New Car - Issue with Smog

[Tidybuoy]

I know this is the 911 board and my car is a Cayman but I know there are a lot of smart guys here and have not yet used the Boxster/Cayman forum.

I just purchased a 2006 Cayman S with 23K miles on it. It is in nearly mint condition. However, when the dealer (small independent broker) took it to get smogged, it wouldn't pass. BTW, the car is in San Francisco and I am in Fresno and expecting to pick up the car on Sunday. I'm trying to get this resolved prior to pickup.

He told me that there are no fault codes on the computer but that during the smog test, it registered an "SAI System Readyness Flag". He stated that his mechanic stated that there is a special boot up procedure after the battery is disconnected for a period of time and the computer loses stored info.

I ran this by my local mechanic and he told me that this is a very common issue with Boxsters/Caymans. He agreed with the special boot up but also told me that it could be a vacuum leak and that he usually tests with a smoke test. He stated that the Cayman has some corrugated vacuum lines and it's very difficult to spot a micro-crack.

My mechanic also stated to use this procedure for boot up:
1) Car must be overnight cold
2) start car with all electrical accessories on (i.e., lights, a/c, radio, etc).
3) let car run 3-5 min and the SAI system will re-boot itself.

Dealer stated he has to do the following:
1) idle 5 min
2) 20mph for 30 min
3) 60mph for 30 min.

I'm hoping someone here is knowledgeable and can chime in on their experiences.

Thanks!

PS, here's the car:

[emcon5]

That sounds strange to me. I had a similar failure on my wife's truck, the solution was to drive it for a couple days, to get some calibration time in the system. Once it had enough data from normal operation, it was fine.

In fact, the ODB scanner tool I have on my laptop specifically tests for this.

[Porchdog]

I don't know anything specific about readiness for the Cayman /Boxster.

The last time I took the 2001 Jetta for Inspection it failed the SAI. I had just repaired a vacuum leak and cleared codes, but i drove it a couple weeks before I took it in.

I followed the VW "reset" drive regimen 4 times before it reset all of the readiness flags.

If I was buying the car I would expect the dealer to be able to resolve that issue and to document how they did it. It sounds like "won't pass smog" wasn't part of the deal.

Does CA require that a car pass smog when a dealer sells it?

[yelcab1]

THey need to take it to a Porsche specialty shop where they can force the monitors to be reset. And then pass the smog.

[love911]

It's called readiness monitor status ,This usually happens when the battery gets disconnected or losses power, or the check engine light gets cleared on 1996 and newer vehicles.

All you or the dealer needs to do is drive the vehicle maybe 50-100 miles and let the PCM pass the drive cycle to completion.This might need couple of warm up cycles.

...Or they can complete this in the bay as said before with Porsche diagnostics software.

[theiceman]

Here is my general opinions on things of this nature.. someone reset your codes ( possibly to clear a MIL or after a repair. )
You are not getting a fail , you are getting a "monitors not set" . Which means it has not been driven enough since the forced reset to establish everything is okay. Personally I would not want it to be forced into readiness after buying a car. I would want to make sure everything is fine and someone didn't just wipe out a code before selling tit to me ..


It may have just been my audis but I'm pretty sure even after the battery is disconnected it does not reset the readiness monitors to not ready , id be very suspicious after buying a car to have this.
just my 2c.

[Bob Kontak]

The 911 drive cycle checks the SAI system out really early in the drive cycle.

I have found on everyday cars that if you run the drive cycle properly and one monitor has not cleared it may simply be waiting for another failure to occur before throwing the code?

Here is the 911 drive cycle. See step A in post #1

https://rennlist.com/forums/996-forum/954965-failed-smog-sai-monitor-not-ready.html

My guess you have a SAI fault which is not a show stopper for me but on a Saturn or the as mentioned Jetta, access to kit is right there.

[Tidybuoy]

Originally Posted by theiceman

Here is my general opinions on things of this nature.. someone reset your codes ( possibly to clear a MIL or after a repair. )
You are not getting a fail , you are getting a "monitors not set" . Which means it has not been driven enough since the forced reset to establish everything is okay. Personally I would not want it to be forced into readiness after buying a car. I would want to make sure everything is fine and someone didn't just wipe out a code before selling tit to me ..


It may have just been my audis but I'm pretty sure even after the battery is disconnected it does not reset the readiness monitors to not ready , id be very suspicious after buying a car to have this.
just my 2c.

The seller just put in a new battery and he told me that the battery was disconnected for a couple of weeks before he installed the new battery. I'm assuming that the prior battery may have been dead since has been sitting for about 6 months.

['76 911S 3.0]

SAI is only used to warm up the catalytic converter on a cold start. The system needs to pass a minimum of 3 times before it will change the readiness monitor from incomplete to complete. This will probably take a few days to complete if you do not have the Porsche scan tool to force the monitor to run.

Engine must be stone cold to ensure that the system runs to completion each time. Theiceman, there is nothing wrong with forcing the monitor to run, it still performs the same test whether you meet the criterion or not to make the monitor run. Some instances where you force the monitor to run still require you to perform certain driving conditions while the monitor is running, especially the CAT monitor. SAI criterion generally looks for a change in the O2 values as the exhaust gas composition will be extremely lean with the excess air present in the exhaust.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by '76 911S 3.0

The system needs to pass a minimum of 3 times before it will change the readiness monitor from incomplete to complete. This will probably take a few days to complete if you do not have the Porsche scan tool to force the monitor to run.

This is good data. However, does the Porsche tool forcing the monitor to run negate the need for three cycles?

You understand it better than me. Just looking for clarity.

['76 911S 3.0]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

This is good data. However, does the Porsche tool forcing the monitor to run negate the need for three cycles?

You understand it better than me. Just looking for clarity.

Correct, you can force the monitor to run and pass in one instance with the factory tool. There are some aftermarket scan tools that have the capability of doing this as well, but their model support is typically limited to domestic vehicles...

[Alansglide]

Do the 911 drive cycle. This is a common problem on the water cooled cars. Ask me how I know . Don't exceed 3000 rpm doing the cycle. Coast to a stop after 20 minutes and let it idle for 5 minutes.

9 out of 10 times this solves the problem. Good luck with the new car.

[Trackrash]

Yes, in California the seller is responsible for passing smog.

[aoncurly]

If the car has been sitting, I suggest also putting fresh gas in.