2000 Dodge Intrepid - Engine Code Question

[quote:582fdf0e28="ffas23"]Today I took my wifes 2000 Dodge Intrepid to New Jersey Auto Inspection. It is a 2.8L V-6 automatic and runs great. To make a long story as short as possible here in NJ we have our cars inspected every 2 years. Anyway I waited in the long line to the inspection station until my turn. They bring the car in and do all the tests needed. At the end of the line one of the inspectors comes up to me and asks me if the check engine light was on recently and if anyone turned it off. I told him the truth that it was not on recently but that I replaced the battery in the car recently. He said that was probably the problem and that I needed to drive at least 400 miles and come back to get reinspected for emissions. He then failed the car. Well when I drove out of the Inspection station I opened up the glove box and grabbed my little maintence book and saw that it was in Novemember that I replaced he battery with a new one. This was done over 1700 miles ago so I would of thought that enough mileage was put on the car to reset the computer in the car. I also remembered about a year before we had an instance when the check engine light did come on. At the time I drove over to my local Autozone since they advertise they will put a scanner on your car for anyone who asks for it at there store free of charge if the engine check light is on. At that particular time the code that came up indicated that the gas cap might be off and sure enough the last person pumping gas into the car didn't screw the cap back on. In NJ an attendant pumps the gas into your car unlike other states. So Autozone turned the check engine light off, I tighten down the gas cap and it never came back on again. As I said that was at least a year or so ago. Now I am at a point not knowing what to do here. I went on the net and read something about a readiness code. It said that if the battery is disconnected as in my case of replacing the original battery the code would be erased Quote: the Readiness code will be erased, which may prevent your car from completing an emissions test. (Readiness code is an indication that certain emission control components of your car have been self-tested). If this is correct where do I go from here?
Can I reset this code so that I could go to inspection or should it have reset on its own since 1700 miles have already been driven since replacing the battery? Other then this the car would of passed inspection today.

Fred[/quote:582fdf0e28]

Hey Fred,
Unlike service codes that can be "cleared" from memory, the readiness monitors work the opposite way in that they have to "set" indicating that all the required tests have "run" and have passed. There is no was to clear them(only rerun them after a battery replacement or if any service codes were cleared). Having said that, at times it can take quite a bit of time for the monitors to run and pass and its all based on what the required "drive cycle" for each test. So, long story short .....here's what I recommend. Go back to the "zone" and have it re-scanned, this time though have the person bring up the "monitor status" and see which monitor has not set yet. Re-post your findings and I can give you the "drive cycle" criteria to get this monitor to set! Let me know!

Chris

Chris,
First of all thanks for replying back to my question. You were a big help to me. First of all I failed to mention that since that first time I had AutoZone scan my wifes car I went out and purchased a Actron Model CP9135 Scanner. I have had it about a year now but never took it out of its box before today after receiving your reply. This is what I got when hooking up the CP9135. First I checked to see if there were any trouble codes. Went to the Main Menu to read the codes with the key on. No codes came up. What I got was the word PASS. I then started the car. The engine was already warm from taking the car for a ride prior to all these test so that it would be at operating temperture. I now went to the I/M Monitors test. I used the up and down arrows to check the status of each monitor. All stated that they were READY. There were I think 3 that were non-applicable.
My thoughts here are that there is no problem. According to what I have read this car should pass its emission test. I have a feeling someone down at the NJ inspection station didn't know what they were doing. Doesn't seem like anything is wrong with the system. What do you think Chris?

Hey Fred!
Thats a really good sign and I would recommend you take it to a more trusted station (if possible!) and get a sticker on that car!!!! As long as you saw all the monitors "ready" and there is no check engine light, you are good to go!!

Chris

Chris,
The inpsection station I usually go to is a State run Inpsection Station. They should be up to date on things I would think. My only other choice would be to go to a private garage who is licensed by the State here in N.J. to do inspections. Problem is to do this there wouild be a charge of around $80 to have them inspect the vehicle. I can't see paying that kind of money being registration charges in my state pay for the State run inspection. If you have more then one car in the family it could get pretty expensive going the private inspection route. I will try again either today or tomorrow. I will let you know how I make out. Maybe I will bring the CP9135 scanner with me to prove my point if they fail me again for the same reasons.

Sorry! Did not know NJ was state run! Definitely bring your scanner w/ you if you need to "correct" them! Good Luck!

Chris

Chris,
I took the 2000 Intrepid back to N.J. State Inspection today. They have 2 lanes going in. On Monday when the car failed I went into the right side facility. Today Wednesday I went into the left side facility. Waiting in line I hooked up my CP9135 Scanner and did a check on the I/M Monitors. All were ready to go. As I approached the inside of the garage I grabbed an Inspector and told him what happened the other day. I then asked him if they were having any problems with their OBDII testing equipment and he told me no they weren't having any problems. I told him when I left the inspection station after failing on Monday that I had the car scanned and everything was on the money. He started to tell me that you can't go by those scanners the garages have. I then pointed to my CP9135 Actron OBDII Scanner sitting on the seat and let him know that I just got done scanning the car in line and everything was good to go. He made me fill out some paper work and had me step out of the car sending me down to the other end. From where I was standing I saw him get another higher up Inspector, saw them talking and checking the car. Next I see the one inspector get in the car and drive down to where I was standing. He got out of the car, grabbed his scraper, cleaned the old (FAIL) sticker off the windshield and put a new (PASS) sticker in place of it. Chris to tell you the truth I think I caught there a$$ today. They were wrong about my wifes car. I am willing to bet the jerk that inspected my car screwed up on Monday. Maybe he didn't plug his scanner in all the way or maybe there really was a problem with their scanning equipment. All I know is that the car passed as I expected it to. Thanks again for your help here. It was good to talk to someone knowledeable to what was happening to me. Got to say one thing. That Actron CP9135 is worth its weight in gold. As I mentioned earlier I purchased this scanner a year or so ago but never used it. A few times when passing by it over the months I wondered to myself if I would ever get to use it and sure enough the opportunity came up this week and I realized I made a good decision to get one back then. Take care.

Fred

Good story Fred,
You're right about Chris.
Just wanted to pass along a story. Our shop had the same situation where a car failed becuase it counldn't connect. The guy went to autozone, the could connect. He came back it didn't connect, again he failed. I must note that before and after his car, we had no problems. He went to another shop, it read fine and passed. HE came back MF-ing us and called the state. The state came out and acted like it was something we did. In the end there was no explantation. The state did send out a new cable the next day.

[quote:8a8a2407cd="ffas23"]Chris,
I took the 2000 Intrepid back to N.J. State Inspection today. They have 2 lanes going in. On Monday when the car failed I went into the right side facility. Today Wednesday I went into the left side facility. Waiting in line I hooked up my CP9135 Scanner and did a check on the I/M Monitors. All were ready to go. As I approached the inside of the garage I grabbed an Inspector and told him what happened the other day. I then asked him if they were having any problems with their OBDII testing equipment and he told me no they weren't having any problems. I told him when I left the inspection station after failing on Monday that I had the car scanned and everything was on the money. He started to tell me that you can't go by those scanners the garages have. I then pointed to my CP9135 Actron OBDII Scanner sitting on the seat and let him know that I just got done scanning the car in line and everything was good to go. He made me fill out some paper work and had me step out of the car sending me down to the other end. From where I was standing I saw him get another higher up Inspector, saw them talking and checking the car. Next I see the one inspector get in the car and drive down to where I was standing. He got out of the car, grabbed his scraper, cleaned the old (FAIL) sticker off the windshield and put a new (PASS) sticker in place of it. Chris to tell you the truth I think I caught there a$$ today. They were wrong about my wifes car. I am willing to bet the jerk that inspected my car screwed up on Monday. Maybe he didn't plug his scanner in all the way or maybe there really was a problem with their scanning equipment. All I know is that the car passed as I expected it to. Thanks again for your help here. It was good to talk to someone knowledeable to what was happening to me. Got to say one thing. That Actron CP9135 is worth its weight in gold. As I mentioned earlier I purchased this scanner a year or so ago but never used it. A few times when passing by it over the months I wondered to myself if I would ever get to use it and sure enough the opportunity came up this week and I realized I made a good decision to get one back then. Take care.

Fred[/quote:8a8a2407cd]

Fred!
Thats awesome! Great homework and followup!
And pass the word onto others re: possible shady practice! Can't trust the shops scanner???? LOL ours are 100 times better that theres ....and oh by the way ............we do this for a living!!!!

Take care,

Chris