NOT READY

[DrumrBoy]

Movers let the battery run down on my 98. No problem, I'll just retrain the PCM, right? Nope.

I've done everything I can think of to get it to reset and be "READY" for DMV inspection:

Disconnect positive connections in engine bay battery post, pull off three large wire connectors from the PCM, let it sit for 30 min.

Then with key on, depress throttle all the way, twice.

Turn key off, start car and let idle for 3 minutes, drive around for a long time.

Cold start, drive 55 for 20 minutes (tough to do when the posted limit is 70!) etc etc.

I've hooked up the OBD many times and I'm "NOT READY". The car runs OK, but clearly the PCM isn't happy.

Am I missing some part of the routine?

 

[viperdude118]

Vary your speeds, always light accelerations and decelarations as well. You probably need at least a couple of hours of around town and a little hwy driving to get all the monitors set to "ready"

Whatever you do, don't unhook the battery again, or reset the pcm or it's back to square one!

Also keep checking the OBD monitors, depending on the inspection you may not need all the monitors set, but maybe only like 3 or 4. When I worked at an inspection place it was only like 3 or 4 monitors had to be set to run the test, but the catalyst one had to be set for sure.

 

[Joseph Dell]

I've seen cars where it is never 'ready'. Come by when you are back in town and I'll take care of you in a jiffy. easy stuff...

JD

 

[kcobean]

Vary your speeds, always light accelerations and decelarations as well. You probably need at least a couple of hours of around town and a little hwy driving to get all the monitors set to "ready"

Whatever you do, don't unhook the battery again, or reset the pcm or it's back to square one!

Also keep checking the OBD monitors, depending on the inspection you may not need all the monitors set, but maybe only like 3 or 4. When I worked at an inspection place it was only like 3 or 4 monitors had to be set to run the test, but the catalyst one had to be set for sure.

I went through this with my modded Z. Getting all the sensors to "ready" after a PCM reset requires some specific drive cycles, which on the Z (not sure if it's the same on all OBD-II cars) was something like "drive between 50 and 58 MPH for 20 seconds then stop. Then drive between 30 and 35 for 8 seconds, then stop, then....." and so on. It was a major PITA.

JD, do you know of a way to force the sensors to ready?

 

[Bonkers]

Check the battery - if you have a weak charge or bad battery
it'll just drain itself in a couple of hours regardless of what
you do. I'm going through the same thing now.

 

[Joseph Dell]

I have heard that if you use a mopar performance ECU that the delay to read is, ah, a lot less. A LOT less...

 

[kcobean]

I have heard that if you use a mopar performance ECU that the delay to read is, ah, a lot less. A LOT less...

Iiinnnnnnteresting...(tucks that bit of knowledge away for later consumption).

 

[DrumrBoy]

Thx all....I'll call you this week Joseph and see when I can come by for some F2F advice.

 

[crazyspeed]

If you're still having trouble resetting the monitors, PM me .. maybe I can help.

 

[VIPERJAY1]

I went to get my 2006 Viper inspected and it showed "NOT READY". This was the first time this has happened. Evaporative System and O2 Sensor was "Not Ready". All others were fine. Inspector suggested I drive the car 20 miles. I did that and went directly back in for a re-inspection. It then showed the Catalyst NOT READY as well as the O2 Sensor Heater, Evaporative System and O2 Sensor not ready.....it was worse than before. This puzzled the inspectors. I then drove 100 miles more, and they were still not ready, the last ride resulting in the O2 Sensor Heater, Evaporative System not ready. I did some research and read schematics. Nothing made sense. I then thought about what was different this time that the last several times of inspection. I did remember the car did not crank immediately this time, so I used my jump battery starter to start. (I always keep my battery on a trickle charger). After cranking it I let it idle 2 min and then I turned it off and back on, no issues with it cranking. Went to get inspection and it always cranked. This was the only difference. Based on this alone, I purchased a new red top OPTIMA 34-78 battery. I put it in the car and then downloaded the Chrysler Drive Cycle (which applies to the Dodge Vipers) and followed it, only driving about 5 miles total. I then checked with my OBD and it worked! Went back for an inspection a couple of days later and it passed no issues at all! I thought this might be helpful information for others out there.

 

[steve e]

On some cars the Evap system will not set unless you have over a half tank of gas.

 

[MoparMap]

Not that it would be easy for everyone to do, but by any chance would running the DRB III tests on the evap system components be able to set stuff to ready? Could be one possible way to "force" the tests, but don't know if that would actually toggle OBD II monitors.