urgent help needed with state emissions issue

S

Slowpoke

Craftypoke Industries
I need some advice!!!

I took my car in for a mandated emissions test (ILLINOIS) and was rejected for testing. I wrote a written appeal to the Illinois EPA and they declined my appeal for a waiver. I have until the end of MAy until my state vehicle sticker expires and am unable to renew it without passing emissions or somehow getting a waiver.

NOTE: The only relevant engine work I've ever had done is a dyno tune and a bolt-on K&N intake. It's a naturally aspirated car.

The letter I received wherein the state declined my request contained something I'm not sure I understand, so hopefully one of you can tell me what's going on.two weeks until my license plate sticker.

Here is the text:

Our records indicate, in pertinent part, that the vehicle was rejected from testing on April 6, 2015, because of not supported monitors. Please note: Only those vehicles that fail a vehicle emissions retest may qualify for a waiver.

Unfortunately, your vehicle has been rejected from testing because the catalyst and oxygen sensor monitors were not supported. These system readiness monitors are part of a vehicles on-board computer. Your vehicle was manufactured with a "certified configuration" which was approved by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) prior to production, which included these supported monitors. It remains unclear why these are not present on your vehicle unless your vehicle's certified configuration has been altered. The Agency cannot waive any testing requirements if you have altered the certified configuration. If you should have any questions or would like additional information about Federal guidelines and specifically the alteration of a vehicle's original configuration visit www.epa.gov.
​

If I read this correctly, I am missing some sort of part? OR perhaps something is disconnected?

I need to address this ASAP.

Thank in advance for helping me on this.
 
Who ever dyno tuned your car can fix it! They turned off some of the monitoring devices in your tune. Call them and they should be able to hook it up to a computer and make the necessary adjustments. Post above beat me to it.
 
Re load factory tune, drive around for a couple of days, go get retested , pass the retest, reload load custom tune, repeat as necessary :beer:
 
His car was flashed back in 03 by Jerry W amongst many other Chicagoland MM's.
All done without a tuner.

You need to return the car to stock Rick.
Either at the dealer for $120, or by purchasing a tuner from Mo.
 
LOL and everyone said this was happening to me because it was my car.

Welcome to the red tape of 2015 Chicago.

You will be fine with the advice Zack has given.
 
^^^what they all said^^^

I don't know about IL, but in MA you can have one I/M monitor not ready as long as it isn't the catalyst, but having those say "unsupported" is a :nono:. Either get the O2 and catalyst monitors turned back on, or get a stock tune, and you'll be golden.
 
Zack said:
His car was flashed back in 03 by Jerry W amongst many other Chicagoland MM's.
All done without a tuner.

You need to return the car to stock Rick.
Either at the dealer for $120, or by purchasing a tuner from Mo.
Click to expand...

Lol well be thankful it only took 12 years for that to happen.
 
I just changed my registration to my brother's house near Peoria when I failed. No testing there. Renewed my sticker online. No issues.

Find a friend who lives in a non testing Illinois Nazi area of this crappy state.

I hate Illinois Nazis.
 
Last edited:
ok, now I remember things a bit more clearly...

Back in 2005 I bought a chip and had it tuned on the Dyno (by Jerry, I guess) at Sutton Ford in Matteson, IL.

Wondering if I just remove the chip, whether or not that would work? Of course, all I would have to do is to figure out where the damn chip is located.
 
Slowpoke said:
Wondering if I just remove the chip, whether or not that would work? Of course, all I would have to do is to figure out where the damn chip is located.
Click to expand...
If you have a chip, you're lucky. Just unplug it and your stock tune will still be present in the PCM.

The chip is plugged into a port on the PCM, which is under the dash to the left of the steering wheel. Remove the sound panel held in by a couple or three christmas trees and you'll see the rectangular metal box up against the firewall with the chip plugged into it. It may be taped in place, or it may just be sitting there.
 
RF Overlord said:
If you have a chip, you're lucky. Just unplug it and your stock tune will still be present in the PCM.

The chip is plugged into a port on the PCM, which is under the dash to the left of the steering wheel. Remove the sound panel held in by a couple or three christmas trees and you'll see the rectangular metal box up against the firewall with the chip plugged into it. It may be taped in place, or it may just be sitting there.
Click to expand...



This is good news...

One question though. I've read through various posts and I get the feeling that I need to "drive it for a few days" with the stock program. Is this necessary? If so, how many miles do I need to drive, and why?
 
Fastblackmerc - Dig the quote from Lt. Colonel Ralph Peters. I love that guy. He should be President.....
 
Slowpoke said:
I get the feeling that I need to "drive it for a few days" with the stock program. Is this necessary? If so, how many miles do I need to drive, and why?
Click to expand...
To add to what FBM told you, if it was just your O2 and catalyst monitors that were turned off, it should be fairly quick...maybe only a day or two...but other monitors (like EGR and EVAP) require specific conditions to be met, including ambient temp, fuel level, number of cold starts, and so forth, so they may take a while longer.

Many code readers have an "OBD-II check" function that will tell you the monitors' state in real time.
 
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