My 2003 Honda Accord EX failed smog test twice.

I have gone to this smog check test only location twice and have failed both times due to the MIL / Check engine light. The technician told me that the readiness flags or codes may have been reset, and that the car needed to be drive a couple more days. I recently went to my dealer to have my car diagnosed and they clean out the throttle body and said all is okay. I took it back to test only center again and failed again. Is this common with this make and model. Today I took the car on the freeway and the streets, drove it like the technician recommended should it be okay to go back a third time and pass not fail again.

Answer:

It is common to have to drive a vehicle for at least one week prior to getting a smog check whenever the emission computer has been reset, or the vehicle's battery has been disconnected. If the dealership did any work to your Honda which required them to reset the computer, you'll need to start the driving process in order to set the "emission monitors" all over again. In order to set the monitors you'll need to drive for at least one week in all sorts of driving conditions... freeway (at least 40 minutes), city, traffic... you'll also need to turn off the engine at some point for at least a few hours while the engine cools down and further self-tests are conducted by the emission computer.

posted by SmogTips Support