Former Lurker wants to know when the real fun will start? (1 Viewer)

[Trukdiver]

I bought my '04 TLC in '08 with 44K miles on it. Basically almost new. Did the basic maintenance on it and all was generally good for 7 years. So, just when I had a little cash to do some mods on it, the dash lights came on. The#@&^$ lights! Between May and now, I cannot get them to stop despite throwing ridiculous amounts of money at it. Ok OK, I know. I *really* need to do more myself and not pay hacks to do it, but I've had an 80 hour per week job since I bought it and a serious addiction to SCUBA diving, so no time. Now I have time.

The culprit is the Evap system. I've even had this thing at the dealership twice and they can't figure it out either. P0456. And yes, I have an OEM gas cap - new. Plus multiple smoke tests and even a repair to the charcoal canister.

So I get the thing back for the umpteenth time and the lights pop on within 50 miles. This time I bought an ECM monitor and reset them on my phone. Ahh, glorious darkness on the dash. After reading on this forum, I have kept the gas tank below 1/4 tank now for a week to prevent the ECU Evap monitor from running. Seriously, I need an inspection sticker badly.

In NJ, I can have up to 2 monitors incomplete and still pass. Here are my current readings:

Misfire: Complete
Fuel System: Complete
Components: Complete
Reserved: Not Avail
Catalyst: Complete
Heated Catalyst: Not Avail
Evap System: Incomplete
Secondary Air System: Not Avail
A/C Refrigerant: Not Avail
O2 Sensor: Complete
O2 Sensor Heater: Complete
EGR System : Not Avail

So, am I good to go to inspection? Are these other monitors not there or is the system really very incomplete? I've researched this everywhere.

And, as far as actually getting it sorted out for real, that's going to be my next question, but for now how do I get this thing through inspection?

 

[arcteryx]

The evap system is harder to make complete, you have to just drive it for a week or so. Don't reset your codes though, that will rest everthing and have you start over. It sounds like you are good though with just the one. If you tell the inspector what you're dealing with and can they test if only 2 are incomplete, most of the time they will put the software into "test" mode, check for their readiness and not charge you. If you're good, then they can proceed. That's what they have done for me at more than 1 station. Just be honest, they get tired of people trying to cheat the system and play dumb. So they tell me anyway....

As far as the root cause, download the PDF in the faq section , there is a 2004 manual there which gives the troubleshooting areas for each thrown code.