Thread: I/M monitors not ready

hello, i recently purchased an OBD 2 scan tool for my car and one of its features is "i/m monitors". from what ive read that feature is supposed to tell you when your car is completely "ready" to go take an emissions test. the obd 2 code reader has a list of items that either come up READY, NOT READY, or NOT APPLICALBE. on to my question......

there are 8 different monitors that are "applicable" to my vehicle.

the first 3 are the MISFIRE MONITOR, FUEL SYSTEM MONITOR, AND COMPREHENSIVE COMPONENTS MONITOR. no matter what, those 3 ALWAYS say ready.

the last 3 monitors, which are the OXYGEN SENSOR MONITOR, OXYGEN HEATER SENSOR MONITOR, and EGR SYSTEM MONITOR, come on and off at different times, sometimes none of them are ready, sometimes they're all ready, sometimes 1 is ready while the other 2 are not.

now on to the middle 2 monitors, which brings me to my question. they are the CATALYST MONITOR, and the EVAP SYSTEM MONITOR.
those 2 never say they are ready. they never have. im just wondering basically what that means, and what i'd need to do to fix that, to make them show up as "ready"

the car runs perfect and my state does not do emissions testing, so im not worried about it, im just really curious....

bump, anyone? not even 1 single idea?

Sometimes the tests of the above said items don't run all the time. For instance, Some times the oxygen heater sensor test will only run after the car has been running for a while. Sometimes it runs every 3 key starts ect ect.


That is the main reason why some of the test pop up as ''ready'' sometimes and some times they don't.


The point i'm trying to make is-

Some of the tests are continuous tests and some are not.

Regarding these-

OXYGEN SENSOR MONITOR, OXYGEN HEATER SENSOR MONITOR, and EGR SYSTEM MONITOR

If there was a problem with them there would be a ses light set. There is no way that all or one of the above said items can be bad and it not throw a code but instead just say ''Not Ready''.

If it says ''Not Ready'' because there is a problem then there will be a code set also.

Ok I have a major problem I have a 97 plymouth breeze,I just to ok it too get it smog ged and the monitorsays that the monitors are not set, the guy told me to do the requested drive cycles and they should set well I ,have 5 that are not ready and when they are ready they get erased on every key shut off, now my question is, do I have to replCe parts or what no mechanic can tell me why or what to doany ideas??