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OBD2 and me

The family van is now approaching what some would consider old car status. Though it's a 2002 MPV and reasonably high tech, she has not treated me very well the past few months.


118k miles for the first tune-up is really very nice until you have to find the spark plugs hidden under the intake manifold.


The OBD2 system is a great idea on the surface. I was getting a check engine light and an error code that told me I had a misfire on cylinder 6 even though I had changed the spark plugs and another error code pointing to a bad O2 sensor that was not heating up properly.


A new ignition coil on plug part, 1 new O2 sensor and a clearing of the offending check engine light resulted in a failed emissions inspection a week later.


Note to self: don't change your battery or reset your OBD2 diagnostics right before you get your car inspected if you can help it. There are "drive cycles" that happen automatically as you drive your car that eventually reset the sensors that are read by the state emissions computers.


These computers cannot be tricked or reset to fool anyone so you either need to take the car to the dealer for a huge bill and perhaps a bunch of replaced parts or do the 'drive cycle' suggestions before you take it to the dealer for the huge bill.


I've done the 'drive cycle' but apparently AutoZone's OBD2 reader can't tell me if the ready codes can be read (or the sales monkey didn't know how to access the readiness codes), so my 'drive cycle' test was inconclusive.

Dropped by the state inspection facility and getting the same 4 'not ready' entries on their informal scan of my ECU.



I'm leaning towards buying a replacement vehicle, but not enough money to get a new car. Ordered a new scan tool that is capable of reading readiness codes and thinking that I need to change the thermostat because it might be preventing the drive cycle from triggering. (car has been running cool lately)



I will try to see if doing the drive cycle with the wheels off the ground will help to be more accurate instead of actually driving around the neighborhood at 50mph.


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