Car won't pass emissions ECU monitors will not set

[Rogue Leader]

Hi all, been a while.

I'll try to keep this as short as possible. My Camaro 2010 2SS 6 Speed (original owner) hasn't been driven much the past 2 years, maybe about 1000 miles, had some cooling system issues and also just time/baby seat won't fit in back. But it has about 72k on it. Anyway up until a couple weeks ago I was still on the original battery. Last year when I went to get it inspected the monitors were not set and my mechanic suspected it was because the car had been sitting and its first start in a while it kinda chugged slow which may have reset the computer. Drove it about 50-60 miles and it worked and passed.

This year same thing happened, but I said ok time for a battery. Keep in mind the only reason I think that old battery wasn't flat is because the car stayed in my garage on a Battery Tender. Clearly while it held voltage, it was weak and the CCAs were low, hence the starting behavior last year and this year. So I swapped in a new battery, now it starts strong.

When i swapped it in I hooked up a scan tool and I've been monitoring to see when its ready to inspect. FUEL, EVAP, and O2S all show as not set. After about 20 miles FUEL set itself. But now I've done over 200 miles, a lot of short trips but multiple longer drives and EVAP and O2S will not set. I in fact only need 1 of the 2 to set for it to pass NY State Emissions.

There are no codes and no SES light. I checked the live data and all 4 O2 sensors are putting out similar readings and functional.

One side note. About 5 years ago at 54k miles I had a collapsed valvespring on the drivers side bank. Dealer pulled the head and replaced everything damaged and put it back together. About 5k miles later I got an SES light for the catalytic converter also drivers side probably due to all the raw fuel that got dumped into it. Dealer replaced that as well under warranty. Keep in mind the car passed NY state emissions 5 times since this has happened. I would think there is a fouled O2 sensor, but like I said the readings at least look normal and I still don't have an SES light after about 200 miles and multiple drive cycles.

Any ideas? Just keep driving it? Getting close to snow time, hell this car hasn't even seen rain in 4 years and now it has twice. Not that I'm scared of it (I used to daily drive it, through snow and so on, this car has been through a lot!) but my life situation these days has allowed me to keep the car "perfect" and enjoy it in fair weather, but it needs to pass inspection!

[craigd853]

Get on the internet and look up how to set computer on a GM car after the battery has been disconnected. I did the same thing a couple of years ago and there are very specific directions for setting sensors on a GM car after the battery has been replaced. Car has to be driven at certain speeds and has to be in a specific gear for time frames in order to set all the parameters u r lookinG for, hope this helps.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by craigd853

Get on the internet and look up how to set computer on a GM car after the battery has been disconnected. I did the same thing a couple of years ago and there are very specific directions for setting sensors on a GM car after the battery has been replaced. Car has to be driven at certain speeds and has to be in a specific gear for time frames in order to set all the parameters u r lookinG for, hope this helps.

Tried that and couldn't find a single thing specifying this procedure at all. Also keep in mind my monitors were off BEFORE replacing the battery, and the original battery never really died at all. Do you have a link?

[ChibiBlackSheep]

You might still just need to drive more. Most GM cars require a few full cycles of operation and if I recall correctly it's around 300 miles.

Did you ever get a tune for this car?

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by ChibiBlackSheep

You might still just need to drive more. Most GM cars require a few full cycles of operation and if I recall correctly it's around 300 miles.

Did you ever get a tune for this car?

Nope never tuned. Unfortunately my commute is super short so I've been taking it on some weekend drives. Today I left the keys with an old friend (who has a collection of GM performance cars so I trust him) and he is taking it on a REALLY long drive after work to see what happens. Probably 100+ miles round trip. Hopefully that does the trick.

[tazman]

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html
The O2 should be easy to get ready if everything is good.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by tazman

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html
The O2 should be easy to get ready if everything is good.

Sweet I'll try to give that a whirl tonight

[George-CZ]

When I read this thread, I have a question ....
How do I replace the battery without complicating my life by restoring the system?

Linking another car to the poles in the engine compartment?

Does not even help clear OBDII errors?

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by George-CZ

When I read this thread, I have a question ....
How do I replace the battery without complicating my life by restoring the system?

Linking another car to the poles in the engine compartment?

Does not even help clear OBDII errors?

There is actually a little adapter you can buy that plugs into your lighter that can keep the system charged enough to not lose the computer's memory. Or if you have a battery tender you can leave that connected to the 2 battery cables.

Normally you shouldn't run into this issue, i think I'm just having bad luck.

[George-CZ]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

There is actually a little adapter you can buy that plugs into your lighter that can keep the system charged enough to not lose the computer's memory. Or if you have a battery tender you can leave that connected to the 2 battery cables.

Normally you shouldn't run into this issue, i think I'm just having bad luck.

Is there a link as an adapter looks?

I had a similar bad luck with my 78.
The engine had to build three times before it worked.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by George-CZ

Is there a link as an adapter looks?

I had a similar bad luck with my 78.
The engine had to build three times before it worked.

Like this

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-64...XRJ5WDT1V8FK7Q

Or you can use this to connect to another car or a car battery

https://www.amazon.com/VSTM-Emergenc...JJ1VFE9794MC56

[George-CZ]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

Like this

https://www.amazon.com/Powerbuilt-64...XRJ5WDT1V8FK7Q

Or you can use this to connect to another car or a car battery

https://www.amazon.com/VSTM-Emergenc...JJ1VFE9794MC56

I understand.
Thank you for explaining and trying to help.

[CamaroFred]

Originally Posted by Rogue Leader

Nope never tuned. Unfortunately my commute is super short so I've been taking it on some weekend drives. Today I left the keys with an old friend (who has a collection of GM performance cars so I trust him) and he is taking it on a REALLY long drive after work to see what happens. Probably 100+ miles round trip. Hopefully that does the trick.

My Camaro didn't pass after I had the battery replaced 2 years ago.
The highway trip for ~100 miles @70MPH fixed it for me. So hopefully what your friend does will reset the sensors.

Last fall/winter it was hit while parked and in the shop for 4 weeks. I never got the battery over 12.4V again, even on a tender for weeks. The positive post under the hood was uncapped, so I know they jumped it.
It's worse this winter so I'm going to bring it in for a battery check (still under warranty). Last week I received the emission test notice (due by the end of March). So I took it in a couple days later and passed. This week or next I'll bring it in for the battery. It's getting worse with our cold weather.

[Rogue Leader]

Originally Posted by tazman

http://www.obdii.com/drivecycle.html
The O2 should be easy to get ready if everything is good.

Tried this tonight, it did not work.

I think one of my O2 sensors is bad even though its not throwing a code. This is the live data from my code reader.



Note the highlighted SHRTFTB1S2% is N/A



Also note B2S2 is stuck on 99%



I think the downstream sensor in bank 1 is bad. That would be the same bank that had the valvespring failure. As far as I know S1 was not replaced, but it seems to be working. The cat was definitely replaced, but the sensors I'm fairly sure were not.

EDIT: Ok so that N/A is Short term fuel trim. Note B2S2 lists as 99.2 that is correct and mans the car is burning nearly all fuel. The fact B1S2 reads N/A may mean the O2 sensor is bad. Strangely enough it is reading back voltage in the correct range however.

Anyone know this better than the bit of research i just did?