Emissions Monitors - 2 won't reset. :(
 

Hello

I have searched and found that after you unplug your battery you will have to perform a drive cycle to reset all 8 emissions monitors. I have driven the car for 1000 miles. I have performed the drive cycle multiple times and I STILL can't get the 2 catalytic monitors to reset.

What am I doing wrong?

8:30am - 65 degrees. Car in Garage. Cold Start.
Car starts & runs at idle for 3.5 mins.

Drive out of neighborhood. Never exceeding 3k rpm or 30mph.
Establish cruise speed of 20-30 mph for 3.5 mins. One stop sign and one stoplight. All under 3k rpm.

Enter freeway. Gradually increase speed up to 55mph (under 3krpm). Set cruise for 55mph. 23mins. Exit freeway. Slow to stop.

Let car idle for 5 mins.

From idle... Increase speed to 20-30mph (under 3k) for 3.5 mins.

Enter Freeway gradually gain speed up to 55mph for 22.5 mins (all under 3k rpm.

Exit freeway... Let car idle for 5 mins.

Check monitors...

Same 2 monitors still NOT reset.

What am I'm doing wrong?

Thanks,
Ted

..........

Man. It's pretty rare to stump this group!

Ran the drive cycle again today. No joy. This stinks.

Not enough info. Need year, current codes, was the CEL up before you disconnected the battery? Resetting will not clear an actual fault.

And maybe it's time to do a few full throttle high rpm blasts to get the cats working.

My only difference that I see from what I followed, is the tank level must be between 1/4 to 3/4 full during the test. Good luck.

It sometimes takes more than once

Model Year: 2000
Mileage: 40,800
Codes: None (I've checked with my FOXWELL ODBII Reader)
Disconnected battery to install stereo

I don't know if the OBD II unit you have is capable of it, but I would warm the car up and check the voltages of the sensors on opposite sides of the three way converter, what you are looking for is one voltage remaining constant while the other cycles in a sine wave fashion; if they are both moving the same, your cats are on their way out.

Lord Love A Duck!?!

So, when I went to get my car smogged in March the owner of the shop said the 2 Catalyst monitors weren't ready. I purchased a FOXWELL and was bopping around the ODB2 unit and found that I had 6 monitors ready and two monitors listed as N/A. I thought those were the two cat monitors. So... I was wrong! Those two monitors are 'Not Applicable' (is that right?). After more clicking around today I found I have 7 monitors ready and only one INC. Further clicking around shows its the Secondary Air System.

Is this progress?!

It won't be considered "progress" when you get into trying to fix the SAI.......

Ouch... :(

Just pulled over for the second 'idle for 5 minutes' phase. What a circus.

I have some suggestions....
 

I have gone through the SAI readiness problem several times. The drive cycle you show is accurate with a few exceptions.

Start the cold engine and idle for 1:40 (not the 3.5 minutes). You will hear the secondary air pump shut off. It is a high pitched whine and it is obvious when it stops. Then, do your cycle. Important: Do not exceed 3000 rpm at any time during the drive cycle.

That may clear your SAI readiness.

If not, try this- I read this on this board and it works:

Again a cold engine. After a brief idle, increase the RPMs to 2700 and hold for 90 seconds. Done. Then check for readiness (or check the next day before a restart).

As stated, the fuel in the tank must be between 1/4 and 3/4 full.

If any of these work, immediately go to smog check.

Good luck.

Thank you! I can totally hear the pump shutting off at like 1.5 - 2mins. I'm hopeful that I can get this to reset soon.

So, as an update, I purchased the car with 38k miles on it in November. Aside from a dual row IMS install, I know little about the history other than I am the third owner.

I decided to take the car to a shop here in town to have them give it a once over. The shop called and said the car has 'a bunch of codes showing'. I checked for codes (with my Foxwell) before dropping it off. It showed 0 codes stored or active. When I asked them about that they said 'Our ODB2 readers do stuff your 100.00 reader can't...'

I don't doubt that, but Im curious to learn more about what codes the tech was seeing. I spoke with the front desk guy at 5pm so I didn't get a ton of info. It's possible that the tech was looking at voltages/specs and not 'codes'. We will see. They also called me out on my Soul Performance cut outs. ��

Your generic OBD reader just scratches the surface of the car's memory. And it can't always interpret the Porsche codes correctly. If you are a serious DIY and plan to keep this car long term, then invest in a Durametric cable.

Contact the shop and see if they will give you a list of the code numbers and report back.

I had a similar problem to yours (recurring codes). My generic reader couldn't see a fault in the trans module. I was able to reset it with Durametric and was then able to set the car for the CA smog test.

I am in the same situation, I have two systems that are showing "not ready", an O2 and the Evap system. I took it to my local STAR station mechanic who pretty much only works on German cars. Here is what he told me to do;

1) Disconnect the negative battery cable
2) Short the negative to the positive terminal
3) Hold it there for 30-45 seconds, this essentially "zero's out" the modules.
4) Drive the car for at least 100 miles, "then come back to see me."

I did this the other day, still have to drive that 100 miles though, but when I do I'll let you know the results.

I got the car back. They couldn't force the secondary air pump to reset but they did validate that the car is in otherwise fantastic shape. They suggested to keep trying to trip/trigger the drive cycle. :|

The codes he pulled up were stored in memory that my tool couldn't get to. The codes were:
P1119 (we knew about that one, that's what caused me to swap out the pre-cat 02 sensors).

The other one was P1670. Electric change-over valve, variable-length manifold intake pipe flux capacitor reverb fluid over easy. (or something) :eek:

So now I continue to lather rinse repeat.

MGFRANZ - Let me know how that works out. I'm not sure I'd be shorting anything out on my car. Maybe I just don't understand the process.

Are you driving a Boxter or the "Back to the Future" DeLorean?? :D

Murphy's law. I started the car to wash it after getting it back from the shop. Backed it out. Let it warm up. Took it for a quick spin. Washed it. Checked the monitors after pulling it into the garage. 8 monitors active. It's go time ladies!