"I" learned something new today.....
 

I replaced my battery about a month and 1/2 ago, I hardly drive my car maybe 4,000 miles a year, so I barely put 200 miles on my car since the battery change, so I go to get my inspection today and they could not read anything on my car then they started asking me has the battery been disconnected, have I bought a new battery recently so I said yes I did, long story short I was told I have to put at least 200 to 300 miles on the car with the new battery in it in order for the computer to read the car during an expection, not my profession but I have never heard of this in my life, has anyone ever gone through this? If so what can be done, I need my car inspected ASAP I really can't ride around trying to get to a higher mileage, any suggestions would be appreciated.

news to me! what type of inspection are they doing?

Just the basic yearly state inspection we have to do here in NY.

If they couldn't read anything on your car, that's good. Because if they are looking for fault codes, you don't have any. But if they mean their OBD-II scanner cannot communicate with your car, then something may be wrong with the PCM on your car, and this can get expensive.

Not sure what's going on, really puzzled me today, all I know is that I went to get my yearly state inspection and was told that the computer that the car is hooked up to while testing was unable to read any activity on my car and I was told this was caused by a new battery being installed and me not put enough miles on the new battery, therefore nothing could be read, really makes no sense to me and it sucks!!

Hitlayers, et al,

I'm not fully up to the procedure because I live in an area without emission's testing, but I believe in some areas the inspection consists in part, if not completely, of the ODBII memory scan indicating all systems operating properly. When I lived in SoCal back in the late 90s, the state inspection stations were installing dynomometers to simulate actual driving conditions to measure tailpipe emissions and not just at idle and reving to 2000 rpm. This mandate was delayed due to cost and I believe the various emission agencies reached the conclusion that a clean review of the codes during the inspection process would yield a car that was operating within EPA regulations.
As to the problem reading the ODB system, call your nearest Acura Dealer and they may be able to help you out if not explain more completely the situation. A 99 is probably out of warranty for emission control devices, but they may help out with any repairs.
Miner

this is easy to fix
read the Emissions Testing section of the owner manual- dont have one?- here is a link for free downloads
https://techinfo.honda.com/rjanisis/...01_OMANUAL.asp

You dont need 500 miles, just a half hour and a few setting of steady throttle on freeway, not on cruise control, and some in town type driving, that generates all the normal readings the smog computer has to see to know all is well.

When the battery is disconnected the ECU Engine Control Unit resets and that is what controls the engine electronics, normally 500 miles of regular driving and it learns how you drive and makes adjustment for peak performace, a semi-learning system

In Ca they have the sniffer and the code reader going the whole time its on the dyno wheels

99s also get a 150k miles special emission tune up parts warranty!
Call 1-800-382-2238 x5

In some cases they don't even use the dyno. I took my sister's 99 VW Passat in a few days ago for a smog check and I was puzzled :scratch: as to why it wasn't put on the dyno. They just put the sniffer in the tailpipe and revved it for a minute or so and that was it. I was going to ask the tech but he was very busy and I didn't want to get him further behind. Anybody here have the answer? :confused:

It's done to prevent someone who has a car that truly has problems from just disconnecting the battery a few minutes before they run through the inspection. If you could do that, what would be the point of having inspections?

Thanks for the help everybody, hey 01tl4tl, question, I really don't mean to sound like a door knob right now but I just went throught the owners manuel and didn't see any easy fix, does it just say what you recommended doing? Unfortunately I need the car inspected as soon as possible and I don't really want to keep going to different places to see if everything has been reset yet, is there any other way to do this, and FYI, the place I went to did not put it on the DYNO wheels.

Do what he said. You need to log some miles on it in different driving cycles. Go out hit up a drive thru, order a burger and soda, and take the car for a drive varying where you drive for a little bit.(30 min or so) the ECU needs to log some data

Let me dig up the driving procedure so you get it right

In Ca. different counties still have the old school testing methods with just a sniffer-
other counties have the newest and most harsh testing standards. I just went thru the dyno/sniff test last week and passed with Zero and 1 for emissions output

This is from the 01 online book but should work for you too:

Testing of Readiness Codes
If you take your vehicle for a state emissions test shortly after the battery has been disconnected or gone dead, it may not pass the test.
This is because of certain "readiness codes" that must be set in the onboard
diagnostics for the emissions systems. These codes are erased when the battery is disconnected, and set again only after several days of driving under a variety of
conditions.
If the testing facility determines that the readiness codes are not set, you
will be requested to return at a later date to complete the test.
****
If you must get the vehicle re-tested within the next two or three days, you can
condition the vehicle for re-testing by doing the following.
• Make sure the gas tank is nearly, but not completely, full (around 3/4).
• Make sure the vehicle has been parked with the engine off for 8 hours or more.
• Make sure the ambient temperature is between 20° and 95° F.
• Without touching the accelerator pedal, start the engine and let it idle for 20 seconds.
• Keep the vehicle in Park.
Increase the engine speed to 2,000 rpm and hold it there until the temperature gauge rises to at least 1/4 of the scale (approximately 3 minutes).
Select a nearby lightly traveled major highway where you can maintain a speed of 50 to 60 mph for at least 20 minutes. Drive on the highway in D5. Do not use the cruise control.

When traffic allows, drive for 90 seconds without moving the accelerator pedal.
(Vehicle speed may vary slightly; this is okay.)
If you cannot do this for a continuous 90 seconds because of traffic conditions, drive
for at least 30 seconds, then repeat it two more times (for a total of 90 seconds).

• Then drive in city/suburban traffic for at least 10 minutes.
When traffic conditions allow, let the vehicle coast for several seconds without using the
accelerator pedal or the brake pedal.

If the testing facility determines the readiness codes are still not set, see
your Acura dealer.

Gotcha, thanks for all your help, it's appreciated. I will take those steps as soon as I get home, and then it seems like I should be good! :thumbsup:

Note: Those procedures must be done with engine cold for 8 hours

If the TL is sitting at home now- perfect!