A cold start is when the ECTS and the IAT are close to ambient and within a few degrees of each other. So - would giving it gas to get up to temperature have invalidated the test?Įach section is a stand alone section so they can be preformed in parts. The temp gauge has been showing the same behavior it has since day 1 - during driving, during idling, time to come to temperature, etc. I got the temp near the 1/2 way mark (well past the 3/8) at the higher RPM, and after letting it come back down to idle, it eventually settled down to just above the 1/4 mark.
This is after a warm start (it hadn't fully cooled after my commute home), and I gave it some gas to get up to about 1600 rpm to help get it up to temp faster. However I just in general wonder how the it ever gets tested, because I never really let the car idle for more then about 30 seconds after starting.Īnyhow - after letting the car idle for a while, my scanner (innova 3030, if it matters) still shows a blinking light for '2A'. So I let the car idle for a while, and in the meantime, thought of a few questions (all assuming that the secondary air is tested during diagnostics while at idle)ġ) Does the idle test have to be immediately following a cold start? Last cold start would have been this morning, as I assume the start to go to lunch and the start to leave work would have still been somewhat warm.Ģ) If the answer to the above is no, then what is the difference between letting the car idle vs sitting at a stop light for a minute after the engine has already warmed up?ģ) Obviously, if the answer to 1 above is yes - that would explain why the secondary air system was never tested. The car is idling right now - I'll let you know how it goes. So - based on that, it would appear that step 7 is irrelevant. After looking at what the various abbreviations on my scanner actually mean (what a concept!), there is an item for "Catalyst Monitor" that is already solid and showing as tested. So are you saying I should let it run at idle for a few minutes - at least until the temp gauge reads the 3/8? Would step #7 - where it tests catalytic function - be relevant at all (or would that have been another system, and not the secondary air?)Īctually - I may have just answered my own question. I verified this after purchasing them from the auto parts store as a second check from what the cashier looked up in the parts cross reference DB at the store. The spark plugs currently in place are Denso K16PR-U11, which are listed as AC 41-627 equivalent. The temp gauge is about 3/8 - that tends to be where the needle has always been, unless I'm in a long light cycle and idling on a hot day, when the needle will get to half and I'll hear the fan turn on followed by the needle dropping a bit before the fan turns off. Most of my driving is on back roads to work, so generally between 30-45 mph. Thats the exact driving cycle I saw from the site - nice to have confirmation on that. Oh - I recently switched spark plugs - and I happen to still have the old ones if pics of them will help determine whether the engine is running rich and therefore potentially destroying the cat. Step 7 specifically mentions the cat - and since I've gone through a few cold starts followed by going 55 mpg for the 5 minutes without the '2A' system showing as ready, I'm starting to suspect my cat is marginal.Īny other information out there for the driving cycle to ready the secondary air system? Thanks So my question is - what do I have to do in order to set that system to ready? I haven't been able to find a Saturn specific driving cycle, but I did find the GM cycle at. I didn't think much of anything of it until I started seeing that the secondary air system wasn't readying, and the general concern about cat health with oil burning. In those cases, I've smelled gasoline soon afterwards - presumably from the tailpipe. At 181k miles, the car burns oil - I'd say around 2 qt's per 3000 miles.Īlso - over the past few weeks, there have been a couple times where the car has failed to start, unless I step on the gas while cranking it.
Then I saw a thread here (can't link - fewer than 15 posts), where it was mentioned that oil burning can destroy a cat. From a quick description of a vehicles secondary air system, it involves the catalytic converter.
#Secondary air system monitor code
Unfortunately I threw out my back and couldn't get it tested then - and what do you know, the following week the SES light came on.Īnyway, I cleared the code last week, and all systems on my OBDii scanner show as ready, except for the 2A - which apparently is the secondary air system. I was going to get it inspected at the beginning of the month when there were no codes. My inspection is due this month, and I've had intermittent P0442 error codes over the past 2 years or so (seems loosely tied with how many times I click the gas cap (which was replaced 2 years ago) when I fill up).
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