[ArtDisco]

In case anyone can find this useful, I have been trying to get my car to pass inspection, and it has failed twice, due to too many DTCs. I was given the proceedures for clearing them out by the dealer, I thought I'd share.

ALL MONITOR DRIVE TRACE

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

Cold soak the vehicle for 8 hours
No DTCs present
Fuel Fill between 15 & 85 %

Driving Procedure

1) Start the vehicle and idle for four (4) minutes.
2) Idle the vehicle in drive for 40 seconds (neutral for M/T).
3) Accelerate to 45 mph, using 1/4 40 1/2 throttle (M/T stay in second gear for at least 5 seconds). Accelerate for at least 10 seconds and shift through to 5th gear.
4) Drive with a steady throttle at 45 mph for 30 seconds.
5) Stop the vehicle and idle in drive or neutral for 40 seconds.
6) Drive at speeds between 25 and 45 mph for 15 minutes. Use 1/4 to 1/2 throttle accelerations. Include the following conditions:

• At least 5 stops with ten seconds of idle time.
• At least 3 steady speed sections of 11/2 minutes duration.

7) Drive the vehicle between 45 and 60 mph for 8 minutes (use high gear).
8) Maintain a steady speed between 45 and 60 mph for 5 minutes.
9) Drive the vehicle between 45 and 60 mph for 8 minutes (use high gear).
10) Stop vehicle, idle for 40 seconds.

AIR System Monitor Drive Trace

Monitoring Duration: 20 seconds at idle

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

MIL must be off
No Oxygen Sendor DTCs
Time since engine start-up, 10 minutes
ECT above 50°F
Short term fuel trim below 12.5%

Driving Procedure

1) Monitor operates at idle after ten minutes of engine run time.

Catalyst System Monitor Drive Trace

Monitoring Duration: Approximately 15 minutes

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

MIL must be off
No ECT, IAT, CPS, TPS, or VSS DTCs
Time since start-up, 330 seconds
Time since closed loop, 5 1/2 minutes
ECT between 170 & 230°F
IAT between 20 & 180°F
Engine load between 10 & 35%
MAF between 1.0 and 5.0 lb/min
EGR flow between 1 & 12%
Fuel level between 15 & 85%

Driving Proceedure

1) Connect scan tool in order to observe data stream and monitor status.
2) Check that required condition values meet requirements listed above.
3) Drvie for twelve minutes at a steady speed between 25 and 45 mph. Change to different speed (between 25 and 45 mph) once.

Non-Enhanced Evaporate System Monitor Drvie Trace

Monitoring Duration: 20 seconds at idle

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

MIL must be off
Time in closed loop, 11 minutes and 40 seconds
IAT between 40 % 100°F
Change in idle load below 2% (stable idle)
Idle load between 20 & 35%

Driving Proceedure

1) Connect Scan tool in oder to observe data stream and monitor status.
2) Idle vehicle for five minutes and confirm that required condition valuse meet the values listed above.
3) Drive for five minutes at a steady speed between 40 and 65 mph.
4) Stop vehicle and idle for 2 minutes.

Enhanced Evaporative System Monitor Drive Trace

Monitoring Duration: 6 Minutes

Pre-Conditioning Requirements:

MIL must be off
No ECT, IAT, CPS, TPS, or VSS DTCs
Engine soak time (key off) 8 hours
Time since start-up 5 1/2 minutes, not to exceed 30 minutes
IAT between 40 & 100°F
Engine load between 20 & 70%
Idle load between 20 & 35%
Fuel level between 15 & 85%

Driving Procedure

1) Connect Scan tool in order to observe data stream and monitor status.
2) Check that required condition calues meet requirements listed above.
3) Drive for seven minutes at a steady speed between 40 and 75mph.
4) Stop vehicle and idle for 2 minutes.

Note: Vehicle should be driven as smoothly as possible, to minimize fuel slosh.

Typical Abort Condtions for Evaporative Monitors (Due to Fuel Slosh)

1) Engine load changes more than 20%
2) Fuel fill changes more than 15% (due to slosh)
3) Fuel tank pressure changes more than 1" H20 (0.249 kPa)

Heated 02 Sensor Monitor Drive Trace

Monitoring Duration: 30 to 60 seconds

Pre-Conditioning Requirements

MIL must be off
No TPS or MAF DTCs
Time since start-up 3 minutes
Time since closed loop 10 seconds
ECT between 150 & 240°F
IAT below 140°F
Engine load between 20 & 60%
RPM between 1000 & 2000

Driving Procedure

1) Connect Scan tool in order to observe data stream and monitor status.
2) Drive vehicle at highway speeds for five minutes, and confirm that required conditions requirements meet the values listed above.
3) Drive for five minutes at a steady speed between 35 and 50 mph.
4) Stop and idle for 30 seconds.
5) Drive for two minutes at 30 mph.
6) Repeat steps 4 & 5 once.

[stlwagon]

And did you try it out to see if they work?

[stlwagon]

If this one gets a lot of interest, I may make it a sticky.

