Cuda911

Ever since I had the Fabspeed exhaust installed (full kit: headers, X-pipe, mufflers, cats), I have been plagued with CELs (P0420 and P0430 codes).

Earlier this year I had O2 sensor extenders put on, in the hopes that would solve it. Nope. So, periodically I clear the codes. They pop up again, sometimes after a few weeks, sometimes after a couple months.

My smog inspection is due, so I cleared the codes a few weeks ago. I've driven the car maybe 400 to 500 miles since then, and no CEL/codes.

Today I took it in for a smog inspection and failed because it reads "OBDII Monitors Not Ready." The guy said I need to drive the car some more to reset the OBDII monitors.

I would think that after a few hundred miles they would have reset by now. Any chance the 02 extenders are preventing this? Suggestions on what to do?

Thanks!

stan23

You just need to keep driving. Get yourself a BT odb2 reader and check the monitors yourself. I had one car took over a month before the monitors were ready. Drove over 1000 miles.

Cuda911

Thanks, Stan. I have a Bluetooth OBDII reader. I can scan for codes and clear them, but not sure how to see if the monitor that it is looking for is "ready." I use the Torque Plus app.

johneecatt

Same here. The shop told me to drive it for 80 - 100 miles....
Over 3,000 miles! It will eventually come around.

Cuda911

Yowza! I have only until January 2, so no way I'm putting on that sort of miles between now and then. Also, likely the CEL will pop up again within 3,000 miles.

stan23

Sorry, I meant use the reader to monitor ready status. I use torque too, and use it to make sure my car is ready before I head to the smog shop. As for how long it takes the car to ready itself, that is a mystery to me. My mechanic said a few days, but yeah - took a lot longer than that on my car.

I think 2 things are the culprit here. The 02 sensor, or the cats itself.

Ahsai

Cuda, if you use Torque Pro the readiness flags are shown in the second screen to the right of the home screen.

Your catalyst flag is not set most likely is because your cats are marginal (from the dme's point of view) so some of the cat tests failed (there are multiple sub-tests that need to pass before the dme sets the readiness flag). The dme is retrying those sub-tests and if more those failed, the CEL will be tripped. Also the sub tests may pass or fail randomly due to the "marginal" nature of the cats.

You can try to drive more miles and if you're lucky that all the stars line up, the flag will set and you should rush to the smog check before some of those sub-tests fail again.

Ahsai

To expedite the cat sub-tests, just keep the engine below 3k as much as possible when driving both highways and local roads.

kromdom

had this problem a few months ago...ended up needing new cats

P.S. Luckily, I had just passed smog when it acted up

Cuda911

The cats are pretty new, less than 20K miles on them. They are Fabspeed cats though (stamped "HJS Tuning)... 200 cell high flow, so not OEM. I replaced all four O2 sensors when the cats were installed (August 2014). Two years ago it passed with these same cats (smog cert is every 2 years), and the only thing different is that I didn't have the 02 extenders on last time. Think that makes a difference?

garrett376

Mike, a PIWIS has a short test function to make everything ready. Last time I did it from a complete reset it took just a few minutes and maybe half a mile of driving once the engine is warmed up, barring your car is mechanically OK. PM me if you want to stop by to give it a go; I'm not far from you.

Cuda911

PM sent.

Kalashnikov

Mike, our cars are identical. I passed mine smog test in AZ 1 hour after resetting everything, roughly 25 miles after it. What I did was FOLLOW the drive cycle procedure to the T. This is what I did. I cruised at low speeds on 19th ave in Phoenix to get the timing. And timed myself with stopwatch. DO NOT EXCEED 60 MPH AT ALL COSTS!!!

Start engine, let idle for approx. 2 min, 10 secs.

Accelerate to 20-30 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 3 min, 15 secs.

Accelerate to 40-60 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 15 mins.

Decelerate and come to a stop. Then:

Idle in Neutral for 5 mins. (manual trans.)

Idle in Drive for 5 mins. (Tiptronic trans.)

During the drive cycle, do not exceed 3,000 rpm or 60 mph.

Cuda911

Is it possible that the status was ready at some point, but then became unready just before I took it in? The car hadn't been driven in a few days, so just before I took it in, I took it for a short freeway drive to get the cats hot, so purposely kept the revs maxed for about 10 to 15 minutes just before the smog test.


Kalash... thanks... I posted a similar thread on 914World (lots of great technical guys there) and someone posted a 993 reset protocol. I will try the one you posted.

Kalashnikov

Wrong ^^. Reset all monitors and follow my procedure. Don't shut off the car before smog test. That is what I did, and I had a constant SAI pump error triggering CEL. Car passed the test.

Edit, 993 and 96 should be identical. It's been almost two years. I recall googling it then, the 993 protocol is what I used (at least what I recall...I've been out drinking tonight). I know that it worked.