G50: Q45 - OBD 'lost memory'??

[phynesse]

just bought a '96 Q45 and am loving it! took it to get smogged and it passed emissions, but failed functional test"vehicle failed the MIL/Check Engine Light due to failure to successfully complete all OBD self test"

the asian gentleman at the shop said something to the effect that the chip lost its memory or so... he suggested to just drive a couple of days and he can recheck if it would recover (free re-test as well).

so i got 2 questions:

- does that sound probable at all? the car did sit for several weeks with disconnected battery before i picked it up last week. i probably put on aroun 150miles before all this.

- is it likely it will just recover by itself? do i have any way to tell if it did without having the computer to hook it up to?

thanks for any advice on this.

[Q45tech]

How many miles and how many cranks were completed after the battery was reconnected until the emission test?

How can you pass emission test if the ecu shows not ready?

took it to get smogged and it passed emissions, but failed functional test"vehicle failed the MIL/Check Engine Light due to failure to successfully complete all OBD self test".

Used cars always have things wrong which persuade their being for sale in the first place.

[phynesse]

How many miles and how many cranks were completed after the battery was reconnected until the emission test?

> like i said, around 150miles. cranks??? (sorry, i m not american, not familiar with that term)

How can you pass emission test if the ecu shows not ready?

> so u are suggesting the answer to my first question is "not really - u cannot pass emission while OBD isnt functional", yes?

Used cars always have things wrong which persuade their being for sale in the first place.

> how about when u get the car for free?

[Q_SHIP]

What he means, ( I believe) is they will not even test you with a SES light on. Thats how wisconsin is.

[phynesse]

hmm, the way i understood it is that the chip isnt functional at all, so it wont output anything.or maybe he tested emissions first and then hooked it up to OBD?but those are just blind guesses, i have no clue how all this works. i do have a print-out, though, where it passed visual and emission, but failed functional with above mentioned comment.

i guess i ll just take it to my mechanic tomorrow. that smog place seemed fishy to begin with, but it was so close to DMV and i wanted to get it done. never expected any problems....

[Q45tech]

Was 150 miles all ONE trip or how many CRANKS [engine starts] were involved..............OBD2 requires so many miles at 50+ mph and at least 3-5 starts to get ready for tests...................to avoid people clearing codes and then driving immediately for an inspection test.

[texasoil]

Q45tech is right on. You have to drive enough (engine starts,etc) so the OODBII has fully learned what to do. Until then, most states will not pass it.

[elwesso]

SO let me ask, is it failing because the CEL wont come on when the computer is plugged in, but the car runs "normalish"...

I wonder if someone did a self diagnsotic test and didnt turn the screw back.

[phynesse]

Was 150 miles all ONE trip or how many CRANKS [engine starts] were involved..............OBD2 requires so many miles at 50+ mph and at least 3-5 starts to get ready for tests...................to avoid people clearing codes and then driving immediately for an inspection test.

ah - starting to make sense now. the 150 were short little trips (longest being ~20), but a total of at least 15 trips / cranks overall. thanks for the info!

SO let me ask, is it failing because the CEL wont come on when the computer is plugged in, but the car runs "normalish"...I wonder if someone did a self diagnsotic test and didnt turn the screw back.

that might even be the case as well, b/c the car has a severe power steering leak (hence for free), but i have no CEL on.

i guess i ll keep driving a bit, try to put in a longer stretch and then bring it back to the guy. sounds like he knew what was going on.

[phynesse]

I finally got it through Smog YES! Q45tech you were right on:After driving for about 4 weeks / 400miles I went back and it *still* failed Functional Test. then i was gone for 3 weeks, so battery was disconnected again. But this time I immediately took it for one 80mile trip yesterday and another 40miles this morning. then it passed smog just fine. so another 2 delightful hours at the DMV later my Q was finally good to go!

just thought i d report FYI..

[Q45tech]

95% of the time I am "YES! Q45tech you were right on:"

The other 5% drives me nuts until I get it right. After all they are just cars designed by people and computers.

[Q451990]

Thanks for letting us know phynesse. We don't have a great deal of OBDII computer experience no the G50 series Q45 since it was only installed in the 1996 model year - which was a short production run...

Every little bit helps!

Heath

[96Qowner]

... which was a short production run...

Amazingly short - rarest of all the G50s - less than 6000 were sold. I was startled when I saw the numbers:

zerothread?id=71944

[Q45tech]

We have a pristine 100k 96 we purchased for $1000 since the owner didn't believe in oil changes. It took us almost a year to find a perfect 96 engine in Japan, finally came into to Baltimore and then to us this week cost us $1250 delivered..................it will be available for $5,000+ soon.

Way too pretty to strip for parts so we decided to rebuild.

[Q451990]

No more oil pan "trap door" experiments I presume.

[Q45tech]

Too pretty to be butchered up.

The inside look of this newer engine proves it was just lack of oil changes on the previous 2, 1996 sludge buckets.