check readiness status of his monitors. If you start looking at 2:45 of the video, you can see the screen where it shows two of his monitors with red X, showing not ready.


I'm surprised there is an OBD scanner available that will read individual monitor status for so cheap. There are likely others too then. Good info to know, especially since I paid $500 for mine, LOL, but mine is laptop based and will do quite a bit. Lots of guys with aftermarket tunes are having these annoying "not ready" issues, and some tuners are ill-equipped to address the problem.....

 

[Firstang001]

I was curious, so I looked around and found this YouTube video showing OBD scanner for only $55, and the guy is using it to check readiness status of his monitors. If you start looking at 2:45 of the video, you can see the screen where it shows two of his monitors with red X, showing not ready.


I'm surprised there is an OBD scanner available that will read individual monitor status for so cheap. There are likely others too then. Good info to know, especially since I paid $500 for mine, LOL, but mine is laptop based and will do quite a bit. Lots of guys with aftermarket tunes are having these annoying "not ready" issues, and some tuners are ill-equipped to address the problem.....

Mojo!! you have been of great help. Thank so much!! I will buy this scanner to see what are the monitors not ready. I drove it for 120 miles and still check engine light blink. If not, I will try to do the drive cycle tonight.

 

[Mojo88]

Mojo!! you have been of great help. Thank so much!! I will buy this scanner to see what are the monitors not ready. I drove it for 120 miles and still check engine light blink. If not, I will try to do the drive cycle tonight.

That scanner (or similar) should help you out. Be sure to confirm that the scanner you buy will work for your vehicle and will display monitor readiness. Then look for the monitor(s) that are not resetting, and then carefully do the drive cycling for each monitor that is not reset. Then keep checking. Follow the drive cycle sheet carefully for each troublesome monitor.

Eventually they WILL go 'ready'. But some monitors (like EVAP) are temp sensitive and will only reset when ambient air temps fall within limited range. I suspect this is why most states seem to allow one monitor not showing 'ready'.

Good luck and keep us posted, Dave

 

[Firstang001]

That scanner (or similar) should help you out. Be sure to confirm that the scanner you buy will work for your vehicle and will display monitor readiness. Then look for the monitor(s) that are not resetting, and then carefully do the drive cycling for each monitor that is not reset. Then keep checking. Follow the drive cycle sheet carefully for each troublesome monitor.

Eventually they WILL go 'ready'. But some monitors (like EVAP) are temp sensitive and will only reset when ambient air temps fall within limited range. I suspect this is why most states seem to allow one monitor not showing 'ready'.

Good luck and keep us posted, Dave

Mojo!! So i went and got the scan tool and plugged it in. And even after returning to stock and driving around for ~200 miles I still see those 3 monitors still not ready. I am getting little worried now. Monitors that are not ready state are
1. Cat
2. O2 and
3. HRT.

 

[Mojo88]

My first question is: have you followed the 'drive cycle' sheet carefully? Here's your homework: pick one monitor, and then review the EXACT drive cycle requirements for the one monitor, and do the drive cycling EXACTLY as specified. Then check readiness status again. Focus on that one monitor and see if you can get it to reset. If you can conquer one, you should be able to go down the list.

If no joy, you might need to find someone in your area. I used "Dyno Pete" in New Hampshire to help me out. He's a true whiz with these issues. In fact, he said he saw the problem just getting started about 10 years ago, so he actually specializes in this emissions bullshit.

There are some tuners on the forum here who seem to know this stuff pretty well too. But IMHO you'd be best served by someone who could actually get their computer plugged into the car. You don't need a full tune, obviously, but there may be other reason the monitors not resetting.

Bottom line here is: keep the faith. I found this problem incredibly frustrating when I went through it last Summer. But as soon as I found Pete, the problems went away in a few minutes. Yours will too, once the right solution (or tuner) is found.

PS - where'd you buy the scanner? Harbor Freight? Does it seem to work OK? Is it easy to use? And was it actually $55?

 

[Firstang001]

My first question is: have you followed the 'drive cycle' sheet carefully? Here's your homework: pick one monitor, and then review the EXACT drive cycle requirements for the one monitor, and do the drive cycling EXACTLY as specified. Then check readiness status again. Focus on that one monitor and see if you can get it to reset. If you can conquer one, you should be able to go down the list.

If no joy, you might need to find someone in your area. I used "Dyno Pete" in New Hampshire to help me out. He's a true whiz with these issues. In fact, he said he saw the problem just getting started about 10 years ago, so he actually specializes in this emissions bullshit.

There are some tuners on the forum here who seem to know this stuff pretty well too. But IMHO you'd be best served by someone who could actually get their computer plugged into the car. You don't need a full tune, obviously, but there may be other reason the monitors not resetting.

Bottom line here is: keep the faith. I found this problem incredibly frustrating when I went through it last Summer. But as soon as I found Pete, the problems went away in a few minutes. Yours will too, once the right solution (or tuner) is found.

PS - where'd you buy the scanner? Harbor Freight? Does it seem to work OK? Is it easy to use? And was it actually $55?

Yes, I tried to follow the sheet. But I think I will do it again exactly as it is says. As you said, I might have to find a good tuner in the area.
Coming to scanner. Yes, from Harbor Freight and it was 55. It is pretty intuitive. I had 20% coupon that got it down to 47 out of door.

 

[Firstang001]

My first question is: have you followed the 'drive cycle' sheet carefully? Here's your homework: pick one monitor, and then review the EXACT drive cycle requirements for the one monitor, and do the drive cycling EXACTLY as specified. Then check readiness status again. Focus on that one monitor and see if you can get it to reset. If you can conquer one, you should be able to go down the list.

If no joy, you might need to find someone in your area. I used "Dyno Pete" in New Hampshire to help me out. He's a true whiz with these issues. In fact, he said he saw the problem just getting started about 10 years ago, so he actually specializes in this emissions bullshit.

There are some tuners on the forum here who seem to know this stuff pretty well too. But IMHO you'd be best served by someone who could actually get their computer plugged into the car. You don't need a full tune, obviously, but there may be other reason the monitors not resetting.

Bottom line here is: keep the faith. I found this problem incredibly frustrating when I went through it last Summer. But as soon as I found Pete, the problems went away in a few minutes. Yours will too, once the right solution (or tuner) is found.

PS - where'd you buy the scanner? Harbor Freight? Does it seem to work OK? Is it easy to use? And was it actually $55?

So i did the whole cycle yesterday and was able to get both O2 and HRT to work. But even after trying many times CAT is still "not ready". I think i will have my car down for sometime as i will not pass emissions what so ever.