Readyness monitors - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

I had a CEL a week or so ago and got P300, P301 and P303 codes. They are misfire codes. Cleared the codes and replaced the coil packs. Still not 100% sure it was the coil packs and not an temporary injector issue. No other codes present or cleared In any case, I have 2 monitors that have not reset; Catalyst and Evap system I have driven the car a bit and even did an AX a few days ago. How do I get the the monitors to reset and show ready?

They sometimes take a while to reset, as much as 100 miles on some cars. Give it a chance.

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Thanks I don't have to get it smogged until early Jan. I have a 4 hour drive coming up on Friday to Buttonwillow for a track weekend, so hopefully that will reset everything

If the plugs are not new/good quality,they may be worth changing just because you are in there and they are inexpensive? If you use a lens, can you see cracks on the coil packs?

Plugs have ~ 15k on them. Don't remember which plugs. My Indy suggested 3, good, better and best and I went with Best no cracks found, hairline or otherwise on the coil packs

Test the old ,replaced coil packs? I am laboring this point because there seems to be a suspicion that the old coil packs are not the problem.

They were tested and all within spec It had been suggested that the problem might have been a spec of dirt in one of the injectors and it got chewed up and spit out. The CEL: was on for just about a minute or so and once I drove about 100 feet, it went out

Jay, there was a thread I found that discussed a specific driving pattern to reset the readiness monitors for the 993. I used that and it worked for me. I'll see if I can find it for you.

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Thanks. I found a few threads here and on rennlist Start engine, idle cold for approx. 2 min, 10 secs. Accelerate to 20-30 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 3 min, 15 secs. Accelerate to 40-60 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 15 mins. Decelerate and come to a stop. Idle in gear* for approx 5 mins. (manual in neutral) don't exceed the max speed in any step or go over 3000 rpm or you need to start that step all over Apparently the steps are cumulative and can be done separately (YMMV) So far I have gotten the catalyst to reset, now just the evap is not reset. From what I have read, you need to have between 1/3 and 2/3 gas in the tank. I am pretty empty right now. Gonna put some gas in and try the drive cycle again

Here is the bmw drive cycle. Slightly different than what I used but it is about the same. Probably need two drive cycles to fully reset. Start engine, let idle for approx. 2 min, 10 secs. Accelerate to 20-30 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 3 min, 15 secs. Accelerate to 40-60 MPH, Maintain steady speed for approx 15 mins. Decelerate and come to a stop. Then: Idle in Neutral for 5 mins. (manual trans.) Idle in Drive for 5 mins. (Tiptronic trans.) Do not exceed 3,000 rpm or 60 mph.

LOL great minds think alike

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LOL same time. Yeah mine took two drive cycles. The evap is the pesky hold out.

In California, you can have the EVAP readiness monitor not reset (that's the ONLY one) and if everything is otherwise OK, pass the smog. I just had that situation on mine, and got my certificate from my long-time smog tech. Many techs do not want to do it, as it can effect their rating with the state Bureau of Automotive Repair (BAR) if they do too many. Mine still hasn't reset 200 miles since my test. As to the CAT, if it isn't throwing a code or pending code, hook up a scanner and read your four O2 sensor voltages in real time as you drive. The DME uses the data from the sensors to determine if the CAT is up to snuff. Aging sensors with slow reaction times could be the culprit. If you can capture scans of the outputs after the car is fully warmed up, post them here and on other forums such as Renntech to get analysis from those in the know. See my earlier post about my travails with getting my Secondary Air System monitor to reset. It was a sensor issue, and my start up O2 scans showed me the culprit.

UPDATE.... Well after a bunch of tries, I finally got the EVAP monitor to reset I followed the instructions provided by the San Diego PCA Tech Advisor and it worked Drive in 10 minute cycles 1400-2800 Rpm in 5-6 gear as slow as you can drive in light traffic. If you stop or go out of RPM range the cycle resets the timer. After 5-6 cycles you will probably have it. For evap you must have 1/3-2/3 of a tank of fuel. Start the car cold and let it idle for 10 minutes with lots of accessories on. (lights, A/C or heater) Do the same at the end of the drive cycle. It took 3 cycles of slow freeway driving to get it reset I drove in 6th at around 58 MPH People were looking at me oddly driving a Porsche so slow! What a PIA!!