Emission test blues (reprise)

[coutinpe]

Well, I finally moved to Phoenix so now I have to get my AZ registration. Hence, the dreaded moment of a Clarity visit to a smog check facility in a new town came today. I diligently followed all the steps to get the car on "Maintenance mode" (kindly provided by @Landshark) before I drove to the test (7 miles away). The first time it didn't work, likely because I didn't press either the brake or gas pedal deep enough. I repeated the process and it actually got me into "Maintenance Mode". However, then all sort of weird things happened with the electronics. The A/C became unresponsive, the parking brake indicator stayed on in spite of me releasing and setting it several times (I could hear the whirring), the windows defogger indicators came on although they weren't working and all the LKAS and other indicators stayed on. I don't remember any of these weird things happening the last time I put it in "MM" last year. Nevertheless, I was able to make it to the smog facility where the tech kindly asked me to turn off the car. I showed him the list of steps to get back into MM if I did so and he realized it was better just to leave it on. However, in the end he wouldn't do the test because the OBDII port somehow jumped off its bracket... so he asked me to fix that and then come back. We'll see how this ends...

 

[Joe17]

There will/should be a lot of lights on. Unless there is a tail pipe sensor inserted then the car shouldn't have to be running. If the need it running it would be best to just deplete the battery and put it in HV charge mode.

 

[Daniel M W]

No worries, that is the normal behavior on Maintenance Mode, and all lights in your climate control will blink. Weird about the OBDII... maybe the tech tried to hard connecting the scanner? hope the bracket is not broken.

Not sure how the smog test is done in AZ, but in CA is only by connecting the computer to the car - No need for Maintenance Mode.

good luck!

 

[megreyhair]

It is normal. It will keep blinking and then will stop once the engine had warmed up. I just changed my oil last weekend so I remembered this vividly!

 

[MrFixit]

Not sure how the smog test is done in AZ, but in CA is only by connecting the computer to the car - No need for Maintenance Mode.

Maryland too - They haven't 'sniffed' any actual tailpipe emissions here for MANY years.
All they do is power the vehicle, read the OBD2 data and examine the gas cap to be sure it is restricted for lead free gas. I think they also use a mirror to make sure your catalytic converter is in place. It's really a big joke that does nothing to improve pollution because every modern car always passes the silly non-test.

I have experienced the OBD connector 'jumping off the bracket''. It just relies on small plastic protrusions that are supposed to snap into the metal bracket, but the tolerances are such that it is easy for it to pop out when applying pressure to engage a connector. You can just pop it back in, but the design is deficient such that it is likely to pop out again when trying to use it. It really isn't a problem - it is a little awkward, but if you are careful, you can just hold the back of the connector toward the bracket while engaging the OBD tool, but I guess the technician wasn't very adept.

You can pop it back in, but in your case, maybe you would want to apply a few dots of epoxy (or similar) to try and secure it better to the bracket.

 

[coutinpe]

Thank you all. I wish it was so simple but I'm afraid it isn't. Actually there is a thread from last year I was too lazy to unearth, dealing with the issue of Clarities "failing" the emission tests because the shop's measuring device was unable to communicate with the car so they were not able to do the test at all, likely because of their computers being "obsolete". It happened me twice in Las Vegas at the only shop that (according to one of our fellow members) was able to do the test but in my case they couldn't and I ended having to take the car to the official emission lab attached to the DMV at Las Vegas so they would give me a waiver to allow me to get my new registration. They were familiar with the particular Clarity issue. Last time I heard that lab was now requiring a "failed" result to give the waiver. Putting the car in maintenance mode was suggested here as a remedy for the inability of the shop computer to communicate with the Clarity. Now I have to wait until Saturday, when my son would be able to come and help me fix that ODB connector to its bracket since my back no longer allows me to perform such activities. I was going to take it to a dealer but it's a 19 mile drive to the nearest one... Then on Monday back to the emissions shop with my fingers crossed... There was a review of that shop from some lady fuming because of the difficulty of having her PHEV tested, and complaining about their lack of understanding of "hybrids". For what she described they told her she had to put the car on something resembling our Maintenance mode. I don't remember what car it was, but it was not a Clarity. I will update Monday, hoping it turns out like you guys said.

 

[Clarity_Newbie]

An alternative method is to run the battery to less than 40% then just put the clarity in hv charge mode. Engine cranks right up n technician can do what they need to do

It works quite well.

Hope this helps.

 

[MeNerdHair]

You don't need maintenance mode during the test; you need it to force the engine on so the readiness monitors can set themselves after a DTC clear. (If the engine comes on by itself, say because you're in sport mode or such, that's fine too.) Here are the relevant docs; a short drive (~5 miles) can set all the monitors but EVAP. (Here in Texas, you're allowed one monitor in the not-ready state, so that's fine.)

I monitor the status of the readiness indicators from my iPhone with an OBDLink MX+ dongle and the accompanying OBDLink app. There are plenty of other options but hopefully having a known-good one will help. FWIW, the Car Scanner app is great for Clarity in general but its readiness monitor readouts are wrong.

 

[coutinpe]

Well folks, me & my Clarity finally passed the test in AZ! On Saturday my son fixed the OBDII port to the bracket and put some epoxy so it would withstand any pushes. Yesterday I depleted the battery to 15% and today at 8AM I started fresh with HV-Charge, drove the approximately 7 miles to the testing facility, waited for two cars with the engine on fearing the charge would reach 50% and stop the engine before my turn arrived. Once inside the kid asked me to stop the car and turn it on again. He was rushing me a bit and I had to explain him that I needed to set up the mode in which the gas engine would start or otherwise he wouldn't be able to do anything. I restarted the HV charge, the engine came on, he plugged his connector, the bracket held and the test passed. My deepest gratitude to all you fellow members who provided me with advice. Still wondering why this wouldn't work back in Nevada, but fortunately what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

 

[JCA]

Well folks, me & my Clarity finally passed the test in AZ! On Saturday my son fixed the OBDII port to the bracket and put some epoxy so it would withstand any pushes. Yesterday I depleted the battery to 15% and today at 8AM I started fresh with HV-Charge, drove the approximately 7 miles to the testing facility, waited for two cars with the engine on fearing the charge would reach 50% and stop the engine before my turn arrived. Once inside the kid asked me to stop the car and turn it on again. He was rushing me a bit and I had to explain him that I needed to set up the mode in which the gas engine would start or otherwise he wouldn't be able to do anything. I restarted the HV charge, the engine came on, he plugged his connector, the bracket held and the test passed. My deepest gratitude to all you fellow members who provided me with advice. Still wondering why this wouldn't work back in Nevada, but fortunately what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas...

Great to hear that it just worked in Arizona. It sounds like the problem in Nevada is that many stations don't keep their equipment updated, and the agency regulating isn't enforcing that as well as CA/AZ/other places do. Having to go to a "referree" state station isn't ideal -- it's definitely worth a formal complaint against the outdated stations to hopefully get some movement, especially if they charged for the test but didn't deliver.

Plug-in hybrids aren't radically new or conceptually different here, and the Honda hybrid system (plug-in or not) has been in cars for many years. Other than possibly a need to do some HV driving to get the sensors "ready" if the engine hasn't been used much, there shouldn't be as much trouble as the NV stations are creating.