# The Drive Cycle



## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

Perhaps I understood this before, but it escaped my mind. If your engine light resets (that is if getting an inspection and reset by operator giving inspection for you (slip him a tip to do it) ) you have to complete a drive cycle to eliminate whatever they are...troubles? I had a HELL of a time eliminating one final one and finally decided to drive all over creation on highway to get it to process/turn off (at 3am no doubt with no traffic) So, if you ever are in the situation where you have to get an inspection or just generally curious about drive cycles, there (at least in my car) is a portion that requires many long highway miles (not just miles) for it to reset. Took a week to figure out this was the case... Passed inspection. FU drive cycle.

I heard that I am in one of the only states still requiring vehicle inspections...so this post is pointless I imagine lol


----------



## Timbrr (Mar 1, 2019)

Are you talking about for like Uber inspection or emissions? Just curious.

It takes 40 miles over 3 drive cycles for obd2 ecus to complete their initial tests. This means start up, drive until operating temperature is reached, shut down and let it cool off, repeat two more times. If there's an issue like a sporadically wonky O2 sensor or some such, your CEL will come back on within 40 miles.

So if your test is just a visual (is the CEL on test) you can fake it by clearing codes and bringing it right in. Either using an obd tool or disconnect both battery cables and short them together for 30 seconds. But if it's a real test, any tests that haven't been completed yet will fail it, and if you have a problem that needs attention, you'll be screwed after the 40 miles when the CEL comes back on.

Here's a simple list of what tests are being run in those three drive cycles.


----------



## Atavar (Aug 11, 2018)

Some errors require multiple drive cycles (start, drive, stop, off) to clear. >
I know on my Ody it takes three cycles to clear the low battery error.


----------



## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

Was just talking about the # of troubles that showed on reading during drive cycle (from inspectors portable computer device), do not know what the drive cycle removed as I went...Was just a complete pain to have to drive the highway for them to be eliminated to be inspected, hey I am learning as I go about this. Interesting stuff.

I was thoroughly annoyed to learn that "service engine soon" means "check engine" ...come on, get some consistency in warning messages car companies. I just figured it was a message to do routine maintenance, not the ol "check engine" light.
Hate cars...


----------



## Timbrr (Mar 1, 2019)

Trouble codes can be a lot of fun! I recommend getting a cheap obd2 scanner if you have an older car or something that likes to throw a CEL often (audi I'm looking at you!)

My land rover is hilarious to try to figure out. Usually if you get a suspension fault, brake fault, and transmission fault at the same time, it means a brake light bulb has burned out.

This all happened because one of my batteries was at 12.8v and the other was at 12.3v... The truck is batsh*t crazy and I love it.


----------



## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

Timbrr said:


> Trouble codes can be a lot of fun! I recommend getting a cheap obd2 scanner if you have an older car or something that likes to throw a CEL often (audi I'm looking at you!)
> 
> My land rover is hilarious to try to figure out. Usually if you get a suspension fault, brake fault, and transmission fault at the same time, it means a brake light bulb has burned out.
> 
> ...


Not to talk smack..but I heard Land Rovers are a freakin nightmare for electrical issues..saw that on a Scotty Kilmer video...

Thanks for info, and not trollin ya

BTW I just learned what the hell a Drive Cycle was the other day (actually week now...of misery)...so who knows.


----------



## Timbrr (Mar 1, 2019)

Jay Dean said:


> Not to talk smack..but I heard Land Rovers are a freakin nightmare for electrical issues..saw that on a Scotty Kilmer video...
> 
> Thanks for info, and not trollin ya


Haha Scotty Kilmer is an idiot! I mean he's not completely wrong but he's only interested in his old Toyota and thinks everything else is crap.

Land rovers are a nightmare if you don't understand them. They're like toddlers that have only learned a few words. If the toddler needs to say something but hasn't learned the words yet, it screams and cries. Land rovers are the same. You have to have patience with them, and you have to love them &#129303;


----------



## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

Effin drive cycle....


----------



## Jon77 (Dec 6, 2018)

Jay Dean said:


> Perhaps I understood this before, but it escaped my mind. If your engine light resets (that is if getting an inspection and reset by operator giving inspection for you (slip him a tip to do it) ) you have to complete a drive cycle to eliminate whatever they are...troubles? I had a HELL of a time eliminating one final one and finally decided to drive all over creation on highway to get it to process/turn off (at 3am no doubt with no traffic) So, if you ever are in the situation where you have to get an inspection or just generally curious about drive cycles, there (at least in my car) is a portion that requires many long highway miles (not just miles) for it to reset. Took a week to figure out this was the case... Passed inspection. FU drive cycle.
> 
> I heard that I am in one of the only states still requiring vehicle inspections...so this post is pointless I imagine lol


32 states still do periodic smog checks.
Drive cycles can be a mother sometimes.
I am a licensed smog tech here in Cali and since I also hold a smog repair license I have to deal with drive cycles whenever I complete a repair.
Most cars will complete all drive cycles except the evap, within 50 miles.
But some monitors on certain cars can be frustratingly difficult.


----------



## islanddriver (Apr 6, 2018)

I know here in NY it can take up to 75 Miles and 10 drive cycles depending on what code it is


----------



## The Gift of Fish (Mar 17, 2017)

Timbrr said:


> Haha Scotty Kilmer is an idiot! I mean he's not completely wrong but he's only interested in his old Toyota and thinks everything else is crap.


He's not wrong. It used to be that anything Japanese was rock solid reliable. But since Nissan teamed up with Renault the French rot set in and now Nissan's build quality has gone to shit. Same with Honda - my ex-wife's Fit is a steaming pile of garbage. Transmission problems, engine mount problems, suspension problems, power steering issues. Mitsubishi used to build good cars too but something went very wrong there as well.

Pretty much the only reliable Japanese manufacturer left is Toyota. Scotty's right.


----------



## Seamus (Jun 21, 2018)

If you don’t want to buy an OBD scanner than many auto parts stores will let you use theirs for free. At the first sign of a trouble light best to find out right away what’s causing it and try to reset it, especially before an inspection is due. If it keeps coming back it isn’t just going to go away.


----------



## Timbrr (Mar 1, 2019)

The Gift of Fish said:


> He's not wrong. It used to be that anything Japanese was rock solid reliable. But since Nissan teamed up with Renault the French rot set in and now Nissan's build quality has gone to shit. Same with Honda - my ex-wife's Fit is a steaming pile of garbage. Transmission problems, engine mount problems, suspension problems, power steering issues. Mitsubishi used to build good cars too but something went very wrong there as well.
> 
> Pretty much the only reliable Japanese manufacturer left is Toyota. Scotty's right.


True. And I completely agree that Japanese cars of the past were incredibly reliable. I used to have a civic that had 440k miles on it when I got rid of it. I think I changed its oil like twice and the only reason I got rid of it was that I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I think my issue with him is that he doesn't understand that people want different cars because they want different things out of their cars. I mean, his recent hate-on-land-rover video is actually titled "6 worst suvs only stupid people would buy." that in itself just gets under my skin. I'd keep going on about why it irks me but I'm sure you get it, and it's going to turn into a horribly long rant so I'll stop there.


----------



## Another Uber Driver (May 27, 2015)

I have managed to reset everything by driving one hundred miles. I do not drive my hoopty car much. We do not have safety inspection for private vehicles in the District of Columbia (Uber and Lyft do require one for TNC cars, by local regulation), only emissions. Ihad changed my battery three months before the hoopty was due, but had forgotten. I went to the test station, and, of course, flunked because they could not get a reading. I drove the thing from the test station to our Beltway, around our Beltway, then back to the test station. That ran up one hundred miles (almost exactly, as the inspector noted) and it passed.


----------



## Jay Dean (Apr 3, 2015)

Jon77 said:


> 32 states still do periodic smog checks.
> Drive cycles can be a mother sometimes.
> I am a licensed smog tech here in Cali and since I also hold a smog repair license I have to deal with drive cycles whenever I complete a repair.
> Most cars will complete all drive cycles except the evap, within 50 miles.
> But some monitors on certain cars can be frustratingly difficult.


They have been getting stricter here with smog checks in Austin, No shocker that they do not even do one in Midland, Texas where all the oil is from (at least when I worked there they didn't but that was awhile ago)....like don't we all breathe the same air around the globe and affect the environment?! I suppose the smog check is just to limit the visibility issues..not so much a focus on environment? I do find it interesting...thanks for info.


----------



## TomTheAnt (Jan 1, 2019)

In Texas 01+ vehicles can have one monitor listed as Not Ready. No voodoo or any other tricks needed if that was your only OBD2 issue.

https://www.dps.texas.gov/rsd/vi/misc/faq/ready_not.htm


----------



## Jon77 (Dec 6, 2018)

Timbrr said:


> True. And I completely agree that Japanese cars of the past were incredibly reliable. I used to have a civic that had 440k miles on it when I got rid of it. I think I changed its oil like twice and the only reason I got rid of it was that I couldn't stand to look at it anymore. I think my issue with him is that he doesn't understand that people want different cars because they want different things out of their cars. I mean, his recent hate-on-land-rover video is actually titled "6 worst suvs only stupid people would buy." that in itself just gets under my skin. I'd keep going on about why it irks me but I'm sure you get it, and it's going to turn into a horribly long rant so I'll stop there.


Oh my god how I love Land Rovers, my mechanics absolutely LOVE Land Rovers.
When one rolls into our shop, I know I've hit my bonus for the day.
I would marry a Land Rover if I thought my wife would be ok with the arrangement...

Between the management team and our techs we drive 11 Honda's, 5 Toyota's and 2 BMW's and one single Rover, the boss's albatross.
He should have known better, his saving grace is he paid almost $5k for the extended warranty, that is what is saving his butt every 6 months like clockwork.
People who work on cars for a living have zero tolerance for unreliable crap, we hate working on our vehicles after work, we just want a reliable ride home.
And we don't want to work on our families vehicles on the weekends either, we just want to spend the day in front of a grill while watching an exciting game.
And holding a cold beer certainly wouldn't hurt things either.


----------



## uberdriverfornow (Jan 10, 2016)

drive cycles complete faster when you keep between 1/4 and 3/4 fuel in your tank when you turn your car off and let it cool down...each warm up and full cool down helps to complete a drive cycle

I once had an evap that refused to complete...I traced it to a slightly unfully seated air intake hose at the breather that wasn't fully seated with the hose clamp

there were no drivability issues even without it fully seated and it didn't idle higher as I would expect


----------