[ArtDisco]

Originally Posted by stlwagon

And did you try it out to see if they work?

I won't know if it worked until I take it back to be inspected, I will update...

[travelers]

I would like to know where they expect you to do all that stop and go driving at. Interesting though.

[hawgman]

Originally Posted by ArtDisco

In case anyone can find this useful, I have been trying to get my car to pass inspection, and it has failed twice, due to too many DTCs....

I am really confused.. Why not just clear them with a handheld?

What have you done to the vehicle to cause "too many" to pass inspection?

[ArtDisco]

Originally Posted by hawgman

I am really confused.. Why not just clear them with a handheld?

What have you done to the vehicle to cause "too many" to pass inspection?

You can't clear them with a handheld...this is the rub. Since anyone can get a handheld device and clear a check engine light to pass inspection, the car manufacturers have built this system in to prevent people from doing just that. Wiht all this driving, if there is a problem, the check engine light will come back on after being cleared.

I was told by the dealer these codes came on from me re-tuning the engine a couple of times.

[stlwagon]

Wish someone could take a video of you going through all those steps. Should be quite funny to watch.

[ArtDisco]

Originally Posted by stlwagon

Wish someone could take a video of you going through all those steps. Should be quite funny to watch.

Hey, I should have had a video of me bedding in my new brakes...that was hilarious. I passed two parked cops, they didn't even pay me any attention...

[pfiandra]

You got be kidding. You mean in NC they actually check the DTCs to pass pollution inspection. Here in Pennsylvania they put your car on a dino and stick sensors up the tail pipes to check for emissions. Am I missing something here?

[ArtDisco]

Originally Posted by pfiandra

You got be kidding. You mean in NC they actually check the DTCs to pass pollution inspection. Here in Pennsylvania they put your car on a dino and stick sensors up the tail pipes to check for emissions. Am I missing something here?

Yes, in certain counties in NC, they require a full ODBII scan for model year cars 1996 and newer. I happen to live in one of those counties. Not only do you have to deal with the emission and ODBII scan, but the computer readout is sent to Raleigh. If they don't receive one for your car yearly, you get mailed a ticket for $245. I would move to a different county, but I hear they will all be this way soon. I may move to South Carolina where they don't have a state inspection...yet.

[pfiandra]

Here in Pennsylvania they have safety inspection in every county but pollution inspection in selected county's (high population). Geez NC is starting to get like NJ. I lived there once and just about everything is against the law.

[smokeshow]

You can say that again, pfiandra! I lived in Jersey for five years, and no offense to anyone there, but I'm glad I'm back in PA! There are a few things I miss, though.

On the upside, I think the inspection lasts for four years on new cars in Jersey. The downside is, I bought my car in PA, paid for a Jersey inspection, and then moved to PA within a year and had to get the PA one done again!

[MakeMyStang]

Originally Posted by ArtDisco

You can't clear them with a handheld...this is the rub. Since anyone can get a handheld device and clear a check engine light to ....... of times.

I am sure if it is embedded into the system, why can't the dealer clear them. They should always have an override for everything.

Also, if the car fails ispection again, what does the state expect you to do?
Is there some sought of repair dollar limit or exemption?

It's hard to believe that Ford cannot do a total reflush like you would reinstall a PC computer operating system.

The instructions the dealer gave you seem a little far fetch to do.

[ArtDisco]

Originally Posted by MakeMyStang

I am sure if it is embedded into the system, why can't the dealer clear them. They should always have an override for everything.

Also, if the car fails ispection again, what does the state expect you to do?
Is there some sought of repair dollar limit or exemption?

It's hard to believe that Ford cannot do a total reflush like you would reinstall a PC computer operating system.

The instructions the dealer gave you seem a little far fetch to do.

I'm sure the dealer could reset the codes, however, they are not legally allowed to do this. This is somewhat complicated to explain, I've tried, but it seems that NC is somewhat unique when it comes to car inspections.

The problem is that because I disconnected the battery, or re-tuned the engine a couple of times, it tripped three DCTs. You are only allowed to have one. You can't reset the DCTs because this prevents someone using a handheld device to turn off a check engine light.

Example: if you have a check engine light on, you use a handheld device to see what the error is and reset it so you can have the car inspected, the computer will tell the technician you have done this through the Drive Trace Codes. You are required to do all these crazy steps because in the course of all that nonsense, if theer is a problem with the computer, the check engine light will come back on and thus, you will fail inspection. However, if there is no problem with the computer, the DCT will clear and you the car will pass.

As for it being far fetched, that was technical information downloaded for me by the dealer from Ford Motor Company, so I have no idea. I don't know what purpose they would have in just making something like that up, they don't make any money off of me no matter what I do.

I know the service manager pretty well at this dealership and he assures me that those proceedures will clear the DCTs. If I can't get it to do it, he said he will do it for me after hours, apparently a lot of people are having these problems.

And as far as I'm concerned, the NC state legislature can go f**k themselves, because all this does is make it a nightmare to have your car inspected. They are doing their level best to keep people from modifying anything on their cars and making harder and harder for a working man to keep a decent car on the road.