TheDudeAbides

iTrader: (2)

I have a stock '08 Evo X that was due for IL emissions testing so I took it in this week and was rejected with the following errors:

"CATALYTIC CONVERTER EFF. NOT READY"
"HEATED OXYGEN SENSOR NOT READY"

The guy at the counter wasn't particularly helpful, he said that the "not ready" issue with the sensors can be due to the car having had the battery disconnected recently and not having done mixed driving since then, but the battery has not been disconnected recently and the car has recently done a lot of city and highway driving.

Any ideas what the problem could be? I'm eligible for two retests before I receive an emissions failure.

Possibly important to note: Before I purchased the car from a dealer, it had several AMS parts and a tune, but I was told that it was returned to stock condition before I purchased it. Is it possible that the ECU still has the AMS flash on it?

Any ideas?

Kracka

iTrader: (49)

Most likely one of three things:

1. The car hadn't been fully warmed up prior to testing.
2. The rear o2 sensor needs to be replaced.
3. The rear o2 sensor was disabled within the ECU.

I would say just take it in to the dealership for warranty repair (IIRC, emissions systems warranty period is 100k miles), but since it was previously modded they may not be of much assistance.

ugakirk

iTrader: (14)

And some reflashes disable the rear O2 so maybe it does have a reflash on it.

BaumBizzle

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't think itd matter if it was previously modded…he said he bought it from a dealership so they should be liable to cover him. Especially if they told him it was returned to stock.

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

How long have you had it and how far have you driven (and under what conditions) since it was "put back to stock"?

TheDudeAbides

iTrader: (2)

The car had 5K on the clock when I purchased it, I've had it for almost 3 years and put an additional 15K miles on it in that time, mostly suburban commuting.

Iowa999

iTrader: (1)

Well, we can still hope it's as simple as they didn't have the car up to temp, but I assume that they know about this. I agree that's probably related to the second O2 sensor ... dead or disabled.

TheDudeAbides

iTrader: (2)

For modern emissions tests where they just plug into the OBD-II port, does it matter if the car was warmed up? I have to imagine that it was, I drove at least 20 minutes on a hot day to get to the testing facility.

I'd like to avoid a trip to the dealer if possible, I'm super busy at work through the end of the month (which also coincides with the deadline for when I can get the testing done).

Assuming that the AMS tune isn't still on the car (I'd notice it running funny, wouldn't I?), is it conceivable that the rear O2 sensor is still in place, but disconnected? If so, I'd like to know where to look for it to reconnect it. I guess I'll do some searching for that info.

If anybody has some informed ideas for things to try without a dealer visit, I'd appreciate it, otherwise I'll take it to the dealer that I bought it from and pray that they remember promising me that it had full warranty coverage

TheDudeAbides

iTrader: (2)

OK so I did some additional reading and these seem to be the potential scenarios:

1. The rear O2 sensor harness was physically disconnected
2. The car was not properly warmed up before testing
3. The AMS tune is still on the car and preventing the rear O2 sensor from reporting
4. The rear O2 sensor has gone bad and needs to be replaced

Scenarios 1 and 2 I can deal with myself. 3 and 4 I need to take it to the dealer.


I read that if you want to disconnect the rear O2 sensor, you can do so beneath the passenger seat. I took a look and saw a harness that isn't plugged in, but it could be something unrelated so I wasn't sure. Below are some pictures, not sure if these give any clues.


Disconnected harness (couldn't find any place nearby that this would seem to plug into):






Here is the area where I believe the O2 sensor wire comes through the floor into the car. Seems to be connected:




Can anybody with some expertise confirm that this looks normal?


If so, I might consider disconnecting the battery, doing a bit of driving, and taking it back for another emissions check before heading to the dealer.


If anybody has other thoughts I'd appreciate it. Specifically I'm wondering:
- Does the car need to be warmed up to a certain temp before the emissions testing? I remember the day I got it tested it was stop and go traffic most of the way to the facility due to construction, but the car got up to 50mph for a while and ran for at least 20 minutes before testing.
- Would disconnecting the battery and doing some highway driving before another test potentially help?
- Is it likely that the rear O2 sensor could fail in under 20K miles? Especially if a couple K of those miles were spent with it sitting in somebody's garage because the cat wasn't even in the car?
- Is there any way to confirm an O2 sensor failure just by inspecting it visually?
- Any other scenarios that I haven't thought of?

I did take a peek under the car and could see that the O2 sensor appears to be attached to the cat.

Thanks again for the replies.

APEXR

iTrader: (5)

If the O2 sensor has failed I would think a check engine light would come on. (not sure on this but dealt with it on a different car) Had to google "proper drive cycle" in order to get it to throw a code. After that I took it to a local auto parts store that read the code for free. If your not getting codes I would think the sensor's been shut off. (again, not an expert) Good luck

Gyroscope

Readiness has to do 100% with the ECU. It probably had/has a testpipe and they disabled the O2 sensor with a tune to avoid a CEL. You need to fix that first with a tuning solution and then get under your car and see what the hell you actually have there.

TheDudeAbides

iTrader: (2)

That makes sense to me. I know that the stock exhaust has been returned to the car, but it did have a testpipe on it before I bought it. I can see that the O2 sensor is attached to the cat, so this would tend to indicate that the dealership didn't bother to reflash the car and left the AMS tune on it.

Is there any way I can confirm that before taking it to the dealer? The reason I know as much as I do about the original owner and the mods the car had on it is because I found his profile here and was able to read his posts, so I know that he had AMS raise the redline of the car. Maybe I can see if the redline is still higher than stock to confirm that.

Assuming this is the case, I need the dealer to overwrite the AMS flash, correct? Will they have any trouble doing so?

DsmGuy86

iTrader: (8)

I had the same thing happen to me on my 03 Evo VIII guess it was due to my tune and having some sensors no deleted from the ecu i cant be 100% sure i had to jump through alot of hoops and had to get it approved to not need and emissions test

odin

Man, judged by ur topic title, I thought ur Evo was rejected from Emission test/ they won't let u take the test, because it IS AN EVO X!!! LMAO~

Alkaedas_Inc

iTrader: (1)

so is it stock or non-stock, you are contradicting yourself.