Catalyst Readiness

A forum for the legendary Nissan Pathfinder and Infiniti QX4.
Merrix
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:14 pm
Car: 97 Nissan Pathfinder

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I have a 97 Pathfinder and had done a head gasket job early 2020. Everything works well and the engine is sound. I took it in for a smog and it had passed the emissions but not the monitors. Catalyst and one other had not completed, I believe EGR. Anyhow, it had taken a bit of driving to complete EGR but the catalyst did not complete. I had driven for 7 months and about 3k miles and catalyst still hasn't cleared. I had cleared to codes to reset the monitors about a month ago to see if there's some sort of glitch and all monitors completed rather quick other than catalyst, which is still incomplete.
I know the driving pattern is interesting and I've tried it all. Even had the car off the ground and stayed perfectly within the parameters (from Nissans owners manual)for the catalyst pattern. I'm stumped to say the least :gotme
Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.


MisterH
Posts: 277
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2016 5:04 pm
Car: 1999 Infiniti QX4

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You said you "cleared the codes" in order to reset the monitors so what were the codes that came up that required clearing?

Merrix
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:14 pm
Car: 97 Nissan Pathfinder

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I didn't have any codes come (other then knock sensor in pending) when I cleared them, I just did that to reset the monitors.

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VStar650CL
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Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

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Merrix wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:45 am
I didn't have any codes come (other then knock sensor in pending) when I cleared them, I just did that to reset the monitors.
Yes, but it must have failed an SRT at some point to be "unready". The exact driving pattern required for completing SRT depends on what code caused it.

Merrix
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:14 pm
Car: 97 Nissan Pathfinder

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VStar650CL wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:52 am
Merrix wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 9:45 am
I didn't have any codes come (other then knock sensor in pending) when I cleared them, I just did that to reset the monitors.
Yes, but it must have failed an SRT at some point to be "unready". The exact driving pattern required for completing SRT depends on what code caused it.
I am not sure what you mean by SRT. I had a couple codes from when I blew a head gasket. The engine was running rough after I did the head gaskets and that caused a couple misfire codes, which is what I had to clear.

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VStar650CL
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Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

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SRT is "Self-Readiness Test", it's the internal test sequence that the ECM must pass before it will clear historic errors. Each DTC that has an associated "history" also has a specific set of driving conditions that must be met before the ECM will call it good.

Merrix
Posts: 21
Joined: Thu Mar 15, 2018 5:14 pm
Car: 97 Nissan Pathfinder

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VStar650CL wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 11:26 am
SRT is "Self-Readiness Test", it's the internal test sequence that the ECM must pass before it will clear historic errors. Each DTC that has an associated "history" also has a specific set of driving conditions that must be met before the ECM will call it good.
Thank you for the clarification. I live in a hilly area that makes it difficult to follow driving patterns, especially the catalyst pattern. I had lifted the rear of the ground and "drove" the pattern to a T but it triggered the ABS light. Would that affect the monitors not to clear? I was going to attempt the pattern again but with all 4 off the ground and in 4 high to have all 4 spinning. Would that work or does it require a load?

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VStar650CL
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Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2020 1:25 pm
Car: 2013 Nissan Altima 2.5 SL
2004 Nissan Altima 2.5 S

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Merrix wrote:
Tue Jan 12, 2021 1:36 pm
I had lifted the rear of the ground and "drove" the pattern to a T but it triggered the ABS light. Would that affect the monitors not to clear? I was going to attempt the pattern again but with all 4 off the ground and in 4 high to have all 4 spinning. Would that work or does it require a load?
The ABS light would probably abort the sequence because the ECM would stop getting a wheel-speed signal. Might work to run it in 4H as long as everything is spinning equally, but that will be a hard nut.

A1218
Posts: 308
Joined: Thu Aug 06, 2020 6:03 pm
Car: 1997 Nissan Pathfinder SE

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On my 97 Pathfinder the catalyst monitor hasn't gone ready for a while. Maybe over a year and I haven't paid attention to it before that to really know for sure how long its been like that.

But in my state, NY, you can pass emissions with a monitor not ready so ive never bothered with that.

Ive also tried all driving parameters to see if I can get it ready but no luck. Ive decided to ask a nissan tech a while ago and he said the vehicle has to drive long enough to heat up. Didnt believe that explanation too much but decided to try it and drove about 150 miles nonstop highway, even at high speeds and no luck at all with that.

However, now that ive seen others with the issue im curious as to why this monitor doesn't go in ready state.

And while were speaking of emissions, and I dont mean to digress from the issue at hand, but I do have a pesky p1441 code that appears every so often. Changed charcoal canister, vent valve, vacuum cut valve solenoid, bypass valve, smoke tested, new gas cap, and purge solenoid under hood. No luck, comes back every so often.


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