Hello again. You all are so helpful on this site. Thank you again for responding. So I have yet another concern for my 2006 HHR 2LT. I went to have it inspected today and it failed two monitors. The inspection station told me that it failed the EVAP and Catalyst. Claiming they were "not ready". Kind of frustrating when the car is running top notch. No check engine lights. I have only had this car a couple weeks. It appears to have a brand new battery so that means the battery terminals were obviously taken off the old battery. I know before I bought it that it did in fact have a CEL on. Unknown as why. But it was fixed, whatever the problem was. I am suspicious that maybe the catalytic converter could have been replaced? My other two HHR's have never failed two monitors. It was always the EVAP. Now this HHR is failing two. I have put around 150 miles on the car since I bought it. I have been babying it. Any ideas as to why it failed? The receipt said: Motor EVAP not ready, and Motor Catalyst not ready. Everything else passed. Thank you all in advance. Cheers!

 

It's because the battery was disconnected, resetting the monitors. Some of the tests are easily completed, and are "ready".

These take longer, requiring a "drive cycle". Not easy to complete, and the requirements are different between different makes, models, and years.

Donbrew might be able to give more detail on how to complete the drive cycle, but go for some medium to long drives.

Most scanners can tell you what the status your emissions monitors are. Your nearest auto parts store may be able to scan for you, for free.

 

Hi there:) thank you for responding. Yeah I am expecting my buddy Donbrew will he responding as soon as he see's my thread. I never knew a store bought obd2 scanner has the ability to show me the status of the monitors. I will have to check out Amazon. But you helped me immensely tonight. Thank you again brother. Cheers!

 

If the MIL doesn’t come on , then there are no failures, just tests in progress. Drive it as RJ said. Then If the MIL lites up take the HHR to a parts palace or if you order a code reader , check for codes then .

 

It's usually called something like "I/M readiness". The EVAP test can take 2 weeks of regular driving to run, the cat test comes right after.

The "codes" are the numbers assigned to the monitor or test. The OBD2 tells you the number of the monitor that failed; i.e.: P0700 the general TCM test has failed.

 

Thank you to Donbrew and old blue. I ordered an obd2 scanner with I/M readiness. Found one on Amazon. This way I can check and see if those monitors are ready.

 

I see your location says New York.

In New York State, a car that is over 10yrs old is allowed to have one monitor not ready and still pass inspection (if there is no CEL lit up).

So if you can get one of the monitors to go ready without a CEL, you will pass inspection.

I did this once for a slow evap leak CEL. I reset the CEL, waited until all monitors except the evap monitor were set, took it to inspection and passed.

Evap test won't run until fuel level is between 15%-85%, so I kept topping off the tank to make sure the evap test didn't get run while the others were getting into ready mode.

Usually the two tests that take longest to go ready are the Evap system test and the heated Oxygen sensor test.

Steve

 

Hi Steve! So nice of you to reply. Yeah I was aware of my New York State rules and trust me this state is the worst. My last HHR passed with one monitor failing. I have been driving this HHR that I have currently a little bit more aggressively. Hopefully that will pass the catalytic monitor. I bought an obd2 scanner that shows I M readiness. That way I can check my cars monitors right in my driveway to see if it is ready for reinspection. Every time my car fails I have to pay $10.00. Just another New York State scheme to fill their pockets from us new yorkers.

 

The EVAP test runs "overnight" after the car was run and cooled down with approximately half tank of gas.
Make sure no codes are pending some of them inhibit the EVAP test. Note no fuel fill event; yes it knows if you got gas.

 

Ohhh myyy Godddd!!! I just read the test you sent me Don and thank you for that. Why on earth would GM make this so difficult and complicated for this to pass. The technician at the inspection told me that GM is the hardest to make pass this test. I'm starting to believe them. Ok so anyway the car is out in my garage right now with the gas tank at nearly full. The needle on the gas gauge tonight before I put the car to bed was just below 1/8th used from the full mark. So it's on its way to 3/4 of a tank. Will the test run tonight?