New tow beast time

[Catigale]

As far as clearing codes for inspection, this works if you do not have active codes. Also, after clearing, there is a certain amount of driving you need to do or the inspector will know you just cleared the codes.

Correct - you cannot pass the NY inspection by just clearing a fault code - you have to drive about 50-70 miles so that the OBD goes through all the checks and shows that everything is operational. The car will fail if you have just cleared the codes by virtue of being "not ready for inspection"

[Russ]

As far as clearing codes for inspection, this works if you do not have active codes. Also, after clearing, there is a certain amount of driving you need to do or the inspector will know you just cleared the codes.

Correct - you cannot pass the NY inspection by just clearing a fault code - you have to drive about 50-70 miles so that the OBD goes through all the checks and shows that everything is operational. The car will fail if you have just cleared the codes by virtue of being "not ready for inspection"

Without getting too political.
WOW! Another reason I'm glad to live in a state without vehicle inspection. All these inspection regs. When I lived in New Jersey, they did stuff like this. People find ways around it. Pay a local inspector off. Crazy.

An update to tow beast thread:

I ended up buying 2 vehicles. Toyota Highlander 2013 (for the admiral) and a RAV4 2012 leftover (for me). Neither are tow beasts. I kept the Dodge truck for that. It will get Luna back and forth to the lake. She gets a non-minivan and I get a fun V6 SUV. Good deal. The Highlander will tow, but the tow package was about $1k and I just assumed keep the truck which isn't worth that much for towing. In the future, I may beef up the trailer with another axle and stuffs. For now, I think this will work.

--Russ

[Catigale]

Yeah but...

Air quality in NY is much better even with 3x more cars thanks to cleaner cars with working emission controls...

You guts in MT can appreciate this when those forest fires hit.

[DaveB]

Ya and send all the Snow Birds south to polute our airs.
One day will travel North again and give it back to Ya.
Dave

Yeah but...

Air quality in NY is much better even with 3x more cars thanks to cleaner cars with working emission controls...

You guts in MT can appreciate this when those forest fires hit.

[Catigale]

...on our way soon....

[Russ]

Yeah but...

Air quality in NY is much better even with 3x more cars thanks to cleaner cars with working emission controls...

You guts in MT can appreciate this when those forest fires hit.

I agree. I'm glad for vehicle inspections, emission regs and even more for testing critical stuff like brakes and turn signals. I've just seen the emissions thing turn ugly with crooked repair shops. For a price, any car can pass. Also I've seen the inspection nazis get out of hand. They failed me for my shift lever pointer. It wasn't lined up with the "D" when the car was in drive. I never looked at it, I always shifted until it stopped in "D". Rules is rules and I guess that was a safety issue.

[Catigale]

They failed me for my shift lever pointer

Shouldn't have dogs in the car anyway, Russ. Safety rule...

[dlandersson]

And certainly not in the drivers lap on the front seat - while texting too.

They failed me for my shift lever pointer

Shouldn't have dogs in the car anyway, Russ. Safety rule...

[Boblee]

Without getting too political.
WOW! Another reason I'm glad to live in a state without vehicle inspection. All these inspection regs. When I lived in New Jersey, they did stuff like this. People find ways around it. Pay a local inspector off. Crazy

Theres mixed blessings but the nanny state is alive and well here, we are slowly getting our vehicles
registered into a more friendly and cheaper state (border town), having to get roadworthies etc each year when we are three states away is a pain but the good side is when you want to sell your vehicle is that the buyer is reasonably assured of roadworthiness.
Paying the inspection garage or just having a friendly garage doesn't work here as the checks on them are pretty thorough and the fines are big.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

And RobertB,thanks for the tips. Let me see if I can find the codes and then maybe you can help me decipher them. Even a couple mechanics told me to go to an auto electric shopt to have it figured out (because the second code is something to do with the immobilizer system and it seems dormant too) because they would charge me a ton of money in trial and error!

On my car, the immobilizer is the lighted ring that surrounds the ignition key. Ignition keys today are built with a small transmitter that is keyed to the car. The immobilizer is the antenna that communicates with the key circuitry. Sometimes, the transaction does not work exactly as intended but recovers in a moment. This will register a dormant code - has happened to me. You will know if this is a hard failure when you cannot start your car. Unless this happens more than once in a great while, I would not worry. If you do decide to repair, the part is pretty inexpensive but you will need the manufacture's service manual for the instructions on how to change (then it should be pretty easy).
As far as the O2 sensor, what kind of code reader are you using? I have a generic Actron (TM) tester that will display codes unique to each sensor. BTW, these are the Federally defined OBDII (On Board Diagnostics generation 2) codes that are not manufacturer specific - each O2 sensor is assigned a unique code (codes P0130 to P0167 are all O2 sensor codes - see http://www.obd-codes.com/trouble_codes/). I also have a code reader specific to my Volvo that will read every code in every module on the car. Some dealerships will also read codes for free but charge a nominal fee to troubleshoot. Other dealers charge just to read codes - shop around.
I read codes occasionally and record them in my car log (I also record in this log every tank of gas, item of service, and odd symptom) and then clear the codes (can do this for powertrain with a generic code reader). This way, I can keep track of how often each code is occuring. Then, if I do need to take the car in for service, I provide a summary of the symptoms and code history and it is much easier for the mechanic to diagnose.

