I would think that driving it normally in many different ways over months would be fine. Makes no sense to me. Why didn't you ask the dealer what a drive cycle was?

 

The mechanic that came over and I just drove in right after failing, basically said on day you go back, try running errands, go a decent distance, try to stay in for 10 minutes, go run another errand, try for 10 minutes and than head to inspection.

Based on what I found online, its nowhere near as simple as that, but I dunno how true it is. From what I have read from the older gen, I can imagine it applies to my gen as well? I also found this info as in general that I guess I will try, but its a bit more complicated.

The easiest and fastest way to complete the drive cycles and get the monitors ready that I have ever found is the following:

#1. Fully warm up the engine (idle about 9 minutes), then drive on the highway/interstate at normal interstate speed ( without stopping ) using cruise control for 15 to 20 minutes. This will test everything except for half of the evap system. Many of the tests can not be run at low engine speed or if you are accelerating with much throttle. This is why cruise control helps so much. It maintains a nominal engine speed, under load, at a constant speed while the engine is fully warmed up. This is the perfect condition that almost all tests will run at. If you don't have cruise control, just keep the throttle and speed as steady as you can manually.

#2. Park the car, turn it off and let it fully cool down for 1 to 1.5 hours ( depending on how hot it is outside ). This runs the other half of the evap test which only happens when the car is turned off and cooling down. It watches the pressure in the gas tank to see if it falls when it cools down. Some cars also have electric vacuum/pressure pumps the gets activated as the car is cooling down.

Perform these steps exactly two times.

Why twice?

There are 2 classes of OBDII codes, class A and class B.
Class A codes will set immediately or after only 1 drive cycle.

Class B codes will only set after being successfully tested on 2 drives cycles. Notice the word "successfully". If the proper conditions are not present during a drive cycle, the test won't run. This is why many people have to perform lots and lots of drive cycles to get the tests to complete. They simply don't know or understand how to create the conditions required for the tests to be successfully run.

Once you know how, it's very easy! Anyone can do it.?


I will try it out on my next day off from work and hope my odbII reader will have ready for the catalytic and o2

 

Hello guys, can anyone please tell me what is a MOT Test ? I just got my license, and I don't know much about cars

 

The best thing to do is to look into the rules and regulations for your country. I suggest this because your country might include safety related devices such as seat belt function tests, lighting, and air bags.

Testing here in America test for hydro carbons and NOx. It goes deeper when you start doing engine modifications to the emission equipment, then the validity of the vehicle is called into question.

The only time the safety equipment is called into question is after the vehicle has been totalled by the insurance company and the owner buys it back to rebuild it. In some places, that's called a Level 3 inspection. That's the only way it can be legally registered. Otherwise, it's just a parts car.

 

I used to do inspections. Completing drive cycles for some cars can be a PITA. In the future, you can get a memory saver that connects to your OBDII port and keeps the monitors from resetting. I think it's a cable that needs to be hooked up to a 12V battery. I've heard people talk about them, but never seen one in person.

 

Here's what I did to complete the drive cycle, maybe it will be useful for others. I did this recently, and I checked some guides on https://www.car.co.uk/media/guides/general/mot-checklist-and-guide before this and it was useful. So, first of all, the preparations. I made sure my tank is between 30 and 70 percent full, checked the alternator and the battery (these two must be strong and good quality), I let the car sit overnight in the garage with the keys out of the ignition and the door closed. After, I started my car and let it idle for three minutes in Park or Neutral, then turn on the headlights, the heater, and the rear heater for about five minutes. Then I put the car in gear and drove around at about 25 mph and after went up to 40 mph, and stoped. After I took it on a short freeway trip and repeated the las procedure I explained. After this, I got the car to the shop and re-checked everything again and it was ready. If I forgot to mention something, please correct me, but overall, that's what I did.

 

Some vehicles are very easy to complete a drive cycle (just normal driving for a few days-week), or to at least complete the necessary monitors to pass the emissions test. Unfortunately, Catalyst is one of the monitors that has to be complete.

 

I've seen it done with driving 70mph, then drop to 55. But it takes more effort than just normal driving.

When I have emission testing, I will wait 2 weeks before I take it in. Though, AZ isn't CA and only tests the systems and verifies pressure on the gas cap.

No visual. Just verify the systems are complete and no CEL.

 

It makes me glad that I don't have to deal with any inspections or emissions testing where I live in WA State. Seeing what so many people have to deal with just to drive their car. Ugh....