Had my car at the bodyshop for a few month. My battery went dead. After i got my car back i had a CEL light come up, which was repaired by the dealer. Faulty vacuum hose.
Failed my smog 2 times. First time when i had the CEL light.
Second time right after i got my car back from the dealer.
I understand that the readiness codes are not ready, especially after my dead battery. The dealer tells me that i need to drive the car, which i am doing. How long before i can go back to the smog station. Is there a way to have this codes reset any other way. I am located in southern california.

 

You need to drive your car to reset the readiness codes. There is a procedure that can be followed to do this, but many have had little success with it. A few hundred miles of driving seems to reset my codes. From what I've read, since you've already failed a smog, you should be able to got to a referee and pass if your car's emissions are clean enough for around $30. I'm in Riverside and have a scanner that can check readiness codes, pm me if you'd like to meet and see whether your codes have reset. This procedure was provided by Steve Weiner of Rennsport.

OBD-II Readiness Driving Cycle
One of the most common problems with OBD-II cars ('96-0n) are smog test failures due to readiness codes not set and the ECU will test as "Not Ready".
Here are some procedures for setting all 9 readiness codes in OBD-II ECU's. These "Diagnostic Trip" steps MUST be followed to the letter otherwise you will have to start all over again. Review these carefully so you can see what you will be doing before you begin.
1) Start cold engine and idle for approximately 2 minutes, 10 seconds. This checks secondary air injection and evaporative leak detection systems.
2) Accelerate to 20-30 MPH and maintain steady speed for 3 minutes, 15 seconds. This establishes closed loop oxy-sensor operations, response times & switching times.
3) Accelerate to 40-60 MPH and maintain steady speed for 15-20 minutes. This evaluates catalytic converters while oxy-sensor response and switching times are checked.
4) De-accelerate and come to a stop. Idle in gear for 5-6 minutes. This checks evaporative leak detection system.
Remember:
The diagnostic checks above will be discontinued if:
1) Engine speeds exceed 3000 RPM
2) Large fluctuations in throttle position
3) Road speeds exceed 60 MPH

Good Luck,
Mark

 

Once you have done the above process, you can use a good OBD reader to see if the readiness codes are complete.

 

One critical step in Jeff's posting that I think needs reinforcing is to keep RPM's BELOW 3,000 for the entire run. If you go over 3k RPM you will need to start over.

I have the BMW procedure (in pdf format) that has worked for many of us but the file is too large to upload (249k), is there another way I can post this?

 

Mark's posting.

 

Duh! I can't read this morning, coffee hasn't kicked in yet. Suprised I can tpye.

 

You can do it with a Porsche System Tester 2
or you can do it by the book.
The best remedy is to search the forum, I have already posted this.
And since it is not exactly what was described above, I'll post again,
There are 6 (six) cycle flags.
You do not have to restart the cycle flag if you do not maintain the range requested.
Your test will resume when you fall in the range again, so DON'T HAVE AN ACCIDENT.
read thoroughly.
Here is the porsche tech bulliten

 

What geolab posted supports my experience. Because of the traffic in SoCal, the BMW drive cycle is just too difficult. I just get out and drive normally. The cumulative effects of driving in the specified ranges add up and my monitors get reset/initialized - usually within 3-5 days max.

 

Here's the BMW cycle I've been using with success for the last few years, but maybe the readiness standards are different between Georgia and Cal. Where I live, this cycle is not difficult to follow.

http://www.srlx.com/p-car/obdii_readiness.pdf

It's almost kind of fun; like a gimmick rally.

 

I would strongly suggest the SMOG referee route that Mark mentioned.

Assuming you pass the tail pipe test, they will pass your car even if the readiness codes are not set. I've been through the process with both of my 993s.

If your car is AWD, make sure they don't run it on the dyno.

http://www.smogcheck.ca.gov/StdPage....ee_centers.htm