Sorry Robert, I forgot to answer you on this one. I don't have a code reader myself, I just bum a free read whenever I go get my car worked on. So it turned out that I needed a new rear axle seal and brake bads on my 2002 Sequoia which I had done at Pep Boys and so I asked the guy to read the code for me after they were done. They just used a little handheld device similar to the one in the picture in this thread. He said they also had a big honkin analyzer that can read all sorts of other stuff too but he didn't use that one.

He said that there was only one code and that was for the O2 sensor heater, I guess the vehicle immobilizer code has dissappeared.

One time when I was driving several months ago, the engine light actually went off for a little while and then came back on and stayed on ever since. The mechanic suspected that maybe the broken heater circuit reconnected momentarily during a bump or something and then came lose again (visualizing a broken heater element where the break is floating and re-touching sometimes).

Anyway, he said it was Bank 2 Sensor 2 which should be front passenger side and presumably is after the catalytic converter. They said it would be $170 just in labor because they have to take up the carpet to get to it, and since its not affecting the runability of the truck, I guess I'm just not doing anything about it...afterall, I used to drive cars way before they had engine lights...lol But I suppose if I ever want to sell it, I'll have to fix it then.

[Sumner]

...Anyway, he said it was Bank 2 Sensor 2 which should be front passenger side and presumably is after the catalytic converter. They said it would be $170 just in labor because they have to take up the carpet to get to it, and since its not affecting the runability of the truck, I guess I'm just not doing anything about it...afterall, I used to drive cars way before they had engine lights...lol But I suppose if I ever want to sell it, I'll have to fix it then.

That sensor is called the tattle-tale sensor and doesn't effect the computer and the air/fuel mixture like the one ahead of the cat. It is there to tell you when the catalytic converter needs replacement. Sounds like yours does so probably wouldn't pass inspection if you have to have one.

On the vehicles I've seen (not many) that sensor screws into a bung in the exhaust behind the cat and is accessible from below the car (easier if it is on a lift). Get a wrench/socket for the sensor and unplug it and screw it out of the bung with the wrench/socket. Screw a new one in and plug it back in and have someone erase the code and it shouldn't come back. This is a job that about anyone can do for way less than $170. Ask the parts house for the sensor price. Of course if the cat is bad and not the sensor then you will need a new cat and unless you have tools, possibly a welder then you are going to need to have someone replace the cat. I recently did that for both cats on the Suburban. Used ones that looked pretty new off of a wreck I bought for the motor and so far no new codes thrown,

Sum

===================================
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[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Thanks for the additional info...although the way I understood it is that it is the sensor's heater element that is bad, not the sensor itself. I used to do all my auto work myself but have gotten lazier and lazier over the years and now pretty much only work on my boat engine. I'd have to research it a bit more to see what's involved but the shop said the labor was so high because it required removing and then reinstalling the carpet in the passenger compartment to get to it. Although I don't necessarily believe them as they have been wrong about stuff before.

[RobertB]

The O2 sensor heater element is part of the sensor. The whole package looks kind of like a spark plug and as Sumner stated, usually accessible from under the car. The only reason I could possibly see to pull carpet is either to access the connector or that access to the sensor is that difficult. I have not seen either occurance. The best wrench I have found is not a socket but a specialized wrench such as http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 10687915-2. This wrench is really handy in that it can allow you access to a sensor where you could never fit a socket wrench. Cost of the O2 sensors is usually under $100. I would buy aftermarket direct replacement (has the proper connector) versus the universal replacement (has pigtails that need to be crimped into the existing harness).
My recommendation: Buy the wrench and an aftermarket sensor (direct replacement). Put the car up on ramps. Take 15 minutes to change out. Clear the code and see if a code comes back. If so, you may need a new catalytic converter (but the code will be different).

FYI, before the two sensor setup, O2 sensors were replaced periodically since there was no good way for the engine controller to check them. One addition to Sumner's description of the function of this "nanny sensor" is that in addition to checking the condition of the catalytic converter, the output of the two sensors are used to check each other. Therefore, without the rear sensor functioning, you will probably not know when the front sensor fails. Driving with a bad front sensor can lead to a bunch of other equipment failure in that the vehicle may be running rich or lean.

[Dimitri-2000X-Tampa]

Good advice, didn't figure they would cross check each other like that. Although I guess in the old days, you had to tell that an engine was running too lean or rich by the way it was running/sounding

Ramps would make it pretty easy but I don't have any so the amount of time to put it up on jack stands is probably significant. Of course, there is already a fair amount of ground clearance on a Sequoia so I suppose I could see if I can slither underneath without jacking it up. But requiring a specialized tool is also a nuisance since I've got too many one-time-use only tools already

[Sumner]

... The best wrench I have found is not a socket but a specialized wrench such as http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1260 ... 10687915-2. ...

That is a nice looking wrench. So far I've been able to use a normal wrench on our vehicles, but I'll keep that in mind if I run into a problem at some point. Thanks,

Sum

===================================
Our MacGregor 26-S
Our Endeavour 37
Our Trips to Utah, Idaho, Canada, Florida
Mac-Venture Links