New, Stricter State Inspection Testing
Starting January 1 of this year the State of Texas tightened up the testing criteria for late model cars that are required to have the OBD2 test procedure. In the past 1996 or newer cars have been allowed to pass with as many as 3 “Drive Monitors” not ready. From the beginning of this year all 2000 and newer cars are now allowed to have only 1 of these on board self test monitors not ready.
Drive monitors are the self test procedure that the on board computer system uses to check the performance of the engine and emission systems. Cars can have as few as 7 or as many as 12 of these self test systems built in. The higher end the car, the more sophisticated the computer system and the more monitors it will have.
A “not ready” monitor is one that has not completed its self test procedure. This does not mean that it has failed the test, or that there is anything wrong with the car. It just means that the test has not run and the computer does not know if the system it monitors works properly or not.
There are several reasons for a monitor to register as not ready. A failure in a related system may cause the monitor not to run. Something such as a thermostat that stays open allowing the engine temperature to be too low will prevent some monitors from completing. Another monitored failure, such as an oxygen sensor failure may prevent a monitor for the catalytic converter from finishing its test. The most common reason to see not ready monitors is that some repair has been done, or for some other reason an illuminated Check Engine light has been turned off resulting in the clearing of all monitor tests and requiring that all the test be run again.
Now comes the complicated “Drive Cycle” procedure. Each car has a very specific test drive procedure of varying speeds, times and engine temperatures that is required to force the drive monitors to run. They all start with a cold engine and involve driving at steady speeds of 40 mph and 60 mph for 2 to 5 minutes. Have you seen anyplace you can hold a steady speed for that long? They also include repeated accelerations from stop to 40 mph, driving in stop and go conditions and a coasting deceleration from about 50 to 20 without touching the brake or clutch. On all cars the fuel tank needs to be between ¼ and ¾ full for the emission purge test to run. If for some reason not all tests complete the procedure needs to be repeated from a cold start up.
As you can imagine it may take a while to get the on board monitors to complete and you can end up driving the car a couple of days and more than 100 miles before you successfully complete all of the tests.
Keep in mind that if you have had the computer system worked on, or turned off a Check engine light this procedure will have to be done and the tests show as complete or you will fail your State Inspection test. Before taking the car in and paying the $39.75 fee you may want to run by your regular shop and ask them to check the monitors for you. It is a simple test and they should be willing to do it at no charge as you wait.
"THE ABILITY TO MAKE AND UNDERSTAND PUNS IS THE HIGHEST LEVEL OF LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT" Here are the top 5 winners in the International Pun Contest:
1. A vulture boards an airplane, carrying two dead raccoons. The flight attendant looks at him and says, "I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion
allowed per passenger."
2. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. The one turns to the other and says "Dam!
3. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it immediately sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
4. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says "I've lost my electron." The other says "Are you sure?" The first replies "Yes, I'm positive."
5. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
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Often Overheard: "Why can’t they tell me everything that is wrong with my car the first time?"
We often get questions from our listeners alone those lines. They have their car in for repair and have been told that some work needs to be completed before the shop can tell them everything that might be wrong. Sometimes the customer has already had some repairs finished and is now being told that they still have a problem and need more work.
First off, if you don’t trust your “Trusty Mechanic” you are in the wrong place. If you have reason to doubt what you are being told, now or based on past experience, get a second opinion. Assuming that you have a good relationship and trust the folks working on your car there are several reasons you may face the above scenario.
Let’s look at air conditioning as this is the season we are entering and a there is a big likelihood that this problem may come up when servicing the A/C system.
If you go to the shop to have your A/C checked and the system is empty first thing the shop will have to do is charge the system. Unless there is something very obviously wrong we need to be able to run the A/C to check that it will actually cool and to find out where the leak is. Let’s assume that you have a major leak in one of the hoses, so bad the shop cannot get Freon into the system faster than it is leaking out.
The shop will give you an estimate to replace or repair the leaking hose. If they are being honest and professional they will tell you, “We have to fix this leak so we can charge the system and test it. There may be other problems when we get this done.”
Once the big leak is fixed they will recharge the system and then may find other smaller leaks, or may find that even with a full charge the system will not work right or cool the car. Let’s suppose just for fun that they find another small leak and the pressures in the system are way too high indicating a stopped up expansion tube. The shop again calls you and says something like, “We have found this and once it is repaired there may still be other problems.”
How can that be? You have already fixed 3 different problems in two attempts and they are telling you they still don’t know if this will be all of it.
In addition to the actual cooling part of the air conditioning there is an air flow control section that distributes the air out the appropriate vents and mixes both hot and cold air (heater and A/C) to regulate the temperature. Until the unit will make cool air it is almost impossible to test the mixture part of that system. You could end up still needing repairs to that part of your A/C. That part on a lot of cars actually includes a computer.
Unfortunately air conditioning is not the only place where a situation like this can occur. Many of the complex parts of your car are inter-dependant and one part must work right to even test the next one in the system or a related system.
Don’t assume that your mechanic is trying to rip you off when they tell you that they are not able to give a complete estimate until some of the repairs are done. Do follow a few simple steps to avoid being taken advantage of. Ask for an explanation of what else may be wrong, what they think the likelihood of that is and what they estimate the potential cost could be. You can also ask what their past experience with these problems has been. There is so much new technology out there that if they haven’t seen this before they may not be aware of the common pitfalls found in repairing them.
The important thing to remember here is communication. The shop has an obligation to keep you advised of what they are doing and what they think the potential problems may be. You have an obligation to listen to them. If they have told you that there may be other repairs needed don’t blame them if that comes to pass. On the other hand if they have not told you it was unprofessional on their part and you have a valid right to complain.
Find a shop and a mechanic that you can trust, build a relationship and try your best to keep an open line of communication with them.
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