offset442 Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Hello all, I have been searching for a soluation for this problem for a week or 2 now with no results hoever i feel i need to keep trying... I live in california where you have to smog every 2 years, things have been going fine until this year when i was abel to get all the redniess monitors closed and the car on the machine which failed the test because of 5 ppm HC over the limit at 700 rpm, so the soluation was simple replace the old cat and front o2 sensr with a denso oem type since i have never changed this sensor, i did this work myself without doing anything else to the car, now i have a problem with the ECM that i didn't have before. the day i took the car for its smog check i was able to drive it and have the readiness monitors close and stay closed after cycling the ignation key as much as i liked, but now suddenly everytime i turn the key off and back on the readiness monitors reset to open again and make it impossible for me to retest my car. because its now an automatic failure thinking the new denso sensor could have been confusing the computer i reinstaled the old bosch sensor but no change so it was not the sensors. then i wondered if there was a power issue at the computer so i checked the backup power pin with the key off and found it was hot like it should be. so then i generated a MIL code by disconnecting the mass air flow meter plug to set a check engine light, turning the key off does not clear MIL codes, so i guess that meand the ecm memory is working properly. I almost feel like the smog machine screwed up the ecm some how but this idea reaches to paranoia. I'm aware of 1996 model year outbacks having the problem im talking about, however this is supposed to be a persistiant problem from the factory its not suppoed to be something that just starts out of the blue, so since i have never had this issue for the last 10 years of smog checks im very positive that this is a new problem for me with this particualy car. so i stuck im painted into a corner with no other troubleshooting options that i can think of........... hoping for some fresh ideas thanks in advance ecm info: DAO 8D / 8D / ja18000 DA0 { 5831 } / 22611 AC270 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 95 and 96 do this. They're exempt from monitor testing because of this. http://techinfo.subaru.com/proxy/65245/pdf/065245-11-72-0458832.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 95 and 96 do this. They're exempt from monitor testing because of this. http://techinfo.subaru.com/proxy/65245/pdf/065245-11-72-0458832.pdf +1 you're exempt from readiness monitors, so smog is not a concern. as to why you've never had the issue before but do now - no idea. swap in another ECU and see what happens? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 EPA link: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/regs/im/obd/regtech/420f08009.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offset442 Posted July 29, 2015 Author Share Posted July 29, 2015 not exempt in california BAR does not make that distinction anymore automaticaly failed for it, as california requires all but one monitor to be closed now at the time of testing, turn key off and back on and 3 are automaticaly open, like i said this is a new behavior I have always been able to close all the monitors until just recently. there must be a reasion for this change Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnceggleston Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 take it to another shop. the guy is new and does not know what is right. otherwise ALL 96 subarus in calif. would fail and be sidelined. go somewhere else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
offset442 Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 found a shop with 2 lazy fat guys, that let me take in running without turning off the key off...........done for now............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairtax4me Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 not exempt in california BAR does not make that distinction anymore automaticaly failed for it, as california requires all but one monitor to be closed now at the time of testing, turn key off and back on and 3 are automaticaly open, like i said this is a new behavior I have always been able to close all the monitors until just recently. there must be a reasion for this change I see that, but I still think here must be an exemption list because it's not just Subaru that has problems with the IMs setting for ready status. I can't explain why the monitors would set and maintain Ready on previous occasions. All of the 95 and 96 Subarus I've scanned have always reset the Evap, Cat, and EGR, monitors at key Off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bendecker Posted August 1, 2015 Share Posted August 1, 2015 I just went through this with a stupid smog guy who failed me because of the monitors in my '96. I told him about the exemption and he said that he's done 100's of these over the years and knows his stuff. Well, he was wrong. 100% wrong. The guy was adamant. So, thinking there may have been a change in some rule book, I took it to the dealer. The dealer said the guy was an idiot, but the dealer's smog guy was not available. So I took it to another independent shop. That shop passed it with flying colors and said that the first guy was an idiot. Long story, short, don't worry about what monitors may or may not have been on or off in the past. Take it to a good smog station and have them check it. The monitors are a non-issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porcupine73 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 My '96 in NY I generally have to get the shop to do a drive cycle on it to set the monitors to get it to pass. Years ago I don't know what the shop I used to go to did but they never said anything to me about it, it just passed. The new shop looked at the bulletin but said they have to connect the ECU to the DMV's computer and it makes the determination and they can't override it so I've just been having them do the drive cycle and that gets it to pass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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