Northern Virginia Roll Call

Anyone here have an Al Offroad USA rack? They're doing a 4th deal--15% off and free shipping. Looks nice, but is really...new?

 

How old is your golden in your avatar? That pic had me laughing...

 

Hahaha I had to go back and look. That’s a great pic.

 

I can't speak to whether they'll play nice, but Mobtown is having a 15% off sale right now if you want to pull the trigger.

 

I don't wanna pull the trigger before I know tbh. But, hopefully I'll find out before the 4th!

 

So the 4Runner is getting ready to go into the bay for emissions... wish me luck fellas

 

Godspeed!

 

Was advised that it’s not ready... told him I cleared my CEL with my ScanGauge this morning and he said to drive about 30 miles on the highway at 55MPH+ and to come back. So I’m very confused right now and am starting to freak out.... any advice?

 

once you clear, thats what you need to do to reset the ECU.

 

The first truck commute down to work was smooth and nasty grinding sound free!!!! Lug nuts were all still torqued after getting to the office...now thinking back, I must have had some steering wheel vibes from day one...I mean all that said as a hypochondriac, the drive and steering wheel was smooth sailing.

 

Okay. Does it take about 30 miles at highway speeds though or can I do just normal driving?

 

I think the last time I had to do this, they told me 30 min of normal driving. Like go to the next city, and then come back

 

Okay. Will disconnecting the battery for maybe 10 minutes or so potentially help? I’m running into the grocery store now and could disconnect it while I run inside.

 

Why are you at the grocery store thinking about disconnecting the battery while posting on TW? Drive the truck for 30 miles at 55+ mph and go back and get tested.

 

I thought that would do the same as the scangauge

 

it's not based on mileage at all it's just based on how much data your computer pulls so your speed doesn't matter at all. Just drive like normal for a day or two and then take it back. I've had this happen multiple times just from unhooking my battery for a completely unrelated things

 

@JoeT4R

Your CEL is not 100% passive tests where the computer notices a problem, many of the tests are actively run looking for problems. These are your continuous OBD-II monitors and they set on their own very quickly under normal conditions. However, there are several others that are called non-continuous monitors that only run under specific conditions and can be a real asshole to pass. Bad news here is that there's 3 (think this is still the case) continuous and I think 5 non-continuous on your truck looking at the service manual.

When the tests all pass for any given monitor, the monitor is set to READY/COMPLETE. If you reset the CEL with a scan tool or disconnect power, you reset all these to a NOT READY/INCOMPLETE status and they all have to be run again. Collectively, you can have one of these monitors that hasn't run and passed without failing on any vehicle after 2000 (1995.5-2000 can have two).

I had a loop that would set monitors on 95% of vehicles when I did smog in CA that took about 20-25 minutes. It's easy when you know exactly what to do but I saw vehicles that had been driven for years and never set them because it was some old grandma who never drove on the freeway.

Things that typically help:

• Cold starts. Coolant below 120-140F is a criteria for several manufacturers and mandatory to set the O2 heater, Catalyst heater (you likely don't have this), and EVAP monitors.
  
• Cold idle. Let it cold idle for 120 seconds before taking off - either in Park or Neutral, clutch out. Same as above, O2 heater, Catalyst heater, and EVAP need this.
• Hot idle... after the long cruise phase and before you shut the truck off, let it sit for 120 seconds in park/neutral. This is frequently part of the EVAP and sometimes catalyst and O2 tests.
  
• Steady cruises... 50-65mph with steady throttle for 5-10 miles. Some EVAP and EGR tests require a coast-down with throttle closed for about 1/8-1/4 mile at the end so ending at a long off ramp or lightly used road is ideal. This is pretty much for every test on the menu other than heater tests.
  
• Some EVAP tests run at the end of a drive so give the vehicle 5 minutes in park/neutral at idle when you're done
• Other EVAP tests run key-off after a drive so if you have the time, let it sit for 90 minutes if EVAP hasn't cleared at the end of the above trip.

If you can see which haven't passed (scan tool should show this under readiness or smog or something similar) you can get an idea of what you'll need to do but if your O2 heater test and EVAP didn't run, you're DOA until later today or tomorrow when your coolant falls below the Toyota threshold for a cold start.

 

Okay, thank you for the huge amount of information. He did mention something about EVAP but I wasn’t really tracking on that so I guess I will wait until tomorrow or sometime next week and try having it done again. I have my ScanGauge running full time and had reset my CEL this morning on my way there, however I see that was a mistake now.
He didn’t show me which didn’t pass and he said I don’t need to start replacing any parts just yet. Either way, I’m Just getting nervous about this all because I always had a feeling this would happen. Thanks again so much for the info & assistance.

 

Damn all this hassle for emissions testing...just reminds me more of the Californian regulate-ya-ta-death you guys got going up in that neck of VA!

Curious, since I didn't see anything jump out with regard to the testing regulations...is this just to keep people honest/catch them if their cat isn't functioning properly?