I have a 2002 XJ8 that failed its smog test because I replaced the battery recently. I was not aware that disconnecting the battery would erase the ECM memory. This causes the sensors to report “Not Ready”, and fail the smog test.
I also have an Autoenginuity OBD II diagnostic tool that I have used successfully to diagnose the ABS system and misfire issues. I now want to read the Inspection / Maintenance codes to see which tests are “Not Ready”. But when I select the “Onboard Test Results” tab, every parameter shows “Not Supported”. Anyone have any idea what could cause this? The manual clearly shows that the reader has this capability. I have not been able to get help from the manufacturer.
That’s right. The ECU has to “learn” the best settings for minimum pollution. Trouble is, without a way to read the codes, I won’t know when it’s fixed.
Furthermore, some people have said that it can take hundreds of miles of different driving styles to make the sensors “Ready”. I am the primary caregiver for my wife who has dementia and Parkinson’s disease, so I only drive 2 miles to the supermarket once a week!
Most modern cars are hard on batteries. Batteries that are near end-of-life can cause some strange problems. It is usually best to replace the battery between 4 and 5 years of age and way before needing to pass an emissions test.
When the car failed, did the person tell you which monitors were not reset? If they didn’t, you would need a real diagnostic unit to tell you since the toy units are very basic. I’m not sure any of that matters as your use will never reset some monitors.
You will probably need to drive the car for more normal use for a couple hundred miles. I had a shop attached to my parts business and can recall the techs refusing to “get my car to pass smog” for anyone who wasn’t a regular customer as it frequently became a lot more work than seemed reasonable. It is a lot easier to have the owner drive the car normally for a month. I recall several times a tech would have to find a semi-rural road where they could maintain speeds that were well above urban settings and below the speed generally driven on a freeway.
The smog test flagged “comprehensive component”, “catalyst”, and “oxygen sensor” monitors as “not ready”. My problem is that I need to drive the car a few hundred miles to get the sensors ready so I can register it, but I can’t drive it because it’s not registered! Here in California, driving with expired registration will get your car impounded!
I’m also my wife’s primary caregiver, and can’t spend a lot of time driving around the landscape. Also, Jaguar shops seem unwilling to fix it.
There are 6 readiness tests that the ECM performs.
Each test has it’s own parameters.
You need to drive a specific way for each test to complete. (eg. fuel level between 20% and 80% and idle for a few minutes, steady speed @ certain MPH range etc.)
The catalyst and oxygen sensor are the two tests that require some time and enough driving to hit the parameters that reset the monitor. That car will pass in California with one monitor not reset unlike cars a couple of years newer that require them all reset.
I don’t have access to the procedure for resetting those without digging. Looks like mororcarman found it so perhaps he can post the procedure.
My recollection was techs had to find a semi-rural road where they could spend some time driving at 50-60 mph. Those roads are pretty much gone in my part of California. They are difficult to find unless you go over the pass east toward Palm Springs or north over Cajon Pass to the high desert.
Clearly, this needed to be done before the registration actually expired. Temporary permits to get it worked on may not get you more than one day. I would just carry your paperwork with you that shows you paid the registration, the failed smog check, and the proceedure, and hope for the best.
I do have a copy of the “Drive Cycle” required to reset the sensors, but if I were to follow the instructions exactly, I will surely be killed here in suburban Orange County!
I will take it to the local dealer Monday & see if they can help. I had no idea that replacing the battery would create such a can or worms…
Quite honestly, and with all respect to you guys on the other side of the pond, I find this astonishing! I don’t understand the reason Jaguar would design a car that would require such extraordinary lengths to make it pass what we call an MOT test. I’m pretty sure it would not require all this “driving” over here. We just stick a sensor up the tailpipe and read the emissions on an analytical instrument. Job done. Am I missing something?
The idea is to make the car do all the work. The smog test station just plugs into the OBD and downloads the results. All the analysis is done by the car.
Also, it’s an attempt at “machine learning”, in that the car is supposed to learn how to adjust various settings for minimum pollution. Trouble is, if it fails to “learn”, there isn’t any simple solution!
From a practical perspective, that would make sense, to let the car do the work. But I would have thought that from a legal or regulatory perspective the data should be obtained independently.
It isn’t replacing the battery that causes the issue, it is doing it shortly before an emission test combined with difficulty to accomplish the monitor reset procedure in heavy traffic areas. That is complicated by your unusually light use.
This is not a Jaguar issue. This is the state of ODBII systems of that time. In California, 2000 and later models are checked for emission systems almost entirely by plugging in the ODBII system and it talks to the smog machine. The systems in later cars learn much faster.
I think you will be in for a rude shock trying to get a dealer to accomplish this. They have the ability like we did to drive around with the diagnostic machine in the car with you but if they can’t run the required drive cycle to reset the monitors, they will eat up hours rapidly and will lose money.
GregB – Your are absolutely right; this is not a Jaguar issue, but rather the whole emissions testing environment. I hope that newer Jaguars put a warning in the owner’s manual about this.
I took it to a few independent Jaguar shops, and they wouldn’t touch it. But the good news is that the Jaguar dealer was able to fix it in a couple hours! I tried to get them to tell me how they did it, but they won’t tell. They claim they drove it on the street, but I don’t believe it. It did cost me $250 though, plus $40 for smog re-test.
I’d love to figure this out, because I’m sure there are other Jaguar lovers who could benefit.