I have a 2017 GS, A8 with just over 9,000 miles on it. I've had the car since May of 2017 so my two year inspection/registration is about out so I took it to my dealer to get an inspection. They came back and said it didn't pass the emissions test and they think the reason was that I wasn't driving it enough. I had let it sit for over a week because I was out of town so I drove the car every day for a week and took it back. They came out and said it didn't pass again and as we talked they discovered I had filled up my gas tank the night before and that could affect the test. They gave me a copy of their "Inspection/Maintenance Complete System Set Procedure" document, which is not a big help to me. It did say that the fuel tank needs to be between 15%-85%. The rest is somewhat useless to me.

Guys, can anyone explain what in the heck I need to do to get this car to pass the emissions test? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

You have driven it plenty. All of the monitors should have completed long ago. Any chance you had the battery out recently or reset some codes?

And, it would be helpful to know which monitors they say were incomplete and what codes were present. Assuming that the problem is the evap monitor, something may actually be broken/leaking.

 

Have not had a new battery or had this one disconnected in any way. No codes reset. They said it was my "CAT O2 front & rear" sensors.

 

I don't really know so I am just throwing this out there. Have you tried higher octane race fuel? The hot burning gas may clean up the emissions since it burns hotter and should heat the cats up nicely. Just a thought. Be sure to mix it with your gas don't want to cause any damage.

 

should be under emissions warrantee! if so tell them to fix it

 

I agree with the warranty comment. I'll take it in one more time and after that they'll need to fix it. I assume new sensors would be the next step.

 

If the sensors were bad, there would be a DTC set. This looks like a drive cycle issue. Replacing the sensors will do nothing. Search the forum for the drive cycle required to get all of the monitors set. I'm pretty sure that it has been posted here.

 

The dealer did mention something about the drive cycle so I'll dig into that.
If I have 9,000 miles on the car shouldn't the drive cycle have been met by now? Is this something to be dealt with each time I go to get an inspection?

 

There must be something unusual about your route or driving habits. You only need to set the monitors once unless you disconnect the battery or clear the codes.

Edit: Get a cheap code reader or go to an auto parts store so you know for sure that the car is ready for the inspection.

 

Makes sense to me. I don't think I have any odd habits. Like tonight I'll take the toll road at about 80mph to a restaurant and back, which is about a 30 mile round trip. I took it to church yesterday via the toll road and ran about 85 or so since that area has a 80mph limit. That was about a 30 mile round trip. I drive in chunks similar to this.

One other thing to add to this. I use the Range devise for my AFM, I wonder if that has any effect on things. I'll unplug it tonight and use manual mode for the rest of the week.

 

I dug this up, maybe it'll help.

How to get the monitors complete or “ready”?

Because the monitors are self check routines, the best way to get them ready is to drive the car. Yet, monotonic driving will not most likely meet all the needed conditions. That’s why there is so called OBD drive cycle. But before going into that, let’s go through the obvious ones.

1. First, make sure that the MIL (Malfunction Indicator Light) is not commanded on. Having stored or even pending diagnostic trouble codes active may prevent a monitor from running to completion.
2. Second, make sure that you have enough fuel in the car. Some monitors, for instance the EVAP monitor, may require the fuel level to be between 35% and 85% to initiate the diagnostic testing.
3. Third, complete the so called “drive cycle”. About one week of combined city and highway driving is usually enough to allow the monitors to reach complete status. The drive cycle is explained in more details in the next paragraph.

OBD drive cycle

The purpose of the OBD2 drive cycle is to let your car run on-board diagnostics. This, in turn, allows the readiness monitors to operate. And detect potential malfunctions of your car’s emission system. The correct drive cycle for your car can vary greatly depending on the car model and manufacturer. Also, the monitor in question affects the required drive cycle.

Today, many vehicle manufacturers include these drive cycles in the vehicle owner’s manual. Typically, a few days of normal driving, both city and highway, will make the monitors ready. The following generic drive cycle can be used as a guideline if a specific drive cycle is not known. It will assist with resetting monitors when a car specific drive cycle is not available. However, it may not work for all cars and monitors.

The drive cycle can be difficult to follow exactly under normal driving conditions. Thus, it is better to drive it in restricted area!

1. The universal OBD-II drive cycle begins with a cold start. You should have coolant temperature below 50 C/122 F, and the coolant and air temperatures within 11 degrees of one another. This condition can be achieved by letting the car to sit overnight.
2. The ignition key must not be left ON position before the cold start. Otherwise the heated oxygen sensor diagnostic may not run.
3. Start the engine and idle the engine in drive for two and half minutes, with the A/C and rear defroster on if equipped.
4. Turn the A/C and rear defroster off, and speed up to 90 km/h (55 mph) under moderate, constant acceleration. Hold at a steady speed for three minutes.
5. Slow down to 30 km/h (20 mph) without braking. Do not depress the clutch if you are running with manual transmission.
6. Speed up back to 90-100 km/h (55-60 mph) at 3/4 throttle. Hold at a steady speed for five minutes.
7. Slow down to a stop without braking.

Get ready for inspection

To avoid rejection in the annual inspection, you can prepare your car for the check yourself. You should at least read the readiness monitors and make sure they are ready. This will save you from almost guaranteed rejection.

You should also read the diagnostic trouble codes and make sure there are none present. You can do all this with OBD Auto Doctor diagnostic software. You can read the monitor statuses and the diagnostic trouble codes even with the free version. So why not try the software right now?

And remember, do not wait until the annual inspection with the issues. Acting immediately could save you a lot of time as well as future repair and fuel costs.

Info from:
https://www.obdautodoctor.com/scanto...tors-explained

Elmer

 

Elmer, I'd like to say that I've seen your post throughout numerous threads and you're always helpful and full of knowledge and for that I want to say thanks. I appreciate the information above and will give it a try.

 

You could have mentioned this at the beginning!

Edit: OBTW, the drive cycle is documented in the "Inspection/Maintenance Complete System Set Procedure"!!

 

Range "should " not affect this problem.

 

I hope we never get emissions in Pa. That stinks. Then the garages charge you more just for that.

 

Elmer, is this something I can do tomorrow and then take the car in for an inspection on Friday or should I do this day of the inspection? Is this procedure time sensitive in any way?

I'm so accustomed to having the Range devise in I forgot about it. I as well didn't think it would have any effect on the O2 sensors but you never know. Sorry I didn't include that bit of info in the beginning. Just old and forgetful some times.

 

Yep, no wonder everybody wants to go electric...all these burdens on ICE.

 

TXSteveF

I can appreciate your frustrations in this matter?

You must first, unplug your Range AFM for an undetermined period of time, in order for your drive cycle to complete it's analysis?

*The Range affects "emissions", and you may be the first anecdotal proof on this Forum?*

Many thanks,

Ray

 

Sorry to the OP, I have no suggestions for you, but I find it ironically hilarious that in order to pass an emissions test (the test to make sure your car is not polluting the environment too much) you have to drive your car a bunch, thereby polluting the environment more than you would if you just left it sitting in the garage. Too funny! Ain't Government grand?!?!? LOL!

OP, good luck with your search and fix. I hope it is not too much of a pain for you.

 

I will unplug the Range and drive a week without it and follow the drive cycle directions the day before I get the inspection. Sadly I'll not know if it's the drive cycle or the Range because I'm doing both at the same time. I'd love to have more time and do one then the other just to see what happens. In fact I will do exactly that and report back what I find. I'll leave the Range in and get it tested at the end of the week and if I fail I'll remove the Range and do it again. This is crazy just to get a simple inspection. How hard is this in California? The government will drive us to electric vehicles one way or another.