About to start making calls but wanted to ask here first.

I have a 96' Mazda protege with a 1.5L 5spd, last summer the CEL came on and the culprit was a leaking valve cover gasket had leaked oil into the distributor, causing a miss fire. I had the gasket, cap, wires and plugs all replaced. CEL gone car runs fine for many thousands of miles and several months zero issues.

I go to get an inspection and the computer says there were 5 systems not ready so it could not be inspected until they are reading ready. The tech advised I drive it 30-40 miles at different speeds, in town, highway etc and come back and not to shut the car off and he would check to see if they were ready. I drive the car 100+ miles and he checked again, this time it said 4 systems 'not ready'. I disconnected the battery for half an hour drove another couple thousand miles and he checked again, 4 systems not ready still.

I had the car inspected the year before and passed with no issue and am convinced that the issue is somehow tied to the earlier issue with the CEL. I'm told early OBD2 systems have quirky issues like this that are hard resolve. The only reasonable suggestion I've herd is that the ECU may be bad now.

Anyone have experience with a situation like this?

I did a couple searches here and on google and only found one thing but there was never a clear definitive answer. Here is the link, thanks for looking.

1996 Mazda Protege wont IM ready : OBD-Codes.com

 

This is what you need to do first:

Here is a Mazda drive cycle:

Pre-requisites: MIL off and no DTCs present (this is where clearing your codes comes in); fuel level between 15 and 85%; all accessories OFF; cold start (preferred 8 hour cold soak w/ engine between 68 and 86 deg F at start-up)

1) Start vehicle and idle 5 min.
2) Rev engine in neutral or park to 2300-2700 rpm for 15 seconds
3)Rev engine in neutral or park to 3800-4200 rpm for 15 seconds
4)Idle engine for 20 seconds with cooling fan stopped.
5)Accelerate to 52-55 mph, maintain speed (in high gear) for 1 1/2 minutes
6) Decelerate to 15 mph, and then drive for 13 minutes at speeds ranging from 15 to 35 mph (this means vary your speed between the two.)
7) maintain steady 25 mph for 50 seconds.

Each step of the drive cycle indicates a test for a different monitor on the vehicle (catalyst, o2 sensor, evap, etc) so each step is important. Some vehicles are a pain and may require a few drive cycles.

Just keep driving it and whatever you do do NOT unhook the battery since that will put you right back at square one and 0 systems ready again. It may take a LONG time to get it just right.

 

Super cool, and thank you for the quick reply, Wed will be my first opportunity to give this a go. I will def update with how it turns out.
I have a buddy who will assist me with these steps, he also has a code reader that will tell if the systems are ready which should help out. Again thanks for this info and quick reply!

-Ed

 

Ok, so after a handful of attempts at the drive cycle with no luck, I gave Mazda a ring and brought it in for a diagnostics run down. After giving everything a look and an attempt to reset everything we decided that we'd try to fail the inspection due to the I/M's not ready and try and get a waiver.
Well it turns out I'm required to run the P/S if it came with it, which I'm not b/c the AC comp is bad, also the exhaust manifold is leaking, a ball joint is going bad and a tie rod end is bad as well.
The tech said he wouldn't even know where to start to get it reading that the systems were ready, so to sum it up the car is going to Auction Direct in the morning and I'm just going to buy the wife a ride. Just can't see spending what it will cost to fix to pass an inspection done by the DMV. My guy would over look the other stuff if the systems would read ready..
Oh, well it sucks because its a great little car just wanted to update the thread, maybe it will help someone some time.

I do have a new/reman AC comp, dyer and expansion valve available for local pick up face to face sale.

 

This is bad. Not only for the motorist's wallets but for the environment as well. Just imagine how much CO2 and other stuff is emitted in the production of one vehicle, add transportation from the factory to the customer.

Over-regulation hurts everyone.

Maybe I can buy my next car in NC where it fails inspection and take it to IA where no inspection is performed.

 

Hell if it were a 95 it wouldn't be an issue.. My Mustang has no pre cats or cats and passes no problem(no CEL). Hell my last Mustang(another 95 GT, had not cats, an EGR delete and no smog pump, passed.

Well it's all about the money in the end, they have it and want mine too. It's a shame but as of this morning it's a large national wholesaler's issue now.. They make enough of this pyramid scheme they can afford to eat the cost sorting it out in some fashion. O-Well, it's six one way and a half dozen the other.

 

Car is gone, AC parts headed for eBay.. Wouldn't hurt my feelings to lock this thread admin/mods.. Again thanks for the help!