My battery was disconnected to do some maintenance, one of which was the replacement of my SAS valve/air pump, which triggered the Check Engine light. So far, the light hasn't come back on yet after 150 miles and a week of driving. Is that sufficient mileage / car starts to be confident that the Check Engine light won't come back on?
The air pump system is tested after the car is fully warmed up, when the engine is at idle. This takes about 30 seconds of idling, during which time the test is aborted or not started if the A/C comes on or is on. The test is also aborted if you come off idle. So if you're in a warm area where the A/C is always on, or not doing the type of driving where you are sitting at idle for a period of time, then the test may not have been run yet.
Note that it is only run once per trip, and 2? aborts will cancel any attempts for the rest of that trip. Also, other systems are tested during the above conditions, so this test doesn't happen every time.
Some OBD-II testers will also indicate "readiness codes" - once each test is passed, the code for that test is changed from not ready to ready. After a long battery disconnection, all of these are set to not ready. This is how some jurisdictions test emissions through the OBD-II port - all readiness codes must be set, and the check engine light off. This is a bit of a snakebite, as people get check engine light problems fixed, then get their emission check done - without allowing time for the readiness codes to be set.
I went to get my Texas inspection/emissions test today. They couldn't read my OBDII, and the guy at the shop said that Texas sent out some notice saying the machines have communications problems with some Volvos. They were supposed to, at that point, do the emissions test the old fashioned way, but the dumb machine registered a "Bench Failure" after a 30 minute warmup period.
Any similar stories out there with S70's and emissions testing?
Yay, I finally passed my inspection today. This was my 4th visit to a test center, and this was the 3rd type of machine I've seen. The 1st two machines were the same and looked old. They had OBDII testing + the dyno test. The 3rd type was just OBDII, and the latest was OBDII + dyno.
Today, the car didn't pass the OBDII test, and the guy said that it was not a surprise. However, his computer went to the "ASM" dyno test just fine, whereas the first two test centers just gave "communication failure". No problems passing the test today.
In case you're in Houston, TX and need to find a test facility, I highly recommend the Mobil gas station at the intersection of Dairy Ashford and Memorial Drive on the west side of town. Kudos to the "Volvo of Houston" people for recommending them.
Mike
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