Inspection failure

Discussion in 'Gen 1 Prius Plug-in 2012-2015' started by Jean Kinney, Sep 16, 2022.

  1. Jean Kinney

    Jean Kinney New Member

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    How do I reset the internal computer on my Prius 2013 for re-inspection? It was not driven the last 12 months. AAA put in a new battery Tuesday and said there’s no reason it wouldn’t pass emissions inspection.

    Well, it failed inspection today because these monitors were “not ready”: catalyst, O2 sensor, Heated O2 sensor, EGR sys. There were no diagnostic service codes.

    I’ve been advised to drive several hundred miles before Monday when my registration expires (long story).
    So: how many miles? Straight highway driving or lots of shorter hops?

    on the other hand, youtube videos show ways to reset it by disconnecting the battery as the first step.

    which method is more likely to reset the computer/adjust the monitors so it will pass inspection on Monday?

    Thanks in advance.
     
  2. LeviSmith

    LeviSmith Member

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    Do you have an obd adapter and Android by any chance?

    I believe it was the "obd auto doctor" that I used that let me see which monitors were set yet.
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    i would do a combo back road/highway before the inspection.
     
  4. Jean Kinney

    Jean Kinney New Member

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    I wish I had an OBD! But thanks for the suggestion
     
  5. Jean Kinney

    Jean Kinney New Member

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    Thanks. Two friends have offered to drive it to their events over the weekend, so that will cover about 500 miles. Thru Virginia is highway; to a Maryland beach will be the combo you suggest.
     
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  6. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    Each monitor that is "not ready" has a specific "confirmation driving pattern" that is the fastest way to get it to complete. Often people don't want to bother with that level of detail, and just do enough miles of enough different kinds of driving and hope all the monitors complete. Which is great, if you have time for that.

    But for certain monitors it can be way faster to follow the specific confirmation pattern, if you are under time pressure. For example, the EGR monitor only needs to find a five-second or longer period of fuel-cut deceleration from a moderate speed with the engine warm; those are the conditions where it can sneak in the EGR test. (See the confirmation pattern in the repair manual for the full details.) Doesn't take nearly as long as driving 200 miles and hoping. And similarly for the other monitors.

    All the confirmation patterns are in the repair manual. Each pattern is given under the diagnostic trouble code that would be set if the test failed. (That kind of makes sense, even though when you're just waiting for a monitor to complete, nothing has failed yet, so you don't have any code.)

    Toyota Service Information and Where To Find It | PriusChat

    So, you can turn to the P0401 code to find the confirmation pattern for the EGR monitor. Likewise, you can turn to the P0420 code to find the confirmation pattern for the catalyst monitor. The O2 and heated O2 monitors will also have confirmation patterns that you can find under whatever the trouble codes would be for a failed O2 or heated O2 sensor test (I don't happen to have those codes memorized; they'd just have to be looked up).
     
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  7. QuantumFireball

    QuantumFireball Active Member

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    Yeah, it shouldn't take hundreds of miles at all.
     
  8. Jean Kinney

    Jean Kinney New Member

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    Thanks for your responses. The good news is that my car passed inspection last week so I was able to get it registered (for two years) and I have been driving it. Friends who planned to drive out of town for the weekend used my car instead of their own, and I ran errands around town. I don’t know if it was the 600 highway miles or my stop-and-start driving, but it passed inspection before my 5-day registration expired, and I now have a full two-year registration.
     
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  9. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    congrats!