Emissions paperwork help

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

My wife took in her 2001 alero today with the check engine light on to emissions and of course, she failed. She neglected to tell me she was doing it today because I was going to wipe the service engine code temporarily until it got nice outside to fix the issue. She has until Thursday to get it fixed, which we can not afford to have done at the present time. I will wipe the code with my tester, but the form she was given says they need proof action was taken in the form of shop repair and receipts. I'm going to have her get an extension on the fix time at the DMV but I will fix the issue myself.

Has anyone encountered this issue before and know what form I am talking about, and is it possible to not have a shop fix her car?

Thanks in advance for any help,
Kyle

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[RICH17]

What do you mean by "wiping" the code?

And why not till thursday? Plates due?

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

Would just delete the code using my tester. It would last for a day or two. But then they need to know what was done to the car. And yes her plates are due

 

[Yaj Yak]

it wouldn't pass right away though- it would be a not ready... unless you hit the drive cycle

 

[Yaj Yak]

ill be honest also- your post is pretty vague- what motor? what code is it throwing?

 

[02BlueGT]

Would just delete the code using my tester. It would last for a day or two. But then they need to know what was done to the car. And yes her plates are due

that don't work... clearing the codes resets the monitors. They will tell you the car isn't ready yet, and that you need to come back. Only one that can work is the evap as it doesn't run in the winter so a reset then drive around can work out.

 

[Yaj Yak]

well you can pass with a few "not readys" depending on yhe year.


but they can't all be that way.

 

[Yaj Yak]

that don't work... clearing the codes resets the monitors. They will tell you the car isn't ready yet, and that you need to come back. Only one that can work is the evap as it doesn't run in the winter so a reset then drive around can work out.

ps forgive my naivety but why doesn't an evap work in the winteR?

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

ill be honest also- your post is pretty vague- what motor? what code is it throwing?

2001 Alero 3.4 V6
P0440 and p0442
Evap control malfunction and Evap control malf. Small leak detected.
And before someone says it's the gas cap, it's not. I had a group of employees at autozone for 10 min try to convince me it was and have already replaced it and the light comes back. I understand it maybe the charcoal canister but don't have the time to look into it this week. There may be a sort of bad valve causing the issues. Can anyone elaborate or am I going in the wrong direction?

 

[Yaj Yak]

that doesnt sound fun. but seems like you could be onto something by clearing it and getting it to pass the other drive cycle tests before retesting it..

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

Ok so I will reset in the morning, and have her drive for a few days before going back. With any luck, the light won't come on. Otherwise I'll have to crawl under this pos

 

[Yaj Yak]

General Motors Driving Cycle

A complete driving cycle should perform diagnostics on all systems. A complete driving cycle can be done in under fifteen minutes.
To perform an OBDII Driving cycle do the following:

• Cold Start. In order to be classified as a cold start the engine coolant temperature must be below 50°C (122°F) and within 6°C (11°F) of the ambient air temperature at startup. Do not leave the key on prior to the cold start or the heated oxygen sensor diagnostic may not run.
  
• Idle. The engine must be run for two and a half minutes with the air conditioner on and rear defroster on. The more electrical load you can apply the better. This will test the O2 heater, Passive Air, Purge "No Flow", Misfire and if closed loop is achieved, Fuel Trim.
  
• Accelerate. Turn off the air conditioner and all the other loads and apply half throttle until 88km/hr (55mph) is reached. During this time the Misfire, Fuel Trim, and Purge Flow diagnostics will be performed.
  
• Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for 3 minutes. During this time the O2 response, air Intrusive, EGR, Purge, Misfire, and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed.
  
• Decelerate. Let off the accelerator pedal. Do not shift, touch the brake or clutch. It is important to let the vehicle coast along gradually slowing down to 32km/hr (20 mph). During this time the EGR, Purge and Fuel Trim diagnostics will be performed.
  
• Accelerate. Accelerate at 3/4 throttle until 88-96 km/hr (55-60mph). This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 3.
  
• Hold Steady Speed. Hold a steady speed of 88km/hr (55mph) for five minutes. During this time, in addition to the diagnostics performed in step 4, the catalyst monitor diagnostics will be performed. If the catalyst is marginal or the battery has been disconnected, it may take 5 complete driving cycles to determine the state of the catalyst.
  
• Decelerate. This will perform the same diagnostics as in step 5. Again, don't press the clutch or brakes or shift gears.

General Motors Driving Cycle

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

Wow ok. I'll be driving her car tomorrow night for a leisurely cruise on the Elgin ohare. What fun.... And thank you for the help

 

[RICH17]

If need be my scanner has a green yellow red function that tells you your emission status. It will read yellow if the drive cycle isnt completed even if there is no codes present.

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

I got that too. thanks for the offer

 

[RICH17]

Cool. Then you should be good to go.


Also I have ready that the EVAP canisters on N bodies are common for leaking.

 

[The Bluegrass Nomad]

That's what I'm reading too. They love to leak from 1 of 3 points. Where is the cheapest place to get a smoke test done?

 

[02BlueGT]

ps forgive my naivety but why doesn't an evap work in the winteR?

Evap collects the evaporated gasoline from your tank (hence the name ) Since gasoline evaporation is very tempurature dependent, the system is only nessisairy at temps above 50* F (i might be slightly off on the exact temp). Since it isn't needed in these temps, the test doesn't run if ambient temp isn't above the threshold.

:tmyk:

 

[Oreif]

First, Since it is the 3.4L motor, It is most likely the PCV hose, the power brake vacuum line, or to the canister that is leaking. Had this on my truck with the same errors. The rubber boots that connect the hard plastic vacuum tubes weaken with heat/age/mileage over time. I used a couple of small hose clamps to seal the boots to the lines on a few of those type of vacuum hose lines. Then I reset the ECU and completed the driving cycle. Never had the problem again.

Side note, I thought it was the gas cap at first as well. Bought one at Auto Zone and it kept setting the code as well. I bought a cap from NAPA and it worked just fine. The auto zone gas caps do not work well